Cupcake Stall Ideas

Top 10 tips for running a ‘Create-a-Cupcake’ stand – Cupcake Stall Ideas

A reader recently asked for advice on how to run a ‘Create-a-Cupcake’ stall for her school fete. This idea can also be used as a lunchtime activity fundraiser.

Disclaimer #1: I am by no means a domestic queen and I never bake if I can get away with it – so I put the call out on Facebook for some suggestions and this is merely a collection of great ideas from a lot of clever people out there!

Disclaimer #2: This is a long one again – I promise to try to make them shorter!

1. Decorate the stall using bunting – very quick/ easy to make and adds to the atmosphere.

2. You can ask for un-iced cupcakes to be donated by families, but sometimes you are better off organising a huge bake-a-thon (or delegate to a specific group of people who understand the ‘specs’) so the cakes can be consistent. Smaller is better, and flatter cupcakes are easier to ice. Remember – cupcakes can be frozen (Snaplock bags work well).

3. You can purchase commercial quantities of muffin/ cupcake mix to make the baking process easier.

4. Contact the hospitality teacher at your local high school or TAFE – they may be interested in the experience of helping to produce the cupcakes. Alternatively, they may let your team borrow their facilities?

5. Use small plastic bowls for the icing, that way when the inevitable happens (ie the icing becomes icky) they can be quickly and easily swapped without too much wastage.

6. You can use those cupcake patty pans that stand up by themselves – you can fit more on a baking tray and have others lined up on the bench ready for a quick changeover.

7. Have small tubs of lollies (in great quantities as you’ll need to re-fill them regularly!). Sour-straps cut up small work really well and are popular, as are the perennial faves: Snakes (chopped in half!) Smarties, small marshmallows, bullets, Jaffas etc. You can go to a bulk confectionery supplier or attempt to have families donate lollies in the lead-up (but be specific about the type you want otherwise you’ll end up with mini mars bars which are not ideal).

8. You can have lovely pictures printed up from Pinterest, however, small kids will be more interested in loading up their cupcake with as many lollies as humanly possible.

9. One genius suggestion was to have portion control already worked out – have 4 basic ‘collections’ of lollies (with sample cupcake pictured on display) and wrap the allocated selection of lollies (eg 4 smarties, 2 freckles, 1 snake) in cling-wrap bundles or snap-lock bags. Much less chance of little hands in everything, and stops anyone from having to become the ‘greedy police’!

10. What about taking a photo of each finished cupcake for a competition at the end of the day. You can even have a mini ‘podium’ backdrop ready made with your event name so that the photo becomes a cool souvenir, and then text/ email it straight to the parent on the day as a momento. Each year-level can have a prize-winner announced at the end of the day.

Written by Mandy Weidmann