Creepy Cupcakes for Halloween

As you can probably tell, I’m deep in a cupcake frenzy. This time, the challenge was baking cupcakes for a Halloween party at school. I had come across a photo of Creepy Medusa Cupcakes in a magazine, and once I showed it to Nikhil, he was immediately on board. Of course, his “help” involved piling sour gummies not only onto the cupcakes, but also straight into his mouth.

The first step was finding the perfect vanilla cupcake recipe. After a bit of searching, I landed on Glorious Treats, and I couldn’t help but smile. Not only is she clearly brilliant at cupcake baking, but she must also know a thing or two about search marketing. Only someone with that kind of insight would name a recipe “Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes” and make it so easy for amateurs like me to find it.

She had tested countless vanilla cupcake variations, and her description of “cupcake wars” sounded so familiar that I knew I had to try this recipe.

And I have to say — she absolutely nailed it. These cupcakes were the perfect-est, moist-est, soft-est vanilla cupcakes I’ve ever made. A fantastic base recipe that works beautifully with any frosting.

For the frosting, I used a chocolate buttercream recipe from Savory Sweet Life. To make them suitably creepy, I used store-bought sour gummies, sliced them into thin strips, and piled them high on top of the frosted cupcakes. A single googly eye went on each cupcake — the only non-edible element. With a little more time, I would have made edible eyes using black and white frosting or gum paste, but the googly version did the job just fine.

The cupcakes looked perfectly creepy on the Halloween snack table and were quickly surrounded by eager 5th graders. It was oddly satisfying to watch them devour the gummy “snakes” first before moving on to the cupcakes themselves. The highlight of the day was a cheerful 5th grader who told me these were “the best cupcakes he’d ever had” and that I should write a cupcake book.

Thank you, Cooper, for the vote of confidence after just one cupcake. As for that book — I’ll get right on it, and you can be my official taste tester. Deal?

Vanilla Cupcakes

(Makes 15 cupcakes — I made 30, so simply doubled the quantities)

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups cake flour
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup oil (vegetable, canola, or extra-light olive oil)
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
  (or 1/2 cup milk plus 1/2 tsp white vinegar or lemon juice; mix and set aside for 5 minutes)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs for 10–20 seconds. Add the sugar and continue beating on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Add the vanilla extract and oil, and beat again.

4. Reduce the mixer speed to low. Add half of the flour mixture, followed by half of the buttermilk. Then add the remaining flour and the remaining buttermilk. Beat until just combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl.

5. The batter will be thin. Pour into a muffin pan lined with paper liners, filling each liner about 2/3 full.

6. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

7. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 1–2 minutes, then carefully transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

8. Frost as desired once the cupcakes are fully cooled.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

(Adapted from Savory Sweet Life)

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened (not melted)
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp vanilla extract (or 1 tsp almond extract)
• 4 tbsp milk or heavy cream

Method

1. Cream the butter in a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed for a few minutes. Turn off the mixer.
2. Sift 3 cups of the powdered sugar along with the cocoa powder into the bowl. Turn the mixer on the lowest speed until the dry ingredients are absorbed into the butter.
3. Increase the speed to medium and add the vanilla extract, salt, and milk or cream. Beat for about 3 minutes until smooth and fluffy.
4. If the frosting is too soft, add a little more powdered sugar. If it’s too thick, add milk one tablespoon at a time until you reach the desired consistency.