Poolside Bears Cupcake Pull-Apart Cake

Ingredients:

Cupcakes

• One package (430g) of ready-to-use vanilla cake mix (plus other ingredients needed)
• 1,360 gr. vanilla glaze
• Blue food coloring, as needed
• Special equipment: 2 muffin tins (12 muffin tins each); 24 paper cupcake liners; a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip; a spatula; 2 cocktail umbrellas

Decorations

• 170 g of blue-coated chocolate candies, such as M&M's
• 400 g of white-coated chocolate candies, such as M&M's
• 1 package (85 g) blue sweetened powdered gelatin (1/4 cup)
• 1 Extreme gummies ribbon
• 11 whole wheat graham cracker bears
• 2 candy bracelets
• 1 round candy covered in caramel with a chewy center "Jowbraker" from a vending machine
• 2 gummy rings, such as Lifesavers Gummies
• 1 chocolate chewy candy, such as Tootsie Roll
• 1 white, flat, chewy candy similar to taffy, such as Airheads
• 1 green, flat, chewy candy similar to taffy, such as Airheads

Preparation:

1. Baking cupcakes individually

   
   Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners. Prepare the muffins according to package instructions. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.
2. In a clean mixer bowl, combine 680 g of frosting with about 1/4 teaspoon of blue food coloring. Beat until smooth and streak-free. Add more food coloring if needed to achieve a blue frosting.

3. Forming a cake from cupcakes

   
   Spread a small amount of blue frosting on the bottom of one cupcake's paper liner (this will help secure it to the serving tray). Then generously spread frosting on top of the cupcake. Attach it to a serving tray that will hold 24 cupcakes. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes, arranging them closely together in 4 rows of 6 cupcakes.
4. Using an offset spatula, spread the blue frosting over the tops of the cupcakes, adding more as needed. The result should be a single layer, with the individual cupcakes hidden. Spread the remaining frosting around the sides to cover the cupcakes, but not the paper liners.
5. Place the remaining 1.5 lbs (680 g) of white frosting into a piping bag fitted with a large round tip. Draw a rectangle (approximately 5 by 7 inches) close to one of the short sides of the cupcake topper to create the "pool." Pipe frosting around the outside of the rectangle, filling the space to the edges of the cake with white, leaving the inside of the "pool" blue. Spread the white frosting with an offset spatula.
6. PoolPlace a row of blue MM's candies on the white icing around the perimeter of the "pool." Then do the same around the outer edge of the cupcake cake. Take the white MM's candies and fill the spaces between the blue ones with rows of white ones to create a "deck" around the "pool." Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes to set the icing.
7. Meanwhile, bring 1/2 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan. Stir in the blue gelatin until dissolved. Combine water and ice in a measuring cup to make 1/2 cup. Stir this mixture into the dissolved gelatin until the ice melts. Refrigerate until the icing sets. After 30 minutes, pour the gelatin into the "pool." Refrigerate until completely set (about 2 hours).
8. Cut a strip of "Extreme" taffy in half, making each strip slightly larger than a cracker bear. These should be "beach towels." Place one bear on each strip and place them by the "pool," where they're supposed to be relaxing. Place a cocktail umbrella nearby to provide shade.
9. Cut the bracelets where they connect to create two long strands of beads. Trim them to the length of the "pool" and lay them on the gelatin to simulate dividing lines. Carefully pull out and discard the strands, being careful not to disturb the straight lines of candy. Arrange three bears around a hard candy called a "jawbreaker" in the "pool" as if they were playing volleyball. Also, place one graham cracker animal in each gummy bear ring, which will serve as a "float ring," and place them in the "pool."
10. Cut a chocolate gummy candy crosswise into 4 pieces to make the legs of the "diving board." Cut a 4-cm-long piece from a flat white, gooey, taffy-like candy. Attach it to the legs to form the "diving board." Place it on the edge of the "pool" and attach the bear, ready to jump.
11. Cut a rectangle slightly larger than the graham cracker bear from the flat green gummy candy. Using the blunt side of a knife, score the candy to resemble the raised portions of an inflatable mattress. Attach the bear and place it in the "pool." Stick the remaining graham cracker bears into the "water" to rest.