I found this pan for $20 at Home Sense - it is $50 at Michaels.
I decided to grab it and try it out before my grandson's birthday. I read a lot of comments on the Wilton forums before I gave it a try. The pan comes with a recipe for chocolate pound cake but from what I read, it seemed that it wasn't a good idea. Most of the comments said that modifying a cake mix was the best way to go.
I used Betty Crocker cake mix but instead of oil, I used butter. Where the box called for water, I used milk and where it called for 3 eggs, I used 4. The pan is uneven - the bottom holding more than the top - which can cause the problem of one side being cooked and the other side not being cooked through. What I did was measure 2 & 1/2 cups of batter for the top side of the cupcake - on the empty side, I put water and baked for 35 min or until done. *You must grease the pan well - I used Wilton Cake Release* After the top was done, I cooled it on a rack and cleaned the pan, coated the other side (bottom of giant cupcake) with cake release and added the rest of the batter...again, I put water in the empty side. Baked until cooked - toothpick test comes out clean. Cool on rack.
I had a bit of a "hump" on both cakes so I trimmed the humps off. I stuck the two sides together with icing and then decorated the cupcake as a whole. My first try was a Cherry Chip cake mix which I altered as mentioned above - but I also added some almond extract and chopped up maraschino cherries. The frosting was buttercream with juice from the cherries, almond flavoring, pink gel food coloring and some cherries pureed.
I was moderately pleased with how the giant cupcake turned out but everyone was thrilled with how it tasted!I continued to read more info about the best way to bake and decorate this big baby and came across a tip on how to decorate the bottom of the cupcake. Use the pan as a mold - melt candy melts or chocolate and pour into the bottom of the cake pan (the bottom of the cupcake) and coat the inside, chill and unmold. I tried this for my grandson's birthday cake and this is how it turned out....
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