Halloween Cupcakes

Happy Halloween Eve Everyone! 
(although it's technically halloween now because I took so long to write this post :) haha)

As promised, today's post is going to be all about the halloween-themed cupcakes I made today. I had two designs in mind for decorating my cupcakes, and so I made 12 of them and decorated half with one design and half with another. I've decided to write this post in a step-by-step style so you can make your own halloween-themed cupcakes (or any themed cupcakes).

I used a simple victoria sponge/sandwich cake recipe from Be-ro because I've been using their recipe for as long as I can remember. The only adjustments you need to make to the recipe is the time you bake the cakes for and the temperature. I pop them in the oven for 12-15 minutes and set the temperature to 190°C. Remember to pre-heat your oven before baking your cupcakes. For decorate the cupcakes, I've used Be-ro's buttercream recipe and added food colouring to get the colours I want. Here's a list of ingredients you'll need to make the cupcakes: 

For the cake 

100g self-raising flour

100g margarine 

100g caster sugar

2 medium eggs

(optional, I used this! just add a few drops) vanilla flavouring/essence  

 For the buttercream

100g icing sugar 

50g butter or margarine 

(optional) food colouring

(optional) flavourings 

(optional) cake decorations

Other things you'll need 

Cupcake/Paper cases

Wooden spoon or electronic whisk

A spoon for weighing out the ingredients

Several bowls to put your ingredients into

Kitchen scales 

A large mixing bowl

2 standard sized baking trays

I couldn't resist buying this 'bake for halloween' stork margarine set as soon as I spotted it in Iceland. I always use stork margarine when I'm baking so that's what I used today :) 

The photograph above shows the ingredients needed to make the cupcakes. I always crack my eggs into a seperate bowl and whisk them with a fork because I think it's easier to add a little bit of the egg at a time this way, but you can just crack the eggs straight into the mixture if you prefer to do it that way. I weighed the margarine in the mixing bowl because it can be a little tricky to get all of it out of a seperate bowl into the mixing bowl for step 1. So here's what you do to actually make the cakes. You can use an electronic whisk or like me who prefers to do it all by hand, a wooden spoon. 

Step 1: Mix the margarine and caster sugar together until it's light and fluffy

Step 2: Once you have a light and fluffy mixture, it's time to add the flour and the egg. Do this by adding little bits at a time and slowly folding the mixture at first to prevent lots of air bubbles ending up in your cupcakes and then mix it as normal. 

Step 3: After all the egg and flour is added, you'll have a creamy mixture that's ready to spoon into your paper cases. If you want to add vanilla (or another) flavouring to your cake, add a few drops now and mix in.

Step 4: Place the cupcakes onto a baking tray and put into the middle of oven for 12-15 minutes. After they have been in for 12 mins, check to see if they are done by poking a knife or fork into the centre of a cupcake and if the knife/fork is clear when pulled out, then they are fully baked and ready to come out of the oven.

Step 5: Take the cupcakes off the baking tray and put them onto a plate or a cooling rack, and leave them to cool before adding any buttercream. 

After the cupcakes have cooled, it's time to make the buttercream. If you don't like buttercream, you could add chocolate or icing to your own cupcakes. For my halloween-themed cupcakes, I decided I wanted some covered with green buttercream and the others with orange. I couldn't find these colours in my local ASDA so I bought yellow, blue and red to mix together and create the colours myself. I purchased some sprinkles from B&M Bargains to put on top of the buttercream, and I also bought a little set from Poundland that included cute orange paper cases with frankensteins and bats on and cardboard cake toppers. Into the orange coloured buttercream I decided to add orange flavouring, too (from ASDA). To make the buttercream:

Step 1: Add the butter or margarine (I used stork margarine again) and icing sugar into a large mixing bowl and mix together. At first, the mixture will look similar to a crumble as the icing sugar begins to stick to the margarine. Eventually, it will start to look like a thick paste and will be finished when it is easy to mix and has a creamy texture. 

Step 2: If you want to add flavouring or colour to your buttercream, add it now and stir it until it is fully mixed it. Now it's ready to be added to the top of your cupcakes, either using a piping bag or a spoon (like how I do it!). 

Step 3: Once on top of your cupcakes, you can add all the decoration you like to make them look yummy and pretty.

Here are my completed cupcakes. I hope you enjoyed this step-by-step halloween-themed cupcake post. Let me know if you'd like to see similar baking posts in the future. I love baking!

Thanks for reading

 ♥

Which is your favourite of my two cake designs?

Who else has done some halloween baking?