Kaman’s Cupcake of the Month: Halloween-themed treats plus a lesson in fondant!

Craving a sweet treat? We’re all aboard the cupcake bandwagon here at Sassy Mama, and we’ll be bringing you one new fun and festive cupcake recipe each month – created by the fabulous Kaman’s Cupcakes! So get out your decorating tools, mamas, and read on for October’s spooky-sweet surprise! Happy Halloween! 

This recipe is inspired by my Aunty Sue and this will bake 12 yummy, not-too-sweet chocolate cupcakes for any occasion. It is super easy to make, I hope you will find this recipe a keeper to have on hand for entertaining your friends and family!

Cooking time: Approx. 40 min. 

Ingredients:
150g cake flour
145g caster sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 large organic eggs
2 tablespoons honey/syrup
142ml (1/4 pint) whole milk
142ml (1/4 pint) baking grade olive oil

Method:

1. Pre heat your oven to 180C and line your cupcake tray with pretty cupcake cases of your choice.
2. Mix all dry ingredients thoroughly in a large mixing bowl.
3. Add eggs, honey/syrup, oil and milk into the large mixing bowl. Beat well until everything is combined.
4. Fill each cupcake case to 2/3 full.
5. Bake at 180C for about 20 minutes or use a cocktail stick and poke the centre of the cupcake to see if it comes out clean.
6. Remove all yummy cupcakes and cool on a cooling rack.

Kaman’s Staple Buttercream Frosting (This is another keeper…)

Ingredients:
140g organic butter
280g icing sugar
1-2 teaspoons of whole milk
Few drops of your favourite flavour extract e.g. almond or vanilla
Food colouring of your choice

Method: 

1. Ensure the organic butter is at room temperature. Beat the butter in a large bowl until soft.
2. Add half of the icing sugar and beat until combined.
3. Add the remaining icing sugar and if required, add 1 teaspoon of milk to loosen it up. This is trial and error so taste along the way until you can get to your desired level of creaminess!.
4. You can add a few drops of your favourite flavour extract to change it up if you like – be creative!
5. Once you are happy with the consistency of your buttercream frosting, add your food colouring. The key is to add small amounts first until you have reached your desired colour intensity.

Halloween Witch’s Hat Fondant Cupcake Topper

You will need the following:

• Black fondant (tip: it is very hard to colour your own fondant in black, so best to buy the ready made ones!)
• Orange & purple fondant (alternatively you can choose any colour you like)

Tip: Dust your work surface with a small amount of cornflour to avoid your fondant sticking to the work surface.

Step 1: Make enough number of black fondant balls for your cupcake toppers by simply rolling the fondant in your palm and line them up so that they are roughly the same size as per the picture below.

Step 2: Build a tip into each of the black fondant balls. Place a fondant ball in your palm and use the index & middle finger to roll out one end until you turn the round ball into a teardrop shaped fondant as per below.

Step 3: Dust your work surface to avoid your fondant sticking down too much. Place the teardrop shaped fondant on your work surface and gently roll down the sides of the tip of the fondant, as you need to stretch it upwards to create the tip of the witch’s hat. Roll down any excess fondant downwards.

Step 4: Once you are happy with the shape of the witch’s hat, make sure you bend the tip of the fondant to create the witch’s hat look. Flatten all excess fondant around the base gently with your index finger.

Step 5: Using a very sharp knife or cutter, carefully cut off the excess fondant in a circular movement.

Step 6: On a dusted work surface, use a rolling pin to roll out around 2-3mm of thick black fondant. Use a 5cm-diameter-wide circular cutter to cut out the base for your witch’s hat (alternatively adjust the size of the circular cutter according to the size of your witch’s hat cone).

Step 7: Place the witch’s hat cone on top of the circular disc to check that you have the right proportion and thickness for the base of the hat.

Step 8: Roll out 2-3mm thick of the ribbon fondant for the witch’s hat. Using a ruler and sharp knife/cutter, cut out a few different strips with different widths as you need to work out which one will look best on the witch’s hat.

Step 9: Once you have selected the right width for the ribbon, measure the length required by placing the strip around the base of the witch’s hat and cutting off any excess.

Step 10: Roll out 2-3mm thickness for your buckle fondant and cut a small strip using a sharp knife/cutter. You need a contrasting colour (I’ve chosen purple and black).

Step 11a: It’s time to glue all the parts together! Start off with the witch’s hat cone to the base, then the ribbon around the base of the cone, then the buckle onto the ribbon. Tip: Cocktail sticks are your best friends when working with small pieces of fondant! Use them with very delicate pressure to guide or adjust fondant pieces.

Step 12: If you have fondant tools at home, feel free to use the one as shown in the picture below, otherwise use a cocktail stick to gently press all around the base of the witch’s hat for the stitches effect to complete the witch’s hat design!

To finish: Use a Wilton piping tip 1M or any other piping tip of your choice, pipe a tall swirl of buttercream frosting on top of Aunty Sue’s chocolate cupcakes and place your witch’s hat on top to complete the Halloween-themed cupcakes just before you serve at your party!