Giant cupcake recipe

This impressive giant cupcake serves 10-12 people and takes around an hour to bake. 

We’ve taken the flavours from our regular cupcake recipe and given it a supersized makeover. The cake sponge is flavoured with vanilla and the cupcake is sandwiched together with strawberry jam and vanilla buttercream. The cupcake case decoration is made from fondant icing but you could make a chocolate shell if you prefer. Head to the tip section to learn how. 

Ingredients

• 450g softened butter 
• 450g caster sugar
• 2 tsp of vanilla
• 8 large eggs 
• 450g self-raising flour
• 4 level tsp baking powder 
• 3 tbsp milk
• Giant cupcake tin

For the pink cupcake case:

• 250g pink fondant icing
• 50g strawberry jam

For the buttercream topping:

• 110g unsalted butter, softened
• 500g icing sugar
• 60ml milk, room temperature
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• Pink food colouring

Method

1. Set the oven to 180C (160C fan, Gas 4). Grease a giant cupcake tin using cake release spray or groundnut oil.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Stir in the vanilla. Add one egg at a time with a third of the sieved flour and baking powder. Repeat until all the eggs, flour and baking powder have been folded in. If the batter is stiff, mix in the milk until you have a dropping consistency.
3. Pour half of the mixture into each side of the tin. Each side should be around three quarters full. Bake for 50 minutes or until the cake is risen, golden and cooked through.
4. Remove from the oven and let it cool for 20 minutes before tipping out. If the cake has overflowed or has risen too high don’t worry, you can trim this with a bread knife or a cake leveller. It’s easier to do this while it is still in the tin.
5. Hold the cooling rack tight over the top of the tin and turn them out to cool. Once the cake is totally cool you can start decorating it.
6. Roll out the fondant icing to a 0.5cm thick. It has to be 25cm in length and 8cm high. Then, if you like, use a texture mat to add a flower pattern to the fondant.
7. Melt the jam in the microwave. Leaving the cake in the upside down position, brush the jam over the base of the cake. This helps the fondant stick.
8. Put the fondant around the cake and trim the excess. You can fold a little over the top (which is the bottom) so you have a clean edge. Press your finger round the indentations so you get the shape of the base back. Then turn the cake (not gripping too hard or you will squash it) the right way up.
9. Beat the butter, icing sugar, milk and vanilla together in a bowl until light and fluffy. Put a third of the buttercream in another bowl and add pink food colouring to it. Reserve this for your buttercream roses. Spread the remaining jam on the bottom half of the cupcake, then top with some icing and sandwich the two cake sponges together.
10. Ice the top with the rest of the buttercream in a design that suits you. Victoria has covered the cake in buttercream roses.
11. Finish with sugarcraft butterflies or flowers if you like.

Watch how to make our giant cupcake

Tips for making a giant cupcake

The baking time will vary depending on your own oven. Expert baker Victoria Threader recommends the following: ‘Start to check the cake at 50 minutes, then every 10 minutes and do not remove from the oven until the cake is springy to the touch. This might take up to 1 hr 15 minutes.’ Continue reading for more tips that will help you make a perfect giant cupcake. 

To make this cake you will need a giant cupcake tin. If you don't have one you can buy them from special stores or there are plenty of options online. 

Non-stick 3D Giant Cupcake Tin - View at Amazon

This sturdy cake tin is made from a heavy duty carbon steel. The non-stick coating is essential and will make it much easier to remove from the tin. We also recommended that you grease it well before pouring in the cake batter. 

If you’d prefer something a little simpler, we recommend trying this vanilla cupcake recipe. Chocolate lovers should try our chocolate cupcakes recipe. For those who prefer mini bakes, try our mini cupcakes which are flavoured with rose water.