Saturday 19 September 2009

Halloween Cupcakes


image courtesy of clevercupcakes

Hi everyone! I'm back after taking a long vacation with new recipes and ideas and decorating!
Before I get started on Halloween Cupcakes, I've gotten a lot of emails requesting cupcake recipes. I'm thrilled that everyone loves cupcakes so much, though about 50% of the recipes requested by email I already have posted on this site. So if I don't respond to your email, it's only because the recipe is already posted here!

Enough of that, let's talk Halloween! Halloween is probably one of my top three favorite holidays since I was a child. As a youngster, I loved dressing up and trick or treating. As a young adult I enjoyed dressing up and dancing, and as an adult I so much enjoy dressing up, giving out treats, and baking for the holiday. One of my favorite Halloween treats are Halloween cupcakes. They're so delicious and you can have unlimited fun decorating them.

A great base for your Halloween cupcakes is either a vanilla or a deep chocolate base. Chocolate cupcakes are good if you want to use white frosting (or orange) (or a swirl!) and vanilla cupcakes are good for a white base with orange and chocolate frosting or good if you want to add some orange food dye for an orange base. Either way, I would say keep your base simple because you're going to go crazy decorating Halloween cupcakes! If you do want to be more adventurous though, a great alternative is pumpkin cupcakes. They're very festive and perfect for the season.

You can find recipes on this site for all of your cupcake recipe needs and frosting recipe needs. Just look at the links on the right under labels!

Now lets get to the point: Halloween cupcake ideas. Before I start, most Halloween cupcakes will have a flat frosting, meaning no fancy swirls or peaks.

1. Pumpkin face decoration: This is by far my favorite Halloween cupcakes decoration. It's traditional and works every time. For this you will need to use vanilla frosting or pumpkin frosting. If you're using vanilla you need to use food dye to make an orange frosting, this can be accomplished by combining red and yellow. Lay a flat layer of the frosting on your Halloween cupcakes. Now you'll need a pastry bag with a small tip and fill it with chocolate frosting. Use the chocolate frosting to make the pumpkin face. Triangles for eyes and a toothy grin should do the trick!

2. Ghost cupcakes: These are fun and easy to decorate! These Halloween cupcakes are simple. I would use a chocolate cupcake for your base, or a orange vanilla or pumpkin base. Simply place a white, flat layer of frosting on the cupcake. Then take a marshmallow and place it on top of the frosting. You can frost the marshmallow for a more textured and ghost shaped Halloween cupcake or you can leave it bare. Now you'll need candy coated sesame seeds, or something similar and place it on the ghosts for the eyes! Viola! Perfect ghost cupcakes!

3. Candy corn cupcakes: These, too, are great Halloween cupcakes. They're easy to make and fun to eat. (They don't actually have candy corn in them). You will need chocolate cupcakes for this, and vanilla icing in white, yellow, and orange. You will also need a flat icing spatula for this one. First with your spatula plop down the white icing in the center of the cupcake. Pat it down in the center to push the edges out a little. Wipe off your spatula. Then take a smaller plop of orange frosting and plop it in the center of the white frosting. Pat it down in the center to push the edges out, but not quite as far as the white. Repeat this process with the yellow frosting but again with a smaller plop. Now take the spatula and carefully swirl these frosting together into a peak. You will apply slight pressure on the edge of the spatula and start from the outside of the frosting and work your way in and up!

4. Graveyard cupcakes: Again, a great treat and a perfect Halloween cupcakes. You will need chocolate frosting, green sprinkles and milano cookies cut in half. First put down a flat layer of chocolate frosting onto your cupcakes. Then sprinkle some green sprinkles over it, this is your grass. Take a pastry bag with a small tip and write things on the milano cookies such as "R.I.P" or put a cross. Now take the milano cookie and place it on the cupcakes, pushing it into the Halloween cupcakes slightly so that it will stay upright.

This should give you a great start in getting ready for Halloween!
These Halloween cupcakes ideas are sure to impress and you'll have so much fun baking and decorating them. Enjoy your Halloween and come back for more cupcake recipes and ideas.

5 comments:

  1. I love that you posted this. I, like yourself, also love Halloween for baking (in particular cupcakes) and hanging out with friends. It's my second favorite holiday! Would you be able to post pictures of the ghost, candy corn and graveyard cupcakes? I would love to see them.

    PS - your recipes are truly the greatest. I've gotten crazy compliments on the red velvet cake, banana cupcakes and I love your buttercream frosting. : )

    ::: Nathalie

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  2. Oh my goodness ! Fantastic - thank you !

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  3. So glad someone else has asked for pictures for the graveyard and ghost cupcakes!
    Plz plz plz can you put up some pics.

    Thanks!

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  4. So cute! I love those jackolantern cupcakes!!

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  5. Excellent post and writing style. Bookmarked.

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