Spooky Graveyard #Cupcakes #Recipe for #Halloween

 LUCY BURDETTE: Hooray for Halloween, when we get to wear funny clothes and eat wonderful sweets!

This batter may look familiar and that's because I used the same recipe for raspberry cake day. In this case, I wanted to serve the cupcakes with two kinds of frosting and also spend more time on the Halloween decorations. And besides that, I'm crazy, crazy for this yellow cake:).

Ingredients for the cupcakes


1 and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 and 3/4 cup cake flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
2 cups sugar
3/4 tsp salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 cup milk 
4 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract


Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two cupcake pans with liners.

       Mix all the dry cake ingredients in bowl of electric mixer at slow speed. Add cool cubes of butter, a few at a time, and continue beating on low for about 1-2 minutes. Beat the eggs in one at a time, mixing well but minimally after each.

 Mix the milk with the extracts.

    Add 1/2 cup of milk mixture to flour mixture and beat until combined. Add remaining 1/2 cup of milk mixture and beat for about 1 minute.

 

     
  Distribute batter evenly into the two prepared cupcake pans.

Bake at 350 until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and cake springs back when touched, about 20-22 minutes. (check for done-ness with a toothpick or wooden skewer.)

Cool for ten minutes in the pans, then remove the cupcakes to a plate to cool completely.








For the mocha icing:

Ingredients

4  ounces unsalted butter, softened
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
1 to 2 tablespoons strong coffee
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 to 2 cups confectioners' sugar






Beat the softened butter with the cooled chocolate until smooth, and add in the vanilla. Next beat in the confectioners' sugar, starting with one cup and tasting for the level of sweetness you prefer. Use 1 to 2 tablespoons of coffee to bring the icing to spreading texture

for the raspberry cream cheese frosting

4 ounces unsalted butter
4 ounces cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
one or more cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 pint raspberries

Beat together the cream cheese and the butter. Add the vanilla. As with the mocha frosting, beat in the sugar half a cup at a time until you obtain the texture and sweetness that you prefer

For the graveyard decorations:

Ingredients

Chocolate graham crackers
white decorative gel
green sprinkles

On the cupcakes with most mocha icing, mound a little extra icing in the center of the cupcake. Trim off the graham cracker gravestones to the shape that you like, then use the white gel to engrave your favorite spooky saying. Sprinkle the cupcakes with green "grass." Then insert the stones into the mounded icing. Add cats or other creatures as desired. Boo!

And just for fun: one of the amazing ways we get to celebrate Halloween in Key West is with the zombie bike ride. Thought you might get a kick out of my zombie look:)

 And Yoda says to remind you that today is National Cat Day!






DEATH WITH ALL THE TRIMMINGS will be out on December 2, just in time for Christmas stockings!

Pre-order it here.