Horse Cupcake Cake

My daughter Maddie just turned 10, and she really likes horses.  So, when I saw a picture of a cake like this on Pinterest, I knew that I wanted to make one for her birthday party.  I couldn't find any tutorials online for how much frosting to make, etc., so I thought I would post how I did it.

It was a pretty easy cake.  Maddie and I baked the cupcakes and had it frosted in an afternoon!

You will need:

26 cupcakes (see my recipe below or use your favorite!)
2 recipes this chocolate frosting
1 recipe this buttercream frosting (you will have extra left over)
Cake board (I use a piece of cardboard covered with aluminum foil)
Wilton 1 M cupcake frosting tip
Frosting bags (Use disposable--you will thank me later at clean up time!)
Wilton size 3 tip or larger

What to do:

1.  Bake your cupcakes.  I used this recipe from pinterest for modifying a white cake mix.  I used a Funfetti cake mix.

To a white cake mix add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 1/3 cup water, 2 tablespoons canola oil, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 4 large egg whites and 1 cup sour cream.  Bake at 325 degrees approximately 18 minutes.

This made a really moist, dense cake.  I really liked it!

I used bandana-pattern cupcake liners (found at the General Store in Sharon Springs for you local people!)  This recipe yielded 32 cupcakes for me.

2.  Mix your frosting while the cupcakes are baking and cooling.

3.  Arrange your cupcakes on your cake board like so.  Once you get them to your liking, spread a small amount of frosting on the bottom of each cupcake and place it on your cake board.  This step is optional, but I think it helps to keep the cupcakes from shifting as you decorate.  I tried to squish the cupcakes in as much as possible to minimize the amount of space between them.

4.  Using your 1 M tip and the chocolate frosting, pipe a small amount of frosting in the spaces between your cupcakes that will be frosted brown.

5.  Frost all but your four "tail" cupcakes with chocolate frosting using 1 M tip and swirl technique.  (You could also just use a frosting spatula and smooth frost over all of your cupcakes.)

6.  Using the 1 M tip with white buttercream frosting, frost the tail and add the mane.

7.  Add the white for the eye.  (I was lazy and used my 1 M tip for this.  It would have been better to use a size 3 tip so it would have looked smoother.)

8.  Color about 1/4 cup white frosting black.  Using your size 3 tip, add the pupil of the eye, smile, and hooves.

9.  Your are done!  Celebrate how great your cake looks and how little time it took to make!

Note:  I made this ahead of time and popped it in the freezer.  After about 2 hours, I covered the cake with press and seal.  The evening before the birthday party, I took the cake out of the freezer, removed the press and seal, and placed it in the refrigerator to thaw.  It worked perfectly, and it was nice to have the cake made in advance!