Pull-Apart Cupcake Cake "Beach"

Ingredients:

Cupcakes

• 24 waffle ice cream cones (flat bottom)
• 1 package (500 g) vanilla cake mix
• 3 large eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tubes of vanilla glaze (450g each)
• 0.5 tsp blue food coloring + more as needed
• 1.5 cups crushed graham crackers
• Special equipment: 2 12-cup muffin tins, a serving tray, a spatula, a pastry bag and a large leaf-shaped tip, cocktail umbrellas, wire for closing the bag, a toothpick, a square notepad

Decoration

• Blue crystal lollipops
• Flat gummy candies of various colors, such as Airheads or Fruit Roll-Ups
• Graham Cracker Bears
• Sea Pebbles Candies
• 1 salted straw
• 2 lime wedges
• Granulated sugar for rolling
• Gummy fish, turtles, sharks, whales, starfish and other sea creatures
• Marmalade rings
• 1 caramel candy, such as Goetze's Caramels

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 175°C. Place ice cream cones in muffin tins so they stand upright.
2. Cupcakes:
   
   In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cake mix, eggs, oil, and 1 teaspoon cold water. Mix on low speed just to combine, then increase the speed to high and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. Divide the batter among the waffle cones. Bake until the cupcakes rise above the rims of the cupcake cones and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 18-20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
3. Set aside about 1/4 cup vanilla frosting in a small bowl. Place the remaining frosting in a clean mixer bowl and add about 0.5 teaspoon blue food coloring. Beat, adding food coloring as needed to achieve an aquamarine color.
4. Spread a small amount of frosting on the bottom of the cupcake cup (this will help secure it to the tray), then generously frost the top. Place it on the tray and repeat with the remaining cupcake cups, arranging them in 4x6 rows so the edges of the cupcakes touch.
5. Using an offset spatula, spread the blue frosting over the top of each cupcake, adding more frosting as needed to cover the cupcakes. Spread the remaining blue frosting around the sides to cover the cupcakes but not the cups.
6. Sprinkle one half of the cupcakes with crushed graham crackers, creating a wavy line down the center, like water meeting a sandy beach. Place the remaining white frosting in a piping bag fitted with a large leaf-shaped tip. Pipe white frosting along the edge where the water and sand meet to create a rippled wave.
7. To decorate the beach half of the cake, place blue lollipops just behind the crashing waves to add texture. Stick a few beach umbrellas into the sand, making sure they're nestled into the cupcakes rather than in the spaces between them. Cut flat candy, like beach towels, and place them under the umbrellas, then place the sunbathing bears on top of the towels. Place piles of sea pebbles nearby.
8. To make the palm trees, sprinkle a little sugar on your work surface and roll or flatten the lime wedges. Cut them into 5 pieces, like palm fronds. If you have time, let the fronds dry and harden for half an hour. Break the straws in half and glue the fronds on top to form a palm tree. Insert the tree into one of the cupcakes on the beach side.
9. Attach one end of the wire to the gummy fish, and wrap the other end around the remaining half of the straw to create a fishing rod. Stick the rod in the sand and place the fisherman bear next to it.
10. To decorate the sea-side half of the cake, arrange sea creatures made from gummy bears on the water. Push a few cookie bears into the gummy bear rings and set them on the waves. Flatten or roll the caramel candy, then crimp the edges to form a boat. Attach a piece of paper to a toothpick to form a sail. Insert it into the boat and place the sailor bear on top.