Happy Halloween to everyone: parties, trick-or-treating, mysterious nights, the memory of dead people, all saints holiday, etc. Many customs, prayers, wishes and joy. Joy from being with our beloved, joy from the comforting food and drinks. Have a good one and enjoy yourselves – Spooky Pumpkin Cupcakes.
This very recipe has a similar base as per in my Easter edition of carrot cupcakes. Pumpkin makes them very smooth and moist. Moreover, they have a beautiful autumn color of leaves. I topped them up with an easy cream cheese frosting and the rest is up to you. Gather your little ones and make some mess in the kitchen. I provide you with 4 Halloween ideas: graveyards, spiders, spider webs and ghosts.
Spooky Pumpkin Cupcakes are suitable for kids 2 plus, because of a possible egg white intolerance. Easy with the spices and toppings. These little treats create happiness, let me tell you.
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Shopping List
The Dough:
1 cup pumpkin purée (I used 200g of cleaned and diced Hokkaido)
200 g all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon of baking powder, sifted
A pinch of sea salt
½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon, ginger and cardamom
A pinch of cloves and nutmeg
160 g butter, melted
160 g raw sugar
2 whole eggs
2 splashes of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
The Topping:
200g Mascarpone Cheese, soft
50g of icing sugar, sifted
The Graveyards:
1 package of oreos
Few melted chocolate or chocolate pen to write with
Biscuits of rectangular shape
The Ghosts:
The base of graveyards (oreos)
Few marshmallows
Chocolate pen to write with
1 sheet of baking paper
The Spider Webs:
Chocolate pen to write with
A wooden skewer
The Spiders:
Few mini oreo cookies
Chocolate pen to write with
1 decorating bag
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
First, mold the chopped pumpkin into a small deep pan and cover with hot boiling water. Cook until the pumpkin is soft in about 10-15 minutes. Take it out and blend in a hand blender. Set aside and let it cool down for a bit.
The Dough
In a small mixing bowl place flour with baking powder, salt and all the spice (cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves and nutmeg). Mix.
In a large mixing bowl put the sugar with eggs and whisk. Start whisking on low-speed until well incorporated, then increase the speed to the highest. Gradually add melted butter, milk and vanilla extract.
Stir in the pumpkin.
Add dry mixture, half at a time. Give it a last whisk until smooth.
Mold the dough into lightly greased forms.
Decrease the temperature to 160 degrees and bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes, depending on their size. A wooden skewer should come clean from the middle. When you poke them on the top, they give a nice resistance.
Let them cool down entirely and then, decorate.
The Topping
In a small metal bowl place Mascarpone with sugar and mix with a spatula until it is smooth. When the Mascarpone has a room temperature, it goes very easily.
Presentation
Take a small palette knife and apply a generous amount of The Topping onto each cupcakes. Keep the cupcakes in a cold place while you prepare the rest for the decorating.
The Graveyards
Mash the oreo cookies in a blender.
Take your bisquits and write on them your message (RIP or the cross). You can use the chocolate pen or melt some chocolate and mold it into a piping bag.
Take out cupcakes you want to decorate and sprinkle with mashed oreos. Little shake and flatten softly with your fingers. The last sprinkle on top.
Stick the biscuit in the middle and serve.
The Ghosts
Apply the same procedure with oreo to resemble the graveyards.
Place the marshmallows on a baking paper sheet and melt them for a bit in the oven on 180 degrees, maximus 3-4 minutes.
Gently take them out and place quickly on top of the cupcakes. Let them cool down for a bit and make them eyes with a dot of melted chocolate or chocolate pen. Done.
The Spider Webs
Apply another layer of The Topping onto selected cupcakes. Place one at a time on a small serving plate. Turn slowly and smoothen as you go. Make it nicely flat on the top and naked on sides.
Take the chocolate pen or a piping bag of melted chocolate and make thin circles starting from the middle (3-4 in total, depending on the size of a cupcake).
Next, go through the surface with a wooden skewer, from the middle to the edge. Make 8 cuts from the middle: horizontally, vertically and diagonally. Done.
You can decorate them with spiders.
The Spiders
Place the rest of The Topping into a decorating bag and spiral it from outside to inside on rest of the cupcakes. On top of each place the spider.
Open few mini oreos and pipe them eyes with The Topping. Place a small oreo crumble in the middle. Gently transfer it onto the top of each cupcake.
Create legs with the chocolate pen or melted chocolate.
Refrigerate until serving.
Makes 15 medium cupcakes.
