A couple weeks ago, I had the pleasure of making this pull apart turtle cake for a sweet friend of our family who was turning 3. He got to take the cupcakes to school and share with his friends, and I got to play around with frosting. It was a win- win situation for all involved:-) The frosting of choice when it comes to any cake at my house is almost always cream cheese frosting. To say we like it is an understatement. My husband for years had always said how much he hated frosting, until I baked him pumpkin spice cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting, and now he is the first one to ask where the mixing bowl is when I’m done frosting. I think what we like most about it is that it’s not achingly sweet like some frosting can be.
I made two batches of the frosting. One stayed as vanilla flavored (which I colored lime green) and the other got turned into chocolate frosting. As I mentioned above, I have also in the past added cinnamon, and it is insanely delicious on carrot cake, pumpkin cake or banana cake. Just add 2 teaspoons of cinnamon to the vanilla recipe, and you are in frosting heaven. It makes for a good base recipe that you can change up with different extract flavors. Make sure to use cream cheese and butter that has been sitting out of the fridge for a little while and has softened. It makes it much easier to cream together.
I took pictures to show the steps for making the pull apart cupcake cake. I’m totally fascinated by these, and they are perfect for so many reasons. They are easier to frost, easy to serve, and they look like you put waaaay more effort than they really require. I have made a pull-apart bridal shower cupcake cake before, and I’m eager to find more ideas for future cakes. My kids birthdays are in the fall, and I’m already trying to think up ideas. I got the steps for the turtle off the Betty Crocker site. I used M& M candy for the eyes, mini choc chips for the nostrils, a red Twizzler for the mouth, and a green one for the tail. The cupcakes were vanilla.
For best results, keep the cake refrigerated until you need it. The frosting gets soft from sitting out.
- 1 (8 Ounce) Block Cream cheese, softened
- ½ stick (4 tbsp) butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups confectioner's sugar
- Food coloring (optional) I used gel that was lime green.
- Using a hand held mixer or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the cream cheese and butter until it is well combined. Add in the vanilla.
- Starting on low speed, add in a cup of confectioners sugar at a time. Increase the speed once the sugar has been somewhat incorporated, or else you will end up wearing half of it 🙂 I've been there! Mix until all the lumps are gone and the frosting is smooth.
- If adding food coloring, add a few drops at a time until you have the desired color.
Use the vanilla cream cheese frosting recipe above, but add ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder in with the confectioners sugar. If the frosting is a little stiffer than desired, add a spoonful of milk at a time until it is the right consistency. I added 2 tablespoons of milk to mine.
TURTLE CAKE ASSEMBLY
Here is the link for the step by step instructions from Betty Crocker.
You will need 12 cupcakes for one pull apart cake.
Starting with 7 cupcakes, arrange them as shown above and frost them with the chocolate frosting.
Frost 5 cupcakes green and attach them as shown to make the head, arms and feet. Next, outline the shell and fill in with crack like pattern.
Add in the final decorative elements for the face. I used twizzlers for the mouth and tail, M&Ms for the eyes, and chocolate chips for the nostrils.
georgina
Yummy! U go gal! Have missed y’all. Say hi and inbox me on fb whenever u can-it’s the easiest way for now. Later.
toplatewithlove
Hi Georgina! We miss y’all too. Regards to everyone.
mythreeapples
I love this especially the cream cheese. Trying it out this. Week. Love and kisses to the girls. Love to hubby. Miss you. Much love