I admit to not wanting to take on a cupcake project with difficult decorations – even for a holiday. They are pretty to look at but then gone so very fast. After all that work! But these cupcakes from Your Cup of Cake aren’t all that hard and are more craftsy than decorating. Or at least that is what I am telling myself. So go on and whip up a batch for your Halloween party and get the kids involved in the decorating. It’s Frankenstein, so there’s no need to be pretty!
Frankenstein Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cake:
1 box Devil’s Food Cake Mix
3 eggs
1/2 C. oil
3/4 C. milk or buttermilk
3/4 C. sour cream
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Green Frosting:
1 1/2 C. butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract, optional
4-5 C. powdered sugar, as needed
green dye, liquid or gel
Ghiradelli White Melting Wafers = Whites of eyes/ Stitches (add red gel dye)
M&M’s = eye balls (I used the brown ones)
Chocolate Jimmy Sprinkles = Hair/Nose
Chocolate chips or melted chocolate = Bolts
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line pans with cupcake liners.
2. Sift cake mix to remove any lumps and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine eggs, oil, milk sour cream and vanilla extract until smooth.
4. Stir in cake mix.
5. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake for 16-20 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.
6. Let cool.
7. Eyes: Melt 1/3 Cup wafers (to use chocolate chips read the NOTE below) in a microwave proof bowl and stir until smooth. Pour into a small plastic bag and seal. Snip the corner off the bag to using as a mini piping bag. Pipe small dollops about the size of your M&Ms onto parchment, foil or wax paper. Depending on how hot your melts are, you may want to give they a few seconds to cool off, you don’t want it to be TOO runny. Then gently press an M&M into each “white” of the eyes. You can use the blue, green and red candies too! The melts will harden quickly, so don’t wait too long before putting the M&Ms on them. Let cool (only will take 5 minutes).
8. Buttercream: Beat butter for 2 minutes. Add vanilla and peppermint extract. Slowly add in powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency. Add green dye, as much as you want!
9. To assemble (see photos below), pipe a swirl of frosting on top of each cupcake. Use a knife or offset spatula to flatten the frosting. Turn the cupcake upside down and press into a bowl/plate filled with chocolate Jimmy sprinkles. Press on your eyes and use an extra sprinkle to make the nose. Use chocolate chips or Tootsie rolls (I didn’t have either on hand so I melted down some chocolate piped out little rectangles) to press into the sides as “bolts.” Put on a little “stitch” (You can use red frosting, I used a gel dye to color my extra melts from the eyes and piped out stitches). And you are done!!!
10. Happy Halloween!
NOTE: If you use chocolate chips or something else that isn’t meant for candy making, pipe them onto parchment, foil, wax paper on a baking sheet and then place the sheet in the freezer to harden. Chocolate chips take much longer to harden…