Video: How to Make a Giant Cupcake Piñata

How to make a Giant Cupcake Piñata using your Giant Cupcake Mould

I’ve had my giant cupcake mould since I first started cupcak-ing 7 years ago and I love it. These giant cupcake moulds are now available pretty much everywhere, and you should be able to pick one up for under $10 – check ebay if you can’t find one at a nearby supplier.

I’ve challenged myself to find as many uses for the giant cupcake mould as possible – from a Graduation Hat cake to a Tinkerbell Piñata Cake, and everything in between, my self driven challenge to come up with the most uses in history for the giant cupcake mould is in full swing.

Today I’ll be showing you how to make a Giant Cupcake Piñata, filled with candy and sweets and easy to customize for any occasion. I love this idea because you can make it up to a week in advance, so there’s less to do on the day of your event when all your other preparations are in full swing

Tools, Equipment and Ingredients you’ll need for this tutorial are:

Spatula
Spoon
Scissors
Zip Lock Bag
500g-600g (18oz-20oz) melted dark, milk or white chocolate
50g (2oz) copha, shortening or Crisco (to thin the chocolate a little)
Assorted sized m&m’s (I used mini and peanut)
1 large red round candy (gumball, giant jaffa, or a ball of fondant)
1 10″ Cake board (I iced mine)
Turntable or lazy susan (optional)
Enough assorted candy to fill the base of your giant cupcake
You will need a GIANT SILICONE CUPCAKE MOULD — these can be bought online, via ebay and at most cake decorating and homeware shops — make sure it is SILICONE, not metal as it needs to be flexible

Step 1

Wash and dry your silicone giant cupcake mould completely – it must be bone-dry and very clean. DO NOT GREASE

Step 2

Melt your chocolate – you can use a double boiler or carefully melt it in the microwave. Depending on what type of chocolate you’re using, you may need to temper it. I use good quality compound chocolate which has no need for tempering and this is my recommendation for this tutorial, unless you’re particularly experienced with working with chocolate.

Step 3

Pour about half your chocolate into the base of the giant cupcake mould, tilting the mould so the chocolate runs up the sides to completely coat the inside walls. Use a spatula to help distribute the chocolate up the sides if necessary

Step 4

Tip any excess chocolate back into your container – you only want a thin coat as you will repeat this process.

Step 5

Repeat Step 3 and Step 4 with the top half of your giant cupcake mould.

Step 6

Place both halves on a baking tray and pop them into the fridge to set for about 15 minutes (note: do not freeze as this will make them brittle and more likely to crack)

Step 7

Once your first coat has set, apply a second coat over the top of the first. Use the spatula for this coat to smooth and distribute the chocolate evenly across the first coat.

Tip: Pay careful attention to the rim of your cupcake mould – you want to make this as thick as you can so you have a nice solid surface to stick the 2 halves together

Step 8

Repeat with top half of the mould & return both halves to the refrigerator

Step 9

Once set, remove from the fridge and carefully peel the sides of the case away from the chocolate. There will be some resistance as the chocolate sticks to the inside of the case – I find it easiest to roll the sides of the mould down the case, peeling it away as I go.

Tip: Try not to touch the outsides of the chocolate too much as you’ll leave fingerprints. Some people wear thin cotton gloves when handling chocolate to minimize marking.

Step 10

Once both halves of your chocolate cupcake case have been extracted, take your chosen candy selection and gently place the candy inside the bottom half of the chocolate casing

Step 11

Take a zip lock bag filled with melted chocolate and cut a corner off – about 1/8” (1/2cm).

Step 12

Carefully squeeze the chocolate out, making a reasonably thick chocolate snake around the top rim of your bottom half and quickly (before it starts to dry) place the top half of the cupcake onto the wet chocolate “glue”. Allow to set at room temperature

Step 13

Using a clean zip lock bag filled with chocolate with a small tip cut off (like a makeshift piping bag) place small dots of melted chocolate and use this as your glue to adhere as much or as little candy decoration to the outside of your piñata as you like. I used a combination of m&m’s in assorted shapes and sizes, and then finished mine with a gumball “cherry” to complete the cupcake look.

Step 14

Attach to an iced cake board using a little melted chocolate and serve

And there you have your completed giant cupcake piñata, made from chocolate using your giant cupcake mould.

Storage & Serving:

You can make this piñata up to a week in advance and just keep it at room temperature covered in plastic wrap.

For best results, use an assortment of candy combined with some candy ‘fillers’ – mini m&m’s are great for this and give a very satisfying spill effect when the piñata is smashed

To smash your piñata, I found the back of a spoon to be best. It will take a couple of good hard whacks so feel free to make a game out of it with your guests (just be careful they don’t send the whole thing flying onto the floor!)

I hope you like this fun and easy use for the giant cupcake mould! If you love it, please LIKE and SHARE on your social media.

Check out my YouTube channel MyCupcakeAddiction for lots more great ideas and uses for your giant cupcake mould, as well as 3 new weekly uploads for all things cake, cupcake and cakepop!

If you have any questions about this tutorial, please watch the video above – if you don’t find your answer then feel free to comment below and I will do my best to answer.

Xxx Elise