Ghost Twix Cupcakes

While browsing for ideas on what to make for Halloween, I came across these adorable ghost cupcakes on ambrosiabaking.com

I had never worked with fondant before, but I decided to give it a go when I saw this recipe. The fondant ghosts are held up by a toosie pop placed in the center of the cupcake.I used a chocolate cupcake recipe from bakerella.com and I really like it. The chocolate flavor is spot-on and the cupcakes were moist and airy. Since it’s Halloween, and Halloween is all about candy, I placed a fun-size Twix bar into each cupcake before baking. So between the chocolate, tootsie pop and Twix bar, these cupcakes will definitely satisfy your sweet cravings.

Ingredients:

Chocolate cupcakes:

1 & 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup cocoa
1 & 1/3 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup milk
2/3 cup hot water
8 fun-size Twix bars

Frosting:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups confectioners sugar (sifted)
1/4 cup cocoa (sifted)
1 tablespoon milk

Ghosts:

White fondant
Mini chocolate chips
Tootsie pops (or similar lollipop in round shape)

Method:

1.  FOR CUPCAKES: Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit (175 degrees celsius). Fill jumbo cupcake pan with cupcake liners.

2. In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients together with a whisk. Add eggs, oil, vanilla and milk and mix until combined. Add hot water and mix well, it will be very runny.

3. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full. Bake for 35 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

4. FOR FROSTING: Beat butter until creamy. Add vanilla and mix in. Slowly add sifted confectioners sugar and cocoa and beat until combined. Add milk and beat until creamy and smooth. Frost cupcakes.

5. FOR GHOSTS: Trim the sticks of the Tootsie pops about an inch. Unwrap and place in the center of each cupcake. Sprinkle your workspace with confectioners sugar to prevent the fondant sticking. Knead the fondant lightly, then roll it out using a rolling pin so it is about 1/8″ thick. Carefully cut out circles using a cookie cutter, or you can improvise using the rim of a large beer glass (as I did).  Drape the circle fondant over the tootsie pop and gently shape it so that it looks like the body of ghost. Create the ghost’s eyes by placing two mini chocolate chips on the fondant, using a small drop of water as adhesive. Allow the fondant to dry on its own for a while.

IMPORTANT: Fondant dries out quickly, therefore becoming hard to work with, so make sure to place any unused fondant in a zip-lock bag. Decorate one cupcake at a time and cut the circles out as you need them, not in advance.

Happy Halloween!