Halloween Cupcakes

Let's be real for a minute. A cupcake by itself is a perfectly good thing, but when you slap a witches hat, pumpkin or itty-bitty ghost on top you know you're in for a good time!

As most of the population would be aware another Halloween has just passed on by and this year I was requested to make some special cupcakes for when the neighbourhood kids came by. Being the obliging person that I am I said yes and so I thought I would share with you a few very basic ways you can decorate your cupcakes, be it for the next Halloween or simply because you have free will and can do what ever you very well please, official calendar dates be damned!  

1. Terrifying Tombstones

 

Super easy and quick! Just crush up some chocolate biscuits in a food processor and dip in an iced cupcake. Grab some grey fondant or gumpaste (or I used black and then painted it with grey lustre dust) and shape it into a flat tombstone then use a toothpick or something similar to carve out an 'RIP'. Stick it into the crumbed icing and you're done! 

If you're feeling fancy you could also go a step further and make a fondant hand coming out of the ground...  Just a thought for the gruesome minded...

2. Ghoulish Ghosts

 

As adorable as they are, these little ghosties are actually really simple! Simply take one iced cupcake, stick an Eskimo Snowball on top (if you don't know what they are check them out here - basically they are a chocolate and coconut covered marshmallow which give the ghosts their shape!). Roll out some plain white fondant/gumpaste and cut a circle out for each cupcake. Drape it over top of the snowball and paint on some little eyes and a mouth with some black food colouring. Bada-bing bada-boom! Boo!

3. Party Time Pumpkins 

 

 

 Got some fondant or gumpaste and food colouring? Then your set! 

Simply roll your fondant into small balls and use the back of a knife, a toothpick or whatever other tools you can find to press some grooves around the sides of the balls and press gently into the top of the ball to make them less spherical and more 'pumpkin-like'. Let them dry and harden a little (if you have the time, I didn't and they still worked out fine!) and then use some orange food colouring diluted with a drop of water (I didn't have orange so mixed some yellow and red) to paint them the perfect shade of Halloween spirit! Take a small amount of brown fondant, roll it into a short snake with your fingers and stick it in the top to make a stem. That's it! Now just pop them on top of your iced cupcakes!

 

 

 

 

4. Boo! and also a bit of Ahhh! 

 

Want to express your terror in painted message form? Simply grab some white fondant/gumpaste, roll it flat and cut out a small circle for each cupcake. Pinch a 'corner' of the circle (yes I am aware circles don't have corners, don't get sassy with me!) to make it into more of a speechbubble shape and let it dry out. Then go in with some plain black food colouring and a paintbrush and write whatever scary message your heart desires! No message is to generic!  

 

5. Jack Skull-etons

 

 

See what I did there? Yeah you do!

I love Tim Burton films and 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' is a classic! Thus we have the cupcake dedicated to Jack Skeleton, King of Halloween. 

Like a number of the others really, grab some white fondant or gumpaste, roll it flat and cut out circles bit enough to mostly cover the top of your iced cupcake. Let it dry out hard (otherwise it will sag when sitting on the moist icing! Be warned!) and then paint on a your Jack faces in a variety of expressions using black food colouring. Stick it on top of your iced cupcakes and there you have it, a hoard of adorable Jack Skull-etons! 

 

6. Wicked Witch's Hats 

Is there anything more 'Halloween-y' than a witch? Possibly, but this is neither the time nor place for such a debate. Instead just be satisfied adorning your cupcakes with their cliche head wear!

Take a small piece of black fondant and roll it into a short sausage, tapering one end so that it is much thinner than the other. Use your fingers to pinch the fat end to create a flat brim of the hat and then slightly bend the thin end to give the hat a little more shape. Roll a tiny piece of yellow (or other colour) fondant into a very thin snake and form it into a square buckle to stick on the front of your witch's hat. Stick that baby on top to perfectly accessorise your cupcake! 

And there you have it! 

Hopefully you find these tips useful the next time Halloween rolls around and have fun freaking out and/or delighting your friends, family or neighbourhood juveniles!