1 1/2cuphot coffee360mL strong, use a mocha pot so it's basically espresso
3/4cupvegetable oil180mL
1tbsvanilla extract15mL
3cupall-purpose flour360g
2 2/3cupgranulated sugar535g
1/2cupcocoa powder65g
1 1/2tspbaking powder6g
1tbspbaking soda18g
1tspkosher salt5g
For the Buttercream:
3tspvanilla15mL
1lbconfectioner's sugar450g
1cupunsalted butter room temperature250g
3tbspheavy whipping cream45mL
Green food coloring
Orange food coloring
black gel food coloring
For the Assembly:
brown m&msregular and peanut
3/4cupmelted chocolate
Instructions
INSTRUCTIONS
For the Cupcakes:
Preheat to 350 degrees.
Add papers to a cupcake pan.
Sift together the dry ingredients (including the sugar) into a stand mixer bowl. Whisk until combined.
In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients and whisk together.
Add wet to dry ingredients in the stand mixer bowl.
Whisk to combine, then mix on level 2 for two minutes.
Distribute batter into cupcake papers. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Allow time to cool fully.
For the Buttercream:
Whip the butter for about 5 minutes using a paddle attachment on the stand mixer.
Beat in the confectioner’s sugar slowly.
Add cream and vanilla. Beat until you have an even, fluffy consistency.
For the Assembly:
For the Piping Bags:
Prepare 3 piping bags fitted with large round tips. Add green, orange and white to separate bags. These will be used as the base colors.
Add black food gel to melted chocolate, transfer to a piping bag. Snip off the tip. This will be used for the base of the mummy and facial details for multiple cupcakes.
For the Mummy:
Pipe a black base.
Fit a piping bag with a 47 flat tip, add a small amount of white buttercream.
Pipe lines to create a bandage look.
Add candy eyes.
For the Spider:
Pipe ‘L’ shaped legs onto parchment paper with the black gel bag. Transfer to the freezer for 5 - 10 minutes to set.
Pipe a white base. Switch back to the black. Pipe a spiral.
Drag a point tool or toothpick through the buttercream and chocolate layers, working from the inside out. This will create the web look.
Add a brown peanut m&m for the body and a regular brown m&m for the head. Add chocolate legs.
For the Pumpkin:
Pipe bands of orange, working from bottom to top to create a pumpkin look.
Add a green stem on top of the pumpkin.
Pipe black jack o lantern facial details.
For Frankenstein:
Pipe a green base.
Place candy eyes.
Add black facial details.
For the Skull:
Pipe a white base, then facial details with black frosting.
Video
Notes
You can substitute whole milk yogurt for the sour cream if desired, I do it all the time and can’t really tell the difference.
If you prefer your frosting to be less sweet then try whipping up a batch of Swiss or Italian buttercream. Silky smooth and delicious!
Candy eyes can be hard to find. Try upside down chocolate chips for an easy substitution.
Most of these cupcakes don't require any piping tips to make, just snip the end off of a bag. I used buttercream, melted chocolate tinted black with food coloring, M&M's and candy eyes. No fondant!
The spiders were so fun to make! I used a peanut M&M for the body, a regular M&M for the head and the piped some melted chocolate legs, which set in the freezer. If you really want to go all out you can use sanding sugar for the eyes, just attach two granules to the head using a tiny bit of buttercream or melted chocolate.