Boo, Happy Halloween! I’ve got some spooky Halloween Ghost Cupcakes that are light as air. 😉
Some baking days are not as good as others and today is one of those days!! I wanted to make some quick and easy cupcakes that were simple and fun for Halloween. But what I ended up with – was nothing but quick and simple! I tried to cheat my recipe which ended up in an unsuccessful frosting; I tried to work with it and fix the existing frosting, which ended in me running out of eggs and heading to the store for more. And in the end, it didn’t turn out anyways, I was beating a dead horse (as they say)! So I scrapped the whole thing and just started over (at this point my kitchen was a complete disaster). For some strange reason, the temperature here in Toronto decided to hit record high for autumn and as much as I love the sun beating into my kitchen it made my house incredibly hot! This made it difficult for my meringues to whip (and my chocolate ghost eyes where melting every time I touched them)! While the egg whites were beating, I decided to get a little organized and clean my kitchen – while I was doing that I ended up overmixing my meringue (ugh, even typing all of this makes me exhausted). At this point is when I’d normally throw out the frosting and start over (you see I’m a bit of a perfectionist). I’m trying hard to let things go and not stress over everything that isn’t exactly perfect! So yup, I used my imperfect frosting to make my ‘simple’ Halloween Ghost Cupcakes!! And I’m posting them to all of you! I’m guessing to any kid, they wouldn’t notice a single thing wrong, would gobble them up and go on with their day, right?! So why do I (we) feel the need to make everything so perfect?
I guess I’m writing all of this because sometimes it seems all we see is perfection here on the web (everything and everybody ‘appears’ so perfect) and it can cause anxiety and stress for so many, including me. I’m far from perfect and am constantly learning. I make mistakes just like everyone and sometimes things just don’t work out as planned. So I want to share my not so perfect cupcakes with you! I hope you enjoy the recipe and your frosting is silky and fluffy! Regardless, of how my day turned out this is my go-to cupcake recipe that is simple and fun to make, it just wasn’t a good baking day. 🙁
Does anyone else have a flopped recipe that just wouldn’t cooperate but you let the recipe win??
Ghost Cupcakes
These cute little ghost cupcakes are perfect for Halloween! They are light and fluffy as air, made with a meringue topping and vanilla cupcake base.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 24 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/3 cups full milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line two muffin tins with cupcake liners and set aside.
- Using an electric mixer cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt until well incorporated.
- Alternate flour mixture and milk to the butter mixture, beat on low speed just until combined.
- Using an ice-cream scoop, scoop equal amounts into each muffin cup.
- Bake for approx. 18 – 22 minutes or just until the tops start to spring back.
- Let cool on cooling rack.
- Make frosting (see recipe below).
- Once cupcakes have cooled, pipe frosting using a large open circle tip.
- Place two chocolate eyes on each ghost (for the ghost eyes see recipe below).
Notes
I did mini and regular size cupcakes, for minis bake for 12-14 minutes.
Cupcakes will last 2 days in an airtight container, best consumed the day of.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 large cupcake without icing
- Calories: 169
- Sugar: 15.3g
- Sodium: 79mg
- Fat: 6.7g
- Saturated Fat: 4g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 25.6g
- Fiber: 0.4g
- Protein: 2.5g
- Cholesterol: 37mg
Keywords: Cupcake, Meringue, Halloween
Meringue Frosting
A versatile light and fluffy frosting or topping for desserts.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Yield: 2 cups 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 4 large egg whites, at room temperature
- 1 cup instant sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Combine egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl (preferably your mixing bowl of your electric mixer). Set over a saucepan of simmering water (making sure the water doesn’t hit the bowl). Cook, whisking constantly until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm to the touch (approx. 160˚F degrees if you have a candy thermometer).
- Place the bowl back onto the mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat the egg-white mixture on high speed until it holds stiff peaks. Continue beating until the mixture is fluffy and cooled, about 6-8 minutes. Add vanilla and mix.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Tablespoon
- Calories: 4
- Sugar: 0.2g
- Sodium: 6mg
- Fat: 0
- Saturated Fat: 0
- Unsaturated Fat: 0
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 0.3g
- Fiber: 0
- Protein: 0.8g
- Cholesterol: 0
Keywords: Meringue, Cupcake, Halloween
Chocolate Ghost Eyes
Make simple chocolate rounds that look like ghost eyes.
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 ounces dark chocolate
Instructions
- Melt dark chocolate. Either using a piping bag or a spoon drop small amounts of chocolate onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Place the baking sheet into the fridge for the chocolate to harden.
- Once cool, peel chocolate drops off the parchment paper.
Keywords: Chocolate, Halloween
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