Description
Celebrate Halloween with these fun and festive Easy Decorated Halloween Cupcakes featuring four spooky designs: Green Monster, Purple Monster, Jack-o’-Lantern, and Spider cupcakes. Each design is decorated with colorful buttercream frosting and candy eyeballs, making them perfect for parties or a seasonal treat.
Ingredients
Scale
Base Cupcakes
- 12 pumpkin cupcakes or your favorite cupcake recipe
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- 1 and 1/2 cups (340g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 6 cups (720g) confectioners’ sugar
- 6 Tablespoons (60ml) heavy cream, half-and-half, or whole milk, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- Salt, to taste
Gel Food Coloring for Frosting
- Leaf Green
- Fuchsia + Violet (mix for purple)
- Super Black
- Orange
Decorating Supplies
- 2 piping bags
- 2 couplers
- Piping tip: small open star tip such as Wilton #21
- Small candy eyeballs
- Large candy eyeballs
- Optional: sprinkles
- 3 piping bags (for Jack-o’-Lantern)
- Piping tips: Wilton #125 (large petal), Wilton #21 (small open star), small round tip such as Wilton #4
- 1 piping bag (for spider legs and web)
- Piping tip: small round tip such as Wilton #4
- Oreo Mini cookies (for spider body)
- Mini candy eyeballs (for spider eyes)
Instructions
- Make the Vanilla Buttercream: Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the softened butter on medium speed for about 2 minutes until creamy. Gradually add 5 and 1/2 cups (660g) of confectioners’ sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to medium-high speed and beat for 2 minutes. Taste and add 1/8 teaspoon salt if frosting is too sweet. To reduce air bubbles, stir the frosting by hand against the bowl for 1-2 minutes.
- Adjust Consistency: If the frosting is too thin, add up to 1/2 cup (60g) more confectioners’ sugar. If too thick, add heavy cream 1 tablespoon (15ml) at a time until desired consistency is reached.
- Tint the Frosting: Divide the frosting into bowls based on how many colors you need, keeping one bowl white for spider cupcakes. Add a few drops of gel food coloring to each bowl and stir well to achieve the desired shades. Use small amounts of black gel food coloring to tone down bright colors if needed.
- Green Monster Cupcakes: Fit a piping bag with a small open star tip (Wilton #21) and coupler if using. Fill with green frosting. Pipe a spiral from the outside inward on each cupcake, then place a large candy eyeball in the center, pressing gently.
- Purple Monster Cupcakes: Fit a piping bag with a small open star tip (Wilton #21) and coupler. Fill with purple frosting. Pipe stars covering the surface of the cupcake. Press small candy eyeballs into the frosting and add sprinkles if desired.
- Jack-o’-Lantern Cupcakes: Using separate piping bags fitted with Wilton #125 (petal tip), #21 (small star), and #4 (small round), fill with orange, green, and black frosting respectively. Pipe rounded vertical lines with orange frosting, following the cupcake curve, to create the pumpkin’s ridges. Pipe a green stem on top of the pumpkin. Use black frosting to pipe eyes, nose, and mouth with desired spooky or goofy expressions.
- Spider Cupcakes: Spread white frosting smoothly across the cupcake top using an offset spatula or knife. Fit a piping bag with a small round tip (Wilton #4) and fill with black frosting. Pipe three criss-crossing straight lines creating six triangle sections. Connect each with curved lines forming a web. Place half a mini Oreo cookie in the center for the spider body. Pipe two small black dots on the Oreo and place mini candy eyeballs on top. Finally, pipe eight thin black legs extending from the spider.
- Storage: Store decorated cupcakes uncovered at room temperature for a few hours before serving. Leftover cupcakes can be covered and refrigerated for up to 5 days. Use a cupcake carrier for transport and longer storage.
Notes
- You can scale down the buttercream recipe if making fewer decorated cupcakes.
- To remove air bubbles in buttercream, stir by hand vigorously to pop bubbles.
- Adjust frosting consistency by adding powdered sugar or cream as needed.
- Food coloring will darken slightly after sitting.
- Use a cupcake carrier for best storage and transport of decorated cupcakes.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes (assuming pre-baked cupcakes)
- Category: Dessert, Baking
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Halloween cupcakes, decorated cupcakes, buttercream frosting, spooky cupcakes, pumpkin cupcakes, monster cupcakes
