A Spooktacular Recipe Guide to Create Colorful and Playful Monster Cupcakes
Get ready to embrace your inner monster maker with our delightful Monster Cupcakes recipe! These scrumptious treats not only taste amazing but also provide a fun and creative way to express your culinary imagination. We’ll take you on a journey through the art of baking moist and fluffy cupcakes, and then we’ll dive into the real magic—the decoration! Using vibrant frostings and edible googly eyes, you’ll transform simple cupcakes into adorable and spooky monsters that are perfect for Halloween or any monster-themed celebration.
Supplies and Equipment Needed:
- Cupcake pans
- Cupcake liners
- Mixing bowls
- Stand mixer
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Food processor (for crushing Oreos)
- Piping bags
- Piping tip #233 (or similar)
- Toothpick
- Cooling rack
- Scissors
- Cupcake storage container
Ingredients: For the cupcakes:
- 1 box chocolate cake mix
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup oil
- 1 ¼ cups water
For the frosting:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3-4 tablespoons milk
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- Food colors: purple, blue, green, orange
- Candy eyeballs (small and large)
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place cupcake liners in each cavity of your cupcake pans and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the chocolate cake mix, eggs, oil, and water. Mix on low speed for a minute, then increase to medium for an additional minute until the mixture is smooth.
- Divide the cupcake batter equally among the liners, filling each about halfway to two-thirds full. You can use a measuring cup for precise portioning.
- Bake the cupcakes in the preheated oven for approximately 14-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow them to cool for at least 30 minutes before decorating.
- To prepare the frosting, cream the softened butter and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer until smooth.
- Add half of the powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of milk. Mix on low until combined.
- Incorporate the remaining powdered sugar and more milk if needed to achieve a stiff, yet smooth consistency. The frosting should not appear dry.
- Increase the mixer speed to medium and mix for an additional minute until the frosting is light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides and mix again.
Divide the frosting into four bowls and tint each bowl a different color: purple, blue, orange, and green. Mix each color thoroughly to eliminate any white streaks.
When you’re ready to decorate, prepare a piping bag fitted with tip #233 or a similar tip. Fill the bag with one color of frosting, filling it only halfway to avoid discomfort.
- Start piping the “hair” decoration by holding the piping bag about ½ an inch from the top of the cupcake, starting around the outside edge. Squeeze gently, pull away, and create a “hair” effect.
- Continue piping hair around the outer edge of the cupcake, then proceed to the next row inward until the entire surface is covered. Fill in any thin areas as needed.
Before moving on to the next frosting color, add the candy eyeballs to each cupcake, customizing the monsters with small and large eyes.
Rinse and prepare the piping bag with the next frosting color and continue decorating using steps 11-13 until all frosting colors are used.
Let your inner monster maker shine with these playful and delicious Monster Cupcakes! Whether you’re hosting a Halloween party or simply want to add a whimsical touch to your dessert table, these cupcakes are a delightful choice. Enjoy the process of baking and decorating, and watch as your family and friends are charmed by these adorable monsters. Store them in an airtight container and savor the fun for days to come!
Monster Cupcakes
Equipment
- Supplies and Equipment Needed:
- Cupcake pan(s)
- Cupcake liners
- Mixing bowls
- Electric mixer or stand mixer
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Food processor (for crushing Oreos)
- Piping bags
- Piping tip #233 (or similar)
- Toothpick
- – Cooling rack
- Scissors
- Cupcake storage container
Ingredients
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
- 1 box chocolate cake mix
- 3 eggs
- ½ c oil
- 1 ¼ c water
For the frosting:
- 1 c unsalted butter softened
- 1 t salt
- 3-4 T milk
- 4 c powdered sugar
- Food colors: purple blue, green, orange
- Candy eye balls – small and large
Instructions
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prep your cupcake pans by placing the liners in each cavity. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cake mix, eggs, oil and water. Mix on low speed for about a minute and then bump up the speed to medium for an additional minute. Mixture should be smooth with only a few occasional small clumps.
- Divide equally among the cupcake liners – fill each one about ½-⅔ full – we used a measuring cup to help scoop and portion out the batter.
- Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 14-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes or until no longer warm to the touch before decorating.
- To make the frosting: in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the softened butter and salt. Cream until smooth.
- Add in half of the powdered sugar and mix on low speed until combined.
- Add in the remaining powdered sugar and about 2 tablespoons worth of the milk. Mix until combined. If the mixture appears too dry, add the remaining milk. If the mixture has incorporated, do not add any more milk – we want it to be a stiff consistency, but not dry-looking.
- Bump up the speed to medium and mix for an additional minute to fluff up the frosting and ensure that it is smooth and well mixed. Scrape down the sides and mix again.
- Divide the frosting equally between four separate bowls and tint each bowl a different color: purple, blue, orange and green. Mix each color well so there are no hidden white pockets.
- When ready to decorate, prepare a piping bag by fitting with the grass tip #233 (or similar) and transfer your first color of frosting to the bag. Only fill about ½ full and refill if needed so the bag is not too big and awkward.
- To pipe the decoration, hold the piping bag in your dominate hand and gently twist the top of the bag closed so it does not squeeze out the top. Your non-dominate hand can help hold the top of the bag and for stability. When you’re ready, place the tip of the bag about ½ of an inch from the top of the cupcake, starting around the outside edge. Gently squeeze until the frosting sticks to the cupcake and then carefully squeeze and pull away from the cupcake to create the “hair”. The frosting will follow wherever you move the piping bag so be sure to stop squeezing the bag before trying to move on to the next. Continue placing these “hairy” dollops all around the outside edge of the cupcake. Then proceed with the next row in and all the way around the cupcake until the entire surface is covered. You can go back and fill in any thin areas. The benefit to this style of decoration is that the “hair” is very forgiving.
- Before moving on to the next color, place the candy eyeballs on each cupcake. You can do any variety of small and large eyeballs to customize your monsters.
- Remove the metal tip from the piping bag, rinse and rebag the next color of monster.
- Continue decorating your cupcakes using steps 11-13 until all colors of frosting are used up.