My first cupcake tower

I was asked by Michelle, a friend at work, if I would make her some cupcakes for her upcoming 30th birthday. She was having a masked ball themed celebration and wanted vanilla, chocolate and red velvet cuppies for her party. 

I had been umm-ing and ahhh-ing over whether to buy a cupcake tower stand for a while; and this gave me the perfect excuse to buy one!! I bought the 7 tier Maypole stand from Classikool, these pictures show the smallest 5 tiers of the stand in use. The service was great and the delivery was quick. The stand is also fab! Very sturdy. If I ever need more stands, I will definitely consider using them again.

I hadn't made a red velvet cake before - I hadn't even tasted one! - but got some advice from a red velvet cupcake pro Kelly from Crafty Confections [thanks Kelly ;)] and I feel that my first attempt was [pretty much] a success! I really liked the flavour of the cakes, a creamy taste, the only downside was that they weren't the bright red that you picture when you imagine a red velvet cake. I've put this down to the colour I used, the Silverspoon Red. It seems that most manufacturers have opted for using natural colouring and, whilst I agree that this is for the best in most situations, it doesn't make for a good red velvet!!! I think I'm going to need to have a few more practise runs on these to get that signature colour. 

All of the cupcakes were topped with whipped buttercream. I can't get enough of it! It's delicious :) I also decorated half of them with red and yellow butterflies which I had made using the PME butterfly cutters, flower paste and edible dusting powders. 

Here are the cakes in situ at the party. I set up the display in the function room alongside the buffet. I'm really pleased with how the tower turned out and I'm looking forward to having another opportunity to use my stand! :)