Hocus Pocus Cupcakes

Looking for a scary fun Halloween Treat? Check out my Hocus Pocus Cupcakes filled with ghosts, bats, and eyeballs then topped with neon green buttercream.

Sometimes I have a great idea for a cupcake in my head but when I go to execute my idea it doesn't turn out the way I was hoping.  That was the case with these Hocus Pocus Cupcakes.

I had several ideas in my head but when I went to look for the ingredients it turned out I didn't have everything I needed.  I ended up changing my idea several times including as I was decorating the cupcakes.

The cupcake is just a basic vanilla cupcake.   I used a good, strong vanilla extract to give the cupcakes a rich vanilla flavor.

Ingredients:

• butter
• sugar (I used Dixie Crystals)
• eggs
• vanilla extract (I use Adams Best or my homemade vanilla extract)
• flour
• baking powder
• salt
• milk
• powdered sugar
• green food coloring
• candy eyes, sprinkles, candy ghosts

To Make the Cupcakes:  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a muffin tin with black cupcake liners. In a bowl cream together the butter and sugar.  Add in the eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.  In another bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Mix well.  Add half the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix well.  Pour in the milk and mix until combined.  Add remaining flour and mix until just combined.  Divide the batter between the muffin cups and bake for 22-24 minutes.

You can choose to use my vanilla cupcake recipe or you can use your own vanilla cupcake recipe.  It really doesn't matter as the frosting and decorating are what make these cupcakes.

I put the batter in black cupcake liners to symbolize witches cauldron's since these are Hocus Pocus Cupcakes.  After the cupcakes came out is when I started having some second thoughts and put plan B into action.

Can I use a boxed cake mix?

Honestly?  In this case you can.   If you use a decent mix then it will be fine for the base of these cupcakes.

Can I use canned frosting?

No.   Just no.  I hate canned frosting because it has a horrible aftertaste.  Also, it won't have the color you are looking for.   Even if you use a boxed cake mix you must make your own frosting.  It will fool people into thinking the cupcakes are homemade too.

Do I need to use the exact decorations you did?

No!  While you do need some type of green or white "pearls" to be the bubbles on top of the cupcakes, you can use any candy eyes, Halloween sprinkles, or decorations.  Get creative with your cupcakes!

What decorations did you use?

If you are looking for what I used here is a list with links to them on Amazon.

• Wilton assorted candy eyes
• Ghost confetti sprinkles
• Lime Green Edible pearls
• Sweets & Treats Monster Mash Sprinkles
• Monster Sprinkles

I originally was just going to decorate the tops of the cupcakes but after looking at my collection of sprinkles I changed my mine.  I cut a small circle in the middle of each cupcake and popped the cake out.

Then I mixed together a combination of candy eyes, ghost sprinkles, and Halloween sprinkles.   I poured a teaspoon of this mixture into each cupcake.   It was pretty cool because it looked like a crazy Halloween mix that was perfect for what might be in a witches cauldron.

Next I mixed up a batch of buttercream frosting using powdered sugar.  I used green and yellow food coloring to make the frosting look like the inside of a witches brew.  Then I put more of the lime green pearls on top to look like bubbles and added a few random candy ghosts and eyeballs as well.

More Halloween Recipes:

• Halloween Hot Chocolate
• Candy Corn Layer Cake
• Monster Donuts
• Spooky Graveyard Layer Cake
• Caramel Silly Pumpkin Cupcakes

I actually took these cupcakes to school and gave them to my students who totally loved them!  They thought that when they bit into the cupcakes and all the sprinkles and eyeballs and ghosts fell out that it was so cool.

You could hear the kids laughing about the sprinkles all the way down the hall!   The kids also thought they tasted really good and were super excited to get a Halloween treat at the beginning of October.

These would be a great treat to make with a kid because they could mix up the concoction for the inside of the cupcake and put the pearls and ghosts on top.   The cupcakes can be a family effort!

If you’ve tried my Hocus Pocus Cupcakes or any other recipe on Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks please take a minute to rate the recipe and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. I love hearing from you! You can FOLLOW ME on:

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Hocus Pocus Cupcakes

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 24 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 9 minutes

Vanilla cupcakes filled with bats, eyeballs, witches brew bubbles, and other creepy things topped off with green frosting and green candy bubbles.

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Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

• 1 stick butter (½ cup)
• ¾ c. Dixie Crystals sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 t. Adams Extract Best Vanilla Flavor
• 1 ⅓ c. flour
• 1 ½ t. baking powder
• ½ t. salt
• ⅓ c. milk

For the frosting:

• 2 sticks butter (1 cup)
• 4 c. Dixie Crystals powdered sugar
• 1 T. Adams Extract Best Vanilla Flavor
• 2-3 T. milk
• green food coloring

For decorating:

• Wilton candy eyes
• Wilton Halloween sprinkles
• Wilton candy ghosts
• Sweets & Treats Midi Lime Green

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners and set aside.
3. In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the eggs and beat until combined. Stir in the vanilla.
4. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well.
5. Add half the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix well.
6. Pour the milk into the bowl with the butter and mix until well combined.
7. Add the remaining flour and mix until just combined.
8. Divide the mixture between the muffin cups and bake for 22-24 minutes.
9. Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack.
10. Using a sharp knife cut a inch inch circle out of the top of each cupcake and pull out a bit of the cupcake. Save the top of the circle.
11. In a small dish combine half the candy eyes, half the Midi Lime Green, the Halloween sprinkles, and the ghost candies. Mix well.
12. Pour a teaspoon or 2 of the mixture into each cupcake hole and then top with the cupcake circle.
13. To make the frosting beat the butter in a large bowl on medium speed until smooth.
14. Add in the powdered sugar a half cup at a time, mixing after each addition, until well combined.
15. Add the milk and vanilla and beat on high speed until desired consistency is reached.
16. Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes then top with the Midi Lime Green and some of the candy eyeballs.

Notes

A Hezzi-D Original recipe

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