Halloween Baking - Katie Charlotte Blogs

As a lover of baking, I couldn’t resist creating some Halloween themed cupcakes.

DSC02281-1 — Home Baker cookbook, mixing bowl, cupcake cases, sprinkles and book holder all purchased at HomeSense

DSC02315-1 — Ceramic Pumpkin plate from HomeSense

Using the DK Home Baker cookbook*, I opted for the red velvet cupcake recipe and went out to the supermarket to pick out my essentials. You will need:

125g butter

250g caster sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tsp red food colouring

1 tsp vanilla extract

250g self-raising flour

4 tbsp cocoa powder

200ml buttermilk

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

18-20 cupcake cases

I cheated and used Betty Crocker cream cheese frosting, but you can find recipes online for simple ways to make your own.

Preheat oven to 180°c. Place the butter and sugar into a large bowl and mix together until light and fluffy. Whisk the eggs, food colouring and vanilla extract in until they are well combined.
Sift the flour and cocoa powder together, adding it into the mix with the buttermilk. Whisk well, and then add the bicarb of soda into the batter.
Place the cupcake mix into the cases, evenly distributing it so it fills approx 18-20. Bake for 20-25 minutes in the oven. Leave on a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes once cooked.

Once the sponge was covered with cream cheese frosting, I lightly covered the cakes with a mix of the pumpkin and glitter sprinkles* and added the marshmallow ghosts around the centre. I used a black food icing pen to create the ghost faces and cut the tops of each marshmallow into a triangular shape, very easy and the results are effective. For the tombstones I simply cut a line into the sponge and placed a mint chocolate into it, using a cocktail stick and melted white chocolate to create the R.I.P lettering.