creepy crawly pumpkin patch chocolate cupcakes
This is Halloween, this is Halloween, Halloween Halloween Halloween.
Even though it’s only October 5.
I am HYPED to share these cupcakes with you. I’ll tell you what, I chickened out three days straight with decorating these. I am not the most adept froster on the planet, and I was horrified I’d fuck them up royally and waste some perfectly great deep chocolate cupcakes with my fat fingers and shaky-ass hands. I whined to my mom at 4 am yesterday that I was not about to succeed, with the lack of prowess I’ve shown lately with some of my projects.
Pessimism be damned. I adore these cupcakes, both for the spookiness of their visages and the incredibly rich, deep chocolate flavor. A success all around. Halleloo! And I hope you love them, too.
Halloween is not my favorite. It doesn’t weird me out or cause me distress, I’m just completely neutral. I haven’t dressed up since I was 10 or 11, I’m not privy to attending parties and don’t give two shits about candy. I only get a bit excited to watch Nightmare Before Christmas and at the knowledge that after we get this haunted shit out of stores, it’s holiday time, bitches. That’s when I emerge from hiding.
I know, however, that Halloween is well-celebrated, and many of you enjoy gathering with friends in your various costumes enjoying snacks and drinks and all that good stuff. I tell you, these Creepy Crawly Pumpkin Patch Chocolate Cupcakes should be on your spread. Moist, ghoulishly dark chocolate cupcakes made with black cocoa powder and piped with an eerie maple buttercream colored punkin-hues. Be ready for a freaky good time.
Not that kind of freaky, you weirdo.
I Want To Paint It Black
If you’ve never worked with black cocoa powder, you might be intrigued to know that it is the reason Oreos are so dark. Not food dye. Well, at least not mostly, I don’t know what kind of shit they use otherwise. J and I tasted a bit of the raw powder and it actually does have an Oreo quality sans the sugar. I actually think it’s less nose-curling in its natural form than bittersweet chocolate.
With that aside, obtain a package of black cocoa. You probably need to order it; I’ve never seen it in stores, but don’t quote me. Amazon or direct from King Arthur are good bets. If you really don’t want to be assed, you can use regular unsweetened cocoa, but it won’t be the same deep hue. Still yummy, though.
The rest of the main ingredients are pretty typical. Canola oil, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, and Greek yogurt. Then, the dry ingredients. Finish with a big splash of hot coffee to really deepen the chocolate flavor.
Tip: If you don’t want a super strong coffee flavor, cut down the yogurt to 1/4 cup, the coffee to 1/2 cup, and add 1/2 cup of buttermilk.
Pour the batter into lined cupcake tins and bake until set and poofed. Let the cupcakes cool completely.
Patch Together the Pumpkins
Once the cupcakes are cooled, here’s the fun part: forming the pumpkin shapes. I kept it really easy since, like I said, I’m total ass at decorating, so I didn’t want to overcomplicate things for myself and end up chucking the cupcakes against a wall in frustration. If you want to be more elaborate, Pinterest has sundry ideas.
The maple buttercream is a nice twist on a classic vanilla frosting and makes for a more autumnal finish. Butter, maple syrup, vanilla, and powdered sugar beaten together until smooth. I like to create a whipped finish with a touch of heavy cream as well.
I used a star piping tip for the project. I’m going to try and describe this as best I can, but looking at the photos will help. Start on the outer edges: pipe two thick teardrop or half moon shapes. Then, do the same on the inner edges. I make the inner teardrops longer to create a more convincing pumpkin look, but honestly? If you fuck up, call them heirloom pumpkins. They’ll look even creepier that way.
Switch the piping tip to a thinner point, one you’d use to write letters on cakes. Make a unicorn horn-shape at the top of each pumpkin for the “stem.”
Dab a little thyme sprig next to the stem for the leaves. And there’s your pumpkin!
If you’re serving to a crowd, a scene is a fun addition to the treat. I used an old baking tray and some stretchy spider web material from Target. Throw down some thyme sprigs to create ragged brambles, and a few plastic spiders to make arachnophobes stay far away so you can hoard more cupcakes for yourself. The plastic hands are a good way to swat people you don’t like off the cupcake tray, too, in addition to upping the eek factor.
These are one of my favorite baked goods I’ve made, because they were quite experimental but turned out incredible. I hope you feel the same!
Tried this recipe out? Leave a rating and comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!
Craving cupcakes?
Irish Coffee Cupcakes with Whiskey Chocolate Frosting
creepy crawly pumpkin patch chocolate cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt, at room temperature
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup black cocoa powder, or regular unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup hot brewed coffee
- thyme or oregano sprigs, for pumpkin leaves
maple buttercream
- 2 sticks butter, softened
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 4-6 tbsp heavy whipping cream
- orange and brown food dyes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place liners in two 12-cup muffin tins.
- Beat the canola oil with the brown sugar until combined. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated, then mix in the yogurt and vanilla. Add the flour, black cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer running, slowly stream in the hot coffee until just combined. The batter should be pourable, but not watery.
- Divide the batter into the prepared tins, filling 2/3 of the way to the top. You will likely get 16-18 cupcakes. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the centers are set and a toothpick inserted emerges with just a few moist crumbs. Cool 10 minutes in the tins, then move cupcakes to a wire rack. Cool completely.
- To make the buttercream, whip together the butter, maple syrup, and vanilla until combined. Add the powdered sugar and beat on high for 2-3 minutes, then stream in 4 tablespoons of heavy cream with the mixer running. Continue whipping until the frosting is fluffy and easily spread, about 3-4 minutes longer.
- Remove 1/2 cup of the frosting into a separate small bowl. Using food dye, color the bigger portion of frosting orange; color the smaller portion brown. You may need to mix colors, but dyes usually have directions on the back of the box.
- Fill a piping bag, or a gallon sized ziptop bag with a small segment of a corner snipped off, with the orange frosting. Pipe two half-moon strips of frosting on the outside edges of the cupcake. Pipe two more half-moon strips to fill the inside. Pipe a small swizzle of brown frosting at the top for the stem. Carefully place a thyme or oregano sprig by the stem for the leaves.
- Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 5 days.
