July Tutorial

Bake With Us: How to Make a Birthday Cupcake Stack!

Take your celebratory treats to the next level (literally!) with this super cute birthday cupcake stack!

Planning a summer birthday party? Cake is a must, but why not swap out, or compliment, your standard birthday cake with this trending treat - a birthday cupcake stack! We chose this as a Bake With Us tutorial because we've been seeing these eye-catching cuties popping up all over the place. And we can't wait to see the versions you create!

Pop on over to the products used tab to stock up on everything you need to bring these cupcakes to life, and let's get started...

Big thank you to Holly, our in-house baker, for working her magic on these cupcakes! Don't forget to send us a message using the phrase "Bake With Us" if you have an idea for a future tutorial. We are working through lots but we will add any new ideas to the list!

What you'll need

Visit the "Products we used" tab above for a full breakdown of all products, prices and to add them to your basket!

Step-by-Step Guide: How to Make a Birthday Cupcake Stack

Step One: Make, colour and flavour your buttercream

The first thing you need to do is make up your batch of buttercream! You can do this using either your own recipe, or one of our handy mixes or ready-to-use pots. We added a dash of Colour Mill Lemon for a summery butter-yellow shade.

Then, for an optional summer twist, you can add some flavouring! We went for the delicious FunCakes Pineapple Flavour Paste. Nothing says summer like tropical fruits!

Step Two: Pipe a swirl onto each cupcake

Insert your piping tip into a piping bag and then fill about two thirds of the way with your buttercream. We chose an Open Star Piping Tip (the Colour Mill 4B nozzle) to pipe a nice even swirl onto each cupcake.

Step Three: Stick five cupcakes to a cake board

Pipe a tiny bit of buttercream onto the bottom of five of your cupcakes (on the outside of the cupcake case). Use this to stick them down onto your cake board to provide a supportive base.

Step Four: Add your skewers

To build your cupcake stack, you'll need some food-safe skewers! We used these PME Bamboo Skewers. Push one end of the skewer into the bottom of one cupcake, far enough through for it to hold. And push the other end of the skewer through the buttercream into another cupcake. This will allow you to balance the cupcakes on top of each other, and at various angles!

Step Five: Add your candles

What birthday celebration is complete without candles?! We added some tropical fun with the Flamingo Candle Set from Make a Wish. Then, we used the hot water trick (absolutely genius!) to bend these tall pink candles for an eye-catching look. Simply dip your candle into some hot water for a few seconds and gently bend into the desired shape!

Step Six: Add your bows

We used the PME Ribbon Bow Toppers in Baby Blue, for a little added detail.

Step Seven: Add your edible toppers and sprinkles

And finally, it's time finish off your decorating with a colourful dash of sprinkles and sugar toppers! We used two of our favourite blends from Super Streusel - Boho Glam and Flamingo - and a few adorable toppers from the FunCakes collection!

Ready to stack your own cupcakes?

We thought so! This tutorial was so fun to create and we're so delighted with how these cute cupcakes turned out! They make such a perfect table centrepiece for any occasion, and from the buttercream flavour and colour to the choice of edible decorations, you can create these for so many themes.