A luau-themed birthday party calls for cupcakes in the shape of a pineapple with edible leaves made of Sugar Sheets by Wilton

Baking an allergen-free cake from your home kitchen is a fantastic act of kindness for someone with a food allergy. It allows them to feel included, and lets them know that you are willing to make the effort to give them something special. 

Last weekend, a friend of mine asked me for a nut-free recipe for chocolate cupcakes, as one of her daughter’s birthday party guests is allergic to nuts and couldn’t have cake from a traditional bakery. I offered her three options:

1. My favorite allergen-free chocolate cake recipe
2. A referral to a local nut-free bakery, and
3. An offer to bake the cupcakes for her in my peanut-free kitchen.

I don’t bake professionally, but I love the opportunity to help anyone who needs treats that are allergy-friendly! A little extra love can make a homemade cake just as pretty as the cakes that come from a professional bakery.

After my friend spoke with the mom of the food-allergic child (to make sure she was comfortable with me baking from my home kitchen), she happily asked me to bake the cupcakes myself and offered to pay me for my work. Rather than taking payment for my baking work, I’ve decided instead to ask people to make a donation to one of my favorite charities: either Food Allergy Research & Education [FARE] or Feed My Starving Children [FMSC].

Cupcakes in the shape of a Pineapple for a Luau-Themed Birthday Party

For my friend’s luau-themed party, she found an idea for cupcakes in the shape of a pineapple on Pinterest. She also said she wanted “paper for the leaves.” I thought that would be a great opportunity to try out Sugar Sheets by Wilton.

At the time of this request, it so happened that the Wilton Warehouse Sale was going on, so I bought green Sugar Sheets at a great discount. I like this product! It is easy to work with and allergy-friendly. I used kitchen scissors to cut out the leaves, then carefully shaped them on finished cupcake layout. Easy peasy, and it was a fun project!

For this “cupcake artwork,” you’ll need:

• 16 cupcakes (I made this recipe for dark chocolate cupcakes, which makes 24-28)
• 3 cups vanilla frosting, tinted yellow (try this Vanilla Frosting recipe)
• Offset spatula
• Kitchen scissors
• Icing bag with a #4 tip (small hole)
• 13×19 cake board
• A cake box for transport (optional)
• Orange-colored tape (optional)
• Scrap pieces of wax paper or parchment paper
• 1 package green Sugar Sheets by Wilton (contains 1 sheet)

Assembly:

1. Prepare your cake board. If necessary, cut the board to fit your cake box. If desired, finish the edges of the board with the orange-colored tape to hide the corrugated edge and to add a pop of color.
2. Lay out 16 chocolate cupcakes in the shape of a pineapple on the cake board, leaving plenty of room at the top for the greenery. This is the cupcake pattern: First row is 2 cupcakes, second row is 3 cupcakes, rows three and four are 4 cupcakes, and row five is 3 cupcakes.
3. Put a little frosting on the bottoms of the outer cupcakes to help keep the cupcakes from shifting in transport.
4. Where there are large gaps in between cupcakes, place a piece of crumpled wax or parchment paper. This will help provide a surface for the frosting in those areas.
5. Cover the cupcakes with the tinted yellow frosting. Carefully spread all over the tops of the cupcakes, and smooth with an offset spatula.
6. Using the icing bag fitted with a #4 tip, add a few embellishments to mimic the pattern on a real pineapple using the same frosting. Also, outline the perimeter of the pineapple.
7. Using kitchen scissors, cut the Sugar Sheets into long leaf shapes, being careful not to tear the edges.
8. Arrange the leaves at the top of the pineapple shape, securing with frosting at the base.
9. If you have extra cupcakes, you can frost them with the remaining frosting, or dip into chocolate ganache garnished with a little yellow frosting, as shown below (my friend decided were for the adults at the party!).

Cupcakes for a Good Cause

The pineapple-shaped cupcakes turned out great, and my friend generously gave a donation to FARE. She gave me a check, but I have since discovered that I can create a Team FARE fundraising page. So from now on, I can accept donations through an online transaction directly to FARE. That’s pretty cool!

I look forward to spreading more Cupcake Love!

About Sheila Ray

I've been a full-time creative communications professional since college, and my work includes art direction, graphic design, writing and photography. I run a freelance creative marketing strategy business from my home office. I'm also a mom of two children, one of which has life-threatening food allergies. I experience, learn, and discover more about myself and God's plan for me everyday. As I share my stories, I share my faith. I hope you find my blog informational and inspirational.

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