Cupcake Stands Stand Trial

Sure, you've got a cake stand, but how do you fit all those delicious little cupcakes on one tiny little cake stand.  Fear not, there are lots of cupcake stands - also known as cupcake trees - out there to display your tiny little pieces of tasty art!  But you should be careful when choosing the perfect stand for your cupcake. 

Wire Cupcake Stand
The wire cupcake stand comes in all different styles, sizes and designs.  Depending on just how many cupcakes you want to display, look for something that doesn't require too many to fill the tree or it will look pretty bare.  But that's the no brainer in your decision making.  The three biggest things to watch for are: 1) how much room is between the levels, 2) how much overlap each layer has, and 3) how level and sturdy each holder is.  Why are these three things so important?  One sugar filled reason - ICING.  Depending on how high you like to pile on your icing, you may not be able to perfectly display your cupcake without loosing some of your icing.  Whether it's interferences form the wire stand, a cupcake layered too close above, or a slanted tier that results in the cupcake toppling over, you have to be careful to choose the right wire stand for your icing style.   

Full Bottom Tiered Cupcake Stand
The full tiered cupcake stand is quite handy because it will display mini cupcakes and regular sized cupcakes without looking odd and off balance.  But, like the wire cupcake rack, there are some similar watch outs. When looking to buy this stand look at: 1) how much display room each layer has, 2) how much space is between each tier and, 3) how much overlap each layer has. Why are these three things so important to look at?  Well, just like the wire rack, if you like to pile your icing high, your tiers may interfere with your icing.  But, more importantly, you may not be able to fit many cupcakes on each level if you buy a stand that has a very shallow display space making for a sparse spread.

Disposable Cupcake Stand

Not looking to buy a stand just yet?  Don't worry, you have a few options.  The first is the cardboard disposable cupcake stand.  You can't really be too choosy with this stand, but it will let you display your cupcakes in tiers.  Your second option is to rent a stand.  Lots of catering shops and bakeries will actually rent you a cupcake stand!  The third option to getting your hands on a cupcake stand is to beg or borrow off of a friend or colleague.  But no matter what stand you use or where you get it, be sure to see just how high you can pile that icing before you start to layer it on.  If you're anything like me, you like to add a lot...especially when it's cream cheese icing like in my Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcake.