October 27, 2020

It’s spooky season! Halloween is right around the corner and while trick-or-treating may look a little different this year, the spirit certainly does not. These monster cupcakes are the perfect treat for the holiday. They may not be very spooky, but they are very adorable.

Making these little monster cupcakes was really fun. Also, they are very easy to make and easy to get creative with! All you need is a few cupcakes, frosting, edible googly eyes, and some piping tips.

Now, this can be as easy or as hard as you want it to be. I made the cupcakes and frosting from scratch, but they easily could have been made out of a box. For this recipe, I turned to Sally’s Baking Addiction and her yellow cake recipe. It is super fluffy and light. For the buttercream frosting, I used the recipe from Chelsweets. Her buttercream is great for making decorative cakes.

Once the cupcakes cooled to room temperature, it was time to create the monsters. I stacked two cupcakes on top of each other and placed some frosting in between them in order to get them to stick together. Then it was time to get creative!

I choose a few different piping tips to create the four different designs. From there, I got to work piping the cupcakes. For the blue and green pointy cupcakes, I used very little frosting for each point. I repeated the same design until the cupcake was covered. I did the same for the stringy cupcakes, but let the frosting flow to get those really long lines. You can choose whatever piping tip you want. The key is to make sure the entire cupcake is covered with frosting.

You really can’t go wrong with the design. Once you add on the eyes, the cupcakes look like little creatures! The eyes do truly bring them to life.

These monster cupcakes are great to make with your kids, but overall will be great with everyone. Once you add those eyes onto the cupcakes, everyone is laughing.

Check out the recipe below and let me know what design you choose for your monster cupcake!

Monster Cupcakes

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Yellow Cupcakes

2 and 1/4 cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 and 3/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, plus 2 yolks (4 eggs total)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1/8 tsp cream of tarter

Vanilla Buttercream

2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
4-6 cups powdered sugar
3-4 tbsp heavy cream
food coloring

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare a cupcake tin with liners and set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Using a handheld mixer or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and the sugar. Cream the butter until it is very pale, about 3-5 minutes. Scrape the sides down and place the mixer on medium-high to add in the eggs. Add in the two eggs, plus the two egg yolks one at a time. Make sure they are fully combined before adding in the next one. Next, beat in the vanilla.
While the mixer is on low, add in 1/3 of the dry ingredients and then 1/2 of the buttermilk. Continue until all of the dry ingredients and the rest of the buttermilk are mixed in. The batter will be very thick so don't worry if it is looking a little bit lumpy.
In a separate bowl using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the remaining two egg whites with the cream of tarter. Beat on high until fluffy peaks form. When fluffy peaks form, fold the egg whites into the cake mix. Do this very carefully, as not to deflate the batter.
Fill the cupcake tins about 3/4 of the way full. Bake for about 12-15 minutes, or until the cupcakes are golden brown. Let cool completely before decorating.
For the frosting, cream the butter with a mixer or in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment until soft. Then add in the salt and vanilla.
Slowly add in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Put the mixer on low so it does not go all over the place and make a powdered sugar cloud!
About halfway through, add in the heavy cream. Continue to add the sugar until the proper consistency is reached. If it gets too thick you can add in more heavy cream. If it looks too thin, you can add in more powdered sugar.
Separate the frosting as needed for how many colors you want to make. Follow the instructions on the package for the proper coloring instructions.
Stack two of the cupcakes on top of each other to make the base of the monster. Then, using a piping bag, decorate away. Use different piping tools to create different designs. Add on the eyes when done piping. For the designs above, I used an open star, (18), round tip (3 and 4) and a drop flower tip (224). In order for the design to stick, place the cupcakes in the fridge for a few minutes when done decorating.
The cupcakes should last 4-5 days in an airtight container. If you have extra frosting, that can be frozen.