Unique Cupcakes for Halloween or Thanksgiving

If you plan to bake cupcakes for a Halloween or Thanksgiving party at school or elsewhere, here is a novel idea for some that would be impressive for either occasion. These cupcakes are decorated with corn shocks and pumpkins and are great autumn décor as well as tasty treats. Even the smallest kids like the pumpkins on them, even if they don't understand about the corn shocks. If one wanted to take the time, she could even draw a face on the pumpkins to make jack-o-lanterns.

To bake the cupcakes, you will need:

1 box of your favorite cake mix, any flavor
Eggs
Cooking oil
Water

Cupcake liners, preferably foil

Muffin pans

One batch of your favorite cake icing, or see the recipe for my icing at the end of this article.

Bugles chips

The following cake colors, preferably paste or powdered colors, or "liquid paste":
Brown(cocoa can be used if necessary)
Orange
OR
Red and yellow to mix to make orange
Green

3 decorator bags (Parchment bags will do fine.)

Decorator tips: #2, #3, #8, #11, #65, and a star tip such as #22 with the end opened up slightly (You can use a pen or pencil to open it.) If you don't have the exact tips, usually you can move up or down a number and it won't matter, such as #4 instead of #3. You just have to try one out to see how it works.

Ready to start?

Bake the cupcakes as you usually would, filling the liners (set in the muffin pans) a scant ½ full. This should make at least 24 cupcakes, and maybe more because you aren't filling the cups as full as usual. Keeping them "short" makes them more attractive and easier to decorate.

While they are baking, set aside about 1 1/2 cups of the icing to make pumpkins and leaves. Divide this amount into two portions and color one orange and one deep green.

Mix a little brown color or cocoa into the remaining icing to make a very light tan color. Set aside about 1 cup of this icing. Then add a little more brown color or cocoa to the larger amount to darken it slightly.

When the cupcakes are cool, ice them with the darker tan icing. You can either smooth the icing on with a knife or spatula, or use the star tip to swirl it on. To do this, with the star tip on your decorator bag, start at the top edge of the cupcake liner and, with a steady pressure, pipe around the top of the liner till you reach the starting point, then move towards the center, making a spiral all the way to the center of the top of the cupcake. Try to avoid leaving gaps between rounds if possible. Once you get used to doing it, this method is actually faster than spreading the icing on, and I like the appearance of it better when done this way.

Next, stand a Bugle on its larger end in the middle of the top of each cupcake. Pick the straightest Bugles you can find in the package. Then, using a #3 tip, starting at the bottom of the Bugle, pipe a vertical line to the top of the Bugle. Repeat this all the way around till the entire Bugle is covered. (It might be a good idea to pipe two layers of vertical lines so none of the Bugle shows through. I decorated just the one cupcake for the picture for this article, and when the picture was enlarged, I noticed mine had some thin places in it.) Now pipe a line around the top of these vertical lines and loop to create a "tie" around the shock. Then starting at the very top of the Bugle, pull short lines of icing up from the middle and let a few of them fall back over the "tie."

Now with the orange icing in a bag and using first a #8 or #11 tip, then the other, pipe several pumpkins of various sizes next to the shock. Using a #3 tip, pipe a stem on top of each pumpkin with the light tan icing.

Finally, finish up with a green vine drawn on with a #3 tip, with a few green leaves made with the #65 leaf tip.

These cupcakes are really not that time-consuming to make once you get into it, and the finished product is actually quite impressive when you place several of the cupcakes together on a plate for display.

Burroughs Buttercream Icing

Cream in large mixer bowl:
½ cup Crisco and 1 stick Parkay margarine

Add and cream well together:
1 teaspoon almond flavoring

Add:
One 2-pound package C & H powdered sugar
½ cup Milnot, Pet, or Carnation evaporated milk

If using a heavy duty mixer such as a Kitchenaid, you can add all the sugar and milk at the same time and the mixer can handle it. If using a hand mixer, alternate additions of sugar and milk. You may need to add a bit more milk, especially if using a hand mixer. If necessary to add more, add it in only 1 teaspoonful increments. For icing just a little too thick, you can add a little Crisco rather than more milk. If it turns out a bit too thin--and I know this sounds contradictory--but again try adding a little Crisco, especially if you should find it necessary to add just a fraction more sugar. Too much powdered sugar in proportion to shortening will make the icing hard and it will be difficult to squeeze through the bag. The reason why mixing this icing cannot be pinned down to an exact amount of milk has to do with the humidity on any given day. It makes more difference than one would think.

Whatever kind of mixer you have, try to mix the icing enough to get a smooth texture, but don't whip it with a heavy-duty mixer, as air bubbles incorporated into the icing can cause problems when you use it for decorating. It is not essential to use the brands of icing ingredients I listed, but I have found through the years that they perform consistently and I also get lots of compliments on the taste. Cheaper brands of powdered sugar often have a grainy texture that I don't care for, and some brands of shortening, margarine, and milk don't work or taste as well.

Good luck on your cupcakes! Let me know how they turn out. Comment or email me if you have a question about them that I can answer.