• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Free Ebook!Subscribe to updates & get a recipe book!

Subscribe & Receive My Free Recipe Ebook!

The Chunky Chef

Comforting Family Recipes

  • All Recipes
  • Learn to Cook
  • Shop
    • My eBooks
    • Favorite Products
  • About
  • Contact
  • Trending:

    Slow Cooker

    Easy Dinners

    Desserts

    My Saved Recipe Box
  • Browse By:
  • Course
    • Appetizers
    • Breakfast
    • Main Dishes
    • Sides
    • Drinks
    • Desserts
    • Salads
    • Soups
    • Sandwiches
    • Healthy-ish
  • Ingredient
    • Chicken
    • Beef
    • Pork
    • Turkey
    • Seafood
    • Meatless
    • Pasta
  • Cuisine
    • Asian
    • Italian
    • Mexican
    • Hawaiian
    • Middle Eastern
    • Comfort Food
  • Method
    • One Pot
    • Crockpot
    • Instant Pot
    • Oven
    • Fried
    • Grilling/BBQ
  • Trending:

    Slow Cooker

    Easy Dinners

    Desserts

Home / Dessert

Cupcakes for a crowd

30 Comments
By: The Chunky Chefpublished: 01/15/2015

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

Now you can bake delicious cupcakes, days ahead of time, and have them still be moist and fresh the day you need them!  Take the stress out of the party!

Baking… ah baking.  I will freely admit that I love to cook, and consider myself a fairly good cook.  But baking… can be a challenge for me.  I’m usually not very precise when I cook.  I add a little of this, little of that, taste along the way, change up recipes, and make it up as I go.  With baking that doesn’t always work out so well lol.

One thing I bake that gets requested frequently is my Vanilla Cupcakes.  I’ve posted about them before… they’re so yummy!  My daughter asked me to make them for her birthday (New Years Eve), and I happily obliged… and decorated them with purple and pink frosting with pearl sprinkles.  On a side note, if you’re looking to get great frosting colors… try Betty Crocker’s Food Coloring Gel.  It was by far my easiest time getting a great, bright and consistent color from food coloring.  Plus no messy drops that may or may not end up on your countertop or hands (not that I know this from experience or anything… 😛 )

The cupcakes were a hit and even my husband, the King of not eating sweets, tried a mini cupcake then had to have a big one as well.  I was shocked!  I think the trick is that I make my frosting with less sugar than most frosting recipes… just enough that it still appeals to kids and their love of all things overly sweet, but not so much that it makes adults cringe.  It’s a great balance.

IMG_6431

There’s my fun new tip by Wilton that allows you to easily twist off the purple part and change decorating tips, without having to have a whole new bag.  Quick and easy!  Although, I just posted the amazon link to show you, I wouldn’t buy it there, I found it several dollars cheaper at Michael’s craft store 🙂

If any of you are leery of using a decorating bag, or intimidated by it… you’re not alone… until recently, I was intimidated by them too.  They seemed too professional, too complicated, and I didn’t think I’d be able to use them properly.  In actuality though, they’re not too complicated at all, and kind of fun to use.  Plus you get to feel all “baker-like” 🙂

The softest, fluffiest, and tastiest cupcakes EVER!!

The softest, fluffiest, tastiest cupcakes EVER!
How soft does that cupcake look?! Mmmmmm

The softest, fluffiest, tastiest cupcakes EVER!

So my daughter proclaimed that I should make cupcakes for her birthday party, and at first I thought, “sure that would be fun, how many kids would she invite, just a couple right?”.  Nope.  She invited everyone in her preschool class, plus cousins… a total of around 26 kids, plus siblings and parents.  So all in all, I figured I’d need to make around 70 cupcakes to allow for people to have more than 1.  Crap.  Mega crap.  How in the *(#& was I supposed to bake all the cupcakes, decorate them and, transport them.. all while still taking care of the kids, laundry, cooking dinner, etc?!?!!?!

Once my panicked subsided, I thought about it logically… bakeries that deal with orders of more than 70 cupcakes manage to do this all the time.  Granted they have a staff to handle things, and that’s their sole priority, but still.  It couldn’t be impossible.

Google can be your friend sometimes folks… (just for the love of all things holy, don’t Google any medical symptoms you may have… just don’t).  I found quite a few websites that talked about freezing cupcakes (and cakes in general).  Hmm now that was an interesting idea!  After some more research, I had a plan!

Luckily, my cupcake recipe makes about 35 – 36 cupcakes, so I’d only need to double the recipe.  I decided I’d make one batch regular vanilla, and add sprinkles to the second batch to make it more of a “funfetti” type of cupcake.  For as light and airy as these cupcakes are, the batter is fairly dense, so the sprinkles stay suspended in the batter instead of falling to the bottom.  As far as transporting them, my husband found these adorable cupcake containers on Amazon, which I’ll reuse as many times as I can… they worked perfectly!

The Wednesday before her party I got to baking, making one batch in the morning, and one in the afternoon.  Once they had fully cooled (this is important), I wrapped each cupcake in plastic wrap, then placed the wrapped cupcakes in large ziploc bags, and froze them.  I didn’t have the freezer space, but luckily, it was frigid here in Ohio that week, so I just put them in the garage and they froze anyway 🙂  Looking back, I don’t know that the plastic wrap was necessary, since I was only freezing them for a couple of days, but better safe than sorry!

Friday night after the kids had gone to bed I pulled the frozen cupcakes out of the garage and got to work unwrapping them.  I put the cupcakes in the plastic containers, since I figured it would be easier to decorate them already in the container, rather than trying to carefully place a decorated cupcake into the holder.  By the time I got done unwrapping the cupcakes, the first ones I unwrapped were already thawed.  Yep, that quickly.  Awesome huh?

My daughter and I had browsed on Pinterest and found some cute cupcakes with a balloon design that didn’t look too terribly complicated.  Kudos to all of you who can decorate cakes with those amazing designs… sadly, I cannot (yet), so I needed something simple.  I decided on sky blue frosting piped on with a round tip, white frosting with my star tip to be the clouds, m&m’s as the balloons, and melted milk chocolate to make the strings.  So I set to work making my two batches of frosting.  My method for decorating is to use Wilton disposable decorating bags with a coupler and a decorating tip.  Although for my white frosting, I didn’t have a coupler, just used the bag and the tip, and it worked just fine 🙂

The softest, fluffiest, tastiest cupcakes EVER!!

My “funfetti” cupcakes on decorating night.  Nope, your eyes aren’t wrong, there are no sprinkles in that bottom right cupcake, lol, I ran out of spots for my vanilla cupcakes so that one hitched a ride with his funfetti counterparts 🙂

The softest, fluffiest, tastiest cupcakes EVER!!

There’s some of the finished product… not professional by any standards… but cute and delicious 🙂

The softest, fluffiest, tastiest cupcakes EVER!!

The softest, fluffiest, tastiest cupcakes EVER!!

The softest, fluffiest, tastiest cupcakes EVER!!
This cupcake is a week old… and still moist I might add!

Some sites say you can freeze cupcakes that have been frosted, but I’ve never tried that… if you have, let me know how it went! 🙂

So there you go… how you can easily make cupcakes for a crowd, days in advance… with less stress right before the party, and they still taste great!!

Remember, for the cupcake and buttercream recipe, go to Vanilla Cupcakes.

You May Also Like...

  • The softest, fluffiest, tastiest cupcakes EVER
    Moist and delicious vanilla cupcakes
  • These Bourbon Vanilla Cupcakes are perfectly moist, and completely irresistible!  Light and fluffy cupcakes are spiked with bourbon and swirled with creamy vanilla buttercream for the ultimate dessert. #cupcakes #baking #dessert #vanilla #bourbon #fallbaking #dessertrecipe
    Bourbon Vanilla Cupcakes
  • White Chocolate Pink Champagne Cupcakes | Soft, fluffy, white chocolate mini champagne cupcakes are topped with a light and creamy pink champagne buttercream frosting for the perfect treat!! | http://thechunkychef.com
    Pink Champagne Cupcakes
  • Deliciously moist with a few surprise ingredients, you have to try these strawberry lemonade cupcakes! It's like taking a bite out of summer :)
    Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes
Previous Post
Next Post

Meet The Chunky Chef

Hey there! I'm Amanda. Wife, mother, photography nerd, and bacon lover! I believe that delicious meals should be easy to make. Now that you’re here, stay a bit, browse a few recipes, and let’s get cookin’!

Learn More

Reader Interactions

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Have a question? Submit your question, comment, or review below.

Recipe Rating




  1. Hannah says

    Posted on 5/17 at 9:49 pm

    Hi Amanda! I’m planning on making cupcakes for my son’s first birthday party soon using your method in advance! After you frosted the cupcakes Friday night, did you leave them on the counter overnight? Thanks!

    Reply
    • The Chunky Chef says

      Posted on 5/17 at 10:21 pm

      Hi Hannah! Awww first birthdays are the best… happy early birthday to him 🙂 You can either leave them on the counter or refrigerate them. I’ve found buttercream is okay at room temp for a couple of days, but some people are more comfortable refrigerating them. I do highly recommend keeping the cupcakes in a container of some kind, otherwise the cupcakes could dry out.

      Reply
  2. Amber says

    Posted on 11/5 at 10:32 pm

    Could this be made into a cake? If so baking time and temperature? Thanks

    Reply
    • The Chunky Chef says

      Posted on 11/5 at 10:46 pm

      Hi Amber 🙂 Yes, it absolutely can! Keep the same 325 degree baking temperature, make sure you grease your cake pans, fill them to about 1 inch from the top, and bake them about 35-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean 🙂

      Reply
  3. Nicole Neverman says

    Posted on 1/22 at 12:26 am

    Thank you so much for attending week 17 of #PureBlogLove and linking your fantastic blog post, I can’t wait to see what you have in store for our next party, Thursday 8 PM EST- Sundays at midnight. Your post has been added to the #PureBlogLove Pinterest board for all to see 🙂 Have a great day!
    Nicole

    Reply
    • The Chunky Chef says

      Posted on 1/22 at 7:23 am

      Thank you! I’ll see you there 🙂

      Reply
  4. Suchitra says

    Posted on 1/20 at 5:10 pm

    I totally feel you! I have never tried freezing the cupcakes! That would be a first for me. Your cupcake and the decoration ( frosting) looks good. Kudos to you.

    Reply
    • The Chunky Chef says

      Posted on 1/20 at 8:41 pm

      Thank you so much! 😀

      Reply
  5. Andrev says

    Posted on 1/19 at 6:23 pm

    I thought this was delish! I made it a few months back for a few friends and there was none left at the end of dinner 🙂

    Reply
    • The Chunky Chef says

      Posted on 1/19 at 8:54 pm

      Awesome, glad to hear it!

      Reply
  6. Meghan@CleanEatsFastFeets says

    Posted on 1/19 at 6:08 pm

    Wow, these are great and you made soooo many. I’m incredibly impressed. They certainly look professional by my standards. Maybe you found a new calling….

    Reply
    • The Chunky Chef says

      Posted on 1/19 at 8:54 pm

      Thank you so much!! It was a big undertaking, but fun to accomplish 😀 You’re so sweet, I definitely enjoyed decorating them 🙂

      Reply
  7. Thao @ In Good Flavor says

    Posted on 1/19 at 1:20 pm

    I think you did a terrific job decorating the cupcakes. They are adorable. And I love how your week old cupcake was still moist.

    Reply
    • The Chunky Chef says

      Posted on 1/19 at 2:00 pm

      Thank you so much!! I was amazed at how fresh and moist it still was 🙂

      Reply
  8. Janine says

    Posted on 1/18 at 8:49 pm

    These look so great and the balloon design is super cute! That is awesome that you made cupcakes for your daughter’s birthday party! I’m glad it all worked out with the transportation and all. Thanks for the tip – didn’t realize that you could freeze cupcakes either but that would be super handy if you were making them in large batches! Thanks for sharing =)

    Reply
    • The Chunky Chef says

      Posted on 1/18 at 8:51 pm

      Thank you so much!! 😀 I loooooove Pinterest for decorating ideas like that… there’s so many great ideas out there 🙂 Glad you enjoyed the freezing tip… I think I may have some frozen on hand in my freezer so if I decide I just have to have a cupcake… it’ll already be done 😀

      Reply
  9. skd says

    Posted on 1/18 at 12:55 pm

    You are a pro at baking

    Reply
    • The Chunky Chef says

      Posted on 1/18 at 8:20 pm

      You are so sweet to say so, thank you! I’m learning as I go 🙂

      Reply
  10. Julie is HostessAtHeart says

    Posted on 1/16 at 12:45 pm

    Adorable cupcakes. I love the balloon design and the beautiful purple too. The container that your husband found is great. No sliding around and plenty of room for the frosting.

    Reply
    • The Chunky Chef says

      Posted on 1/16 at 2:08 pm

      Thank you!! 🙂 That container was a life-saver, for sure! I’ll actually be using them again this weekend 🙂

      Reply
  11. Jhuls says

    Posted on 1/16 at 11:27 am

    You are using my favorite color – Purple!! 😀 😀
    That’s what I thought when I decided to bake – it might be a disaster as I really don’t follow the exact ingredients. Somehow, baking taught me how to follow instructions (of course, I have to follow or else fail) and to be patient as well. Hmmm, okay. not at all times, 😛 Anyway, everything here look awesome. Happy FFand I need to get myself those cupcakes first. 😀 Please be sure to come back at next week’s party. 🙂

    Reply
    • The Chunky Chef says

      Posted on 1/16 at 2:06 pm

      Woohoo!! It’s my daughter’s favorite color as well 😀 You’re right baking does teach us to slow down, follow the recipe 🙂

      Reply
  12. Sarah @ Sarah's Kitchen says

    Posted on 1/16 at 10:51 am

    Those cupcakes look great! So delicious and cute 😀
    Happy FF!

    Reply
    • The Chunky Chef says

      Posted on 1/16 at 2:03 pm

      Thank you!! I was happy they turned out 🙂

      Reply
  13. Judi Graber says

    Posted on 1/16 at 8:51 am

    Who does not love a cupcake even a small one. I have been baking and decorating cakes (only for fun) for almost 30 years since I took my first cake decorating class. You would not believe how many Wilton products I have. Love their catalog too as they give you lots of good ideas. They have published a cupcake book too! We all will enjoy one or two of your sweet treats – thanks for sharing with Fiesta Friday #51 🙂

    Reply
    • The Chunky Chef says

      Posted on 1/16 at 10:30 am

      Wilton is amazing… I drool over all their products lol. Ooooooh a cake decorating class, that would be fun 🙂 I’ll have to look into that cupcake book!

      Reply
  14. Anna International says

    Posted on 1/16 at 8:43 am

    Love it! And the idea of funfetti ones for kids is so great!
    And I agree, with the piping bag you’re looking pretty professional!

    Reply
    • The Chunky Chef says

      Posted on 1/16 at 10:28 am

      Thank you!! Most kids love sprinkles so I figured I’d toss em in 🙂

      Reply
  15. Dini @ Giramuk's Kitchen says

    Posted on 1/15 at 11:17 pm

    Those cupcakes look fantastic! Eventhough you say you are not, those cupcakes make you look like a seasoned pro at decorating 🙂

    Reply
    • The Chunky Chef says

      Posted on 1/16 at 7:30 am

      Thank you, that’s so sweet of you to say!! 😀

      Reply

Primary Sidebar

welcome!

Hey there! I'm Amanda. Wife, mother, photography nerd, and bacon lover! I believe that delicious meals should be easy to make. Now that you’re here, stay a bit, browse a few recipes, and let’s get cookin’!

New! Save Recipes To Your Own Account!

Free eBook!

Subscribe & receive my most popular recipes compiled into an easy ebook format!

download now!

Subscribe & Receive My Free Recipe Ebook!

Game Day Recipes!

These crowd-pleasing tender meatballs are smothered in a super flavorful honey garlic bbq sauce.  Perfect for parties, this crockpot meatball recipe couldn't be more simple to make! #meatballs #crockpot #slowcooker #honeygarlic #bbq #appetizer #party #honey #garlic #easyrecipe

Honey Garlic Crockpot Meatballs

2 hours 5 minutes

Smooth and silky queso dip, made using NO velveeta!  Packed with flavor, yet so easy to make, and party ready in just 20 minutes! #queso #dip #cheese #mexican #appetizer #party #cincodemayo #easyrecipe

Queso Dip Recipe

20 minutes

Creamy, cheesy, and oh so addicting, this bacon cheeseburger dip is just like your favorite gooey cheeseburger... but in a party-ready dip form! #bacon #gameday #cheesy #cheeseburger #party #appetizer #dip #easyrecipe

Creamy Bacon Cheeseburger Dip

32 minutes

Insanely tasty chicken wing recipe, dry rubbed, then hickory smoked to perfection.  And don't forget the homemade bourbon bbq sauce! #chickenwings #wingrecipe #smoked #smoker #smokedchickenwings #bourbon #bbq #crispy

Bourbon BBQ Smoked Chicken Wings

3 hours

This easy game day appetizer combines classic buffalo wing flavors with cool creaminess in an easy dip made in the crockpot. Perfect for any party, serve it up with chips or celery sticks and watch everyone go back for seconds!

Buffalo Chicken Dip (Crockpot Recipe)

2 hours 10 minutes

Chicken Taco Mexican Pinwheels | These pinwheels are filled with a creamy chicken taco filling, which is easily customizable, and rolled up to make a perfect appetizer or party food! | http://thechunkychef.com

Chicken Taco Mexican Pinwheels

15 minutes

More Holiday Recipes >

Who doesn’t love free stuff?

Who doesn't love free stuff? Get an ad-free ebook of my most popular recipes, plus be the FIRST to know about new things coming to the site!

Looking for something?

As Seen On…

Stay Connected

subscribe to get new posts via email:

Quick & Easy

Dinner Favorites

Hearty and positively soul-warming, this beef barley soup simmers all day in the slow cooker, which makes for an incredibly rich soup recipe! #beefbarley #soup #slowcooker #crockpot #comfortfood #barley #beefsoup #easyrecipe #dinner
M

Crockpot Beef Barley Soup

white bowl of chicken and dumplings
T

Instant Pot Chicken & Dumplings

HONEY GARLIC SALMON - Succulent and tender salmon filets cooked in a mouthwatering simple honey garlic sauce, then broiled until sticky and caramelized.  Made with simple ingredients, in one pan, and in just 20 minutes! #salmon #honeygarlic #onepan #easyrecipe #dinner #seafood #fish
W

Honey Garlic Glazed Salmon

Light and filling, this Italian Wedding Soup is perfectly delicious comfort food, all year round.  Made in one pan, and ready in 30 minutes, this recipe is great for a weeknight meal! #soup #souprecipe #Italianweddingsoup #onepot #30minutemeal #weeknight #dinner #easyrecipe #homemaderecipe
R

Italian Wedding Soup

This Honey Garlic Chicken is one incredible weeknight dinner idea. Juicy chicken coated and cooked with a glorious sauce made with soy, hoisin, garlic, honey and more! Toss it all in the slow cooker and let it do the work for you! #dinner #chicken #asian #honey #garlic #honeygarlic #easyrecipe #weeknight #slowcooker #crockpot
F

Honey Garlic Chicken

S

Swedish Meatballs

Opens in a new window Opens an external site Opens an external site in a new window
free e-book!

Download MY Free Recipe eBook!

Subscribe & receive my most popular recipes compiled into an easy ebook format!

get my copy!

Subscribe & Receive My Free Recipe Ebook!

As Featured On:

Back to Top

Recipes

Dinners

Appetizers

Desserts

Slow Cooker

Learn to Cook

Start Here

Tips & Tricks

e-Cookbook

Easy Recipes

  • About
  • Work With Me
  • Privacy
  • Contact
© 2023 The Chunky Chef
Site Credits Designed by Melissa Rose Design Developed by Once Coupled
Back to Top