Happy Halloween Blog Monsters!
It's been a while since I posted anything. I do have some projects to put up but I'm in the midst of Nutcracker Mania so who knows when I'll get around to it. In the meantime, I'll share with you the little treats I made for Halloween: Mummycakes!
These are surprisingly simple to make if you have basic piping abilities for the frosting. I decided to use a red velvet cake since it evokes a nice, bloody, Halloween mood. The batter starts off innocently enough...
But then, you grab a bottle of this stuff.
And then you do this.
 |
| Yes, that was the whole bottle. Deep breaths. |
Interestingly, this turns the batter a pretty hideous shade of pink.
But then you add in the dry ingredients (which in this recipe includes the sugar) and something magical happens.
 |
| Good god! |
I used some primary red cupcake liners found at AC Moore which ended up matching the cakes exactly. And voila!
For the frosting I went with an improvised version of cream cheese frosting. I used one tub of cream cheese, one stick of butter and then just added powdered sugar until it was as sweet as I wanted (not too sweet). I also threw in a dash of vanilla. I like to use the whisk attachment on the mixer and really whip the heck out of it. You get more volume and it's not so heavy and cloying. It ended up being a pretty close amount to what I needed for the 24 cupcakes.
So, to dress these guys up, I started with a flat piping tip and drew on some horizontal lines.
Then I drew some diagonal lines. The great thing about these is they don't have to be perfect. Mummies are not the neatest dressers.
For the googlie eyes, I used white M&Ms and some black gel frosting (also from AC Moore). I found the white candies in a bag of Coconut M&Ms. You can usually find some form of white M&M nowadays with all the different holiday varieties they sell. I'm sure you could use pastel colored ones too and it would be cute.
So just stick them on and paint in your pupils.
And here's my little creation.
Also at AC Moore (Are we reading this AC Moore people? Perhaps we could be compensating me in some way...?) I found these great little cupcake boxes. They hold four cakes in their own little holes and keep them from bumping into each other and starting fights.
These guys arrived un-blemished to a Halloween party and were a big hit. Maybe you can make some up for next year's festivities. They were super easy and mummirific!
 |
| "Hey Joe, where we goin'?" "I don't know, but I don't like the looks of this..." |
|
|
Byeeeee!
Southern Red Velvet Cupcakes
Adapted from Cakeman Raven, Cakeman Raven Confectionery, NYC
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fine salt
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tablespoons red food coloring (1 ounce)
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place cupcake liners in cupcake pan.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In another large bowl, whisk together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla.
Using a standing mixer, mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined and a smooth batter is formed.
Fill each cupcake liner about 2/3 full. Place the pans in the oven evenly spaced apart. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 22-25 minutes.
Remove the cakes from the oven and let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
Makes 24 cupcakes.
