Halloween Cupcake Ideas

From LoveToKnow Recipes

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Halloween is the time for sweet treats and no Halloween party would be complete without some fun Halloween cupcake ideas.

Tiny Treats

Cupcakes are the perfect treat because they are small enough to enjoy without having a whole slice of cake. Since each one can be decorated differently, you can use all your Halloween cupcake ideas on the same batch.

Color Me Scary

Before you can decorate your cupcakes you have to bake them.

Vanilla Cupcakes

Makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

3 sticks of butter
1 ½ cups packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1 ¼ cups milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
3 cups cake flour

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan.
Let cool.
Place brown sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer.
Mix the butter and sugar using the low setting on your whisk attachment.
Make sure the mixture is room temperature before proceeding.
With the mixer running at medium speed, add the eggs one at a time.
Once the eggs are fully incorporated, add the milk.
Add the vanilla, baking powder, and salt.
Slowly add the flour until it is all fully incorporated.
Line the cupcake tins with paper cups.
Fill each cup two-thirds full.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Test by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cupcake is done.

Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients

Four ounces of unsweetened baking chocolate squares
1 stick of butter
1 cup of hot water
2 cups of sugar
2 eggs
½ cup of buttermilk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon of salt
1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Place the butter, chocolate, and boiling water in a heat proof bowl and place that bowl over a pot of simmering water. This is a Bain Marie.
Stir until the chocolate squares are melted.
Whisk in the sugar.
Remove from the heat and let the mixture come to room temperature.
Whisk in the eggs.
Whisk in the buttermilk, vanilla extract, salt, and baking soda.
Whisk in the flour until well combined.
Fill each cupcake cup two-thirds filled.
Bake for 20 minutes or until done. Test with a toothpick.

Halloween Cupcake Ideas

You can frost your cupcakes with any icing that you like. You can make your own or just buy a tub of icing from the store.

Icing designs can include

Spider cupcake: Ice the cupcake with chocolate icing; stick four black licorice laces on each side. Add two candy eyes in front and you have a spider cupcake.

Spider web cupcake: Frost the cupcake with white frosting. Using black gel food coloring draw concentric circles on the top of the cupcake, about four will work. Drag a toothpick from the outside to the center of the cupcake so the food coloring now looks like a spider web. Add a small plastic spider in the center of the cupcake.

Jack o’ lantern cupcake: Frost the cupcake with orange colored icing. Using black gel food coloring, draw a jack o’ lantern on the top.

Ghost cupcake: Frost the top of the cupcake with chocolate frosting. Draw a ghost on the top of the cupcake with white frosting in a piping bag. Add black frosting eyes.

Wormy cupcakes: Frost your cupcakes with chocolate frosting. Dip the tops of the cupcakes into crushed chocolate wafers or chocolate cookies, as long as the cookies are black. Cut a gummy worm in half and stick the cut end into the frosting.

Graveyard cupcakes: Using royal frosting, decorate some plain shortbread cookies with R.I.P. and other spooky designs. Insert the cookie into cupcake frosting that's been dipped in crushed cookies like the wormy cupcakes.