Cupcake Graveyard
Why I Love This Recipe
I love Halloween treats and the look of graveyard cakes. This year, I decided to make the graveyard out of cupcakes. This recipe is based on the one in A Baker's Field Guide to Cupcakes by Dede Wilson.
Ingredients You'll Need
Cake:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
1 cup milk
Frosting:
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
4 cups confectioner's sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
Topping:
Chocolate chessmen cookies (or wafer cookies)
Candy pumpkins (I use Jelly Belly)
Deluxe Grahams chocolate covered graham crackers
Icing writer
Directions
Cakes: Preheat oven to 350.
Whisk flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together in small bowl; set aside.
In large bowl, beat butter until creamy. Add sugar gradually, beating until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add flour mixture alternately with milk. Beat until smooth.
Divide batter among cupcake pan with liners.
Bake 22 minutes.
Cool in pans for 5 minutes, then remove to cool completely.
Frosting: In a large bowl, beat butter until creamy. Add 1 cup of sugar gradually, beating until light and fluffy. Add remaining 3 cups of sugar and the milk. Beat until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla and chocolate. Beat until combined.
Assembly: Use icing writer to decorate chocolate covered grahams with RIPs and crosses.
Crush chocolate cookies in a large zip-loc bag until they are the consistency of dirt.
Frost cupcakes then hold each one over a bowl of the "dirt" and sprinkle generously.
Insert tombstone.
Place pumpkin.
I served mine on a cupcake tree, but I think it would be cool to put them on fake grass of some kind. You know...like a graveyard.