I pretty much demanded the
Wilton Giant Cupcake pan for my birthday this year, and my niece's second birthday was the time to try it out. (I think I might have even begged to be allowed to make the cake, before I owned the pan.) For size perspective, see photo op with the normal-sized cupcakes. I had lots of ideas for how to make the cupcake, since decorating options are unlimited. I knew I didn't want to frost the bottom part, because I wanted the ridges of the pan to be obvious. I also knew I wanted a lot of color for the cake. Enter idea to try out not only my first ever cake in this pan, but my first ever attempt at a rainbow cake. Who needs to try things one at a time? Not me!
The mother of the birthday girl had said she wanted chocolate cake, though, so the top of the cake is chocolate. The birthday girl herself is a big fan of candy. I actually bought Mike and Ikes to use as giant sprinkles, but that didn't work out because they were a tropical variety of the candy, and the colors were pastel. Not what I was going for in this cake, but I'll definitely use them in the future. Besides, Jules loves M&Ms.
Now, this cake was not without it's own small disasters. I wanted a deep chocolate cake--something like a devil's food cake. After a lot of searching the internets, I decided on
Hershey's Black Magic cake (which I've never made). Verdict: delicious, if you like impossibly spongy, soft cake. That can't stand the weight of itself, never mind of frosting. The normal-sized cupcakes were fine, but the giant cupcake top? Fell to pieces! I was so irritated that I didn't even take pictures. I promptly Googled "sturdy chocolate cake" and eventually decided on the
Wilton recipe that came with the pan. Brilliant.
Now, about the rainbow-ing. I made a
basic white cake recipe, because I wanted the colors to be pure, so there were no egg yolks involved (bonus: using up the million egg whites I always have leftover from all my ice cream making). Since I was pretty sure chocolate and rainbow cake would not bake at remotely the same pace, I made them separately, filling the opposite side of the pan with water. The rainbow cake. Baked. For. Forever. Seriously, I think it was more than 90 minutes. However, what came out was lovely and dense and very tasty. So I can't complain. (The cupcakes from the same batch were much lighter; the density is probably a result of the over-stirring to add the color, the waterbath next to it, and the temperature). I baked it at a very low temperature, because I wanted to avoid too much goldening on the outside, so that the colors would still be vivid. It was moderately successful, although I did trim at some of the ridges to brighten it up. Since I didn't frost it, I poked several holes into the bottom, and filled it with frosting, just to ensure it wouldn't be dry. And because everyone loves frosting.
Then I simply topped with the (second) chocolate cake, with a layer of frosting-glue between them. I gave the top a crumb coating, then finished with frosting swirls and M&Ms. The birthday girl herself wasn't too into it, but the adults at the party seemed pleased. Me? I can't wait to make the cake again...I have so many more ideas for it!
I don't know about you, but I LOVE the idea of 1st birthday parties that follow a literary theme. What? I'm a book worm. So, I especially like a party that focuses on a book about a caterpillar who eats his way to a bellyache. Particularly when there is a giant caterpillar head smash cake for the birthday boy. Now, I'm not exactly an expert on children's birthday parties, but my friend went ALL OUT for this birthday. Fancy sign on the door. Cut out sausages, ice cream cones, lollipops, cake, pie, strawberries, oranges, and pears (complete with holes eaten through them) on the windows. A balloon caterpillar over the mantle. This was some serious dedication. Good thing I had an eye for detail on this cake, and included spiky little hairs on his back, six feet, and purple antennae. 
