These spook-tacular and fun Halloween cupcakes are inspired by the legendary sea monster, the Kraken!
We've flavoured the cupcakes with rum and raisin - a nod to the pirates on their journey across the sea's and we've topped them with edible tentacles, made from fondant, to represent the Kraken under water, and are the perfect way to celebrate Halloween.
It's a fun weekend baking project if you're hosting a Halloween party, or looking for a fun activity to do with young children.
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Yields:
12 serving(s)
Prep Time:
45 mins
Cook Time:
25 mins
Total Time:
1 hr 10 mins
Cal/Serv:
561
Ingredients
For the cupcakes
100g
raisins
3Tbsp.
spiced rum
150g
unsalted butter, softened
150g
dark brown soft sugar
3
medium eggs, lightly beaten
1tsp.
vanilla extract
175g
self-raising flour
For the tentacles
360g
orange fondant icing
60g
yellow fondant icing
For the buttercream
150g
unsalted butter, softened
300g
icing sugar, sifted
blue food colouring gel, we used Americolour
Directions
Step 1For the cupcakes, mix the raisins and rum in a small bowl and leave to soak for 1hr. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper muffin cases.
Step 2Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan) mark 4. Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with a handheld electric whisk until pale and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla and mix until combined. Sift over the flour and tip in the soaked raisins and any remaining rum from the bowl. Fold together with a large metal spoon.
Step 3Divide mixture between the muffin cases. Bake for 25min until firm and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cakes comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Step 4Meanwhile make the tentacles. Divide the orange fondant into 36 equal pieces and mould into tentacle shapes. Divide the yellow fondant into lots of tiny pieces of varying sizes and roll into balls. Push the blunt end of the toothpick through each yellow ball to create a small ring-doughnut shape. Attach the yellow fondant pieces all over the tentacles to create suckers, pressing gently to stick (see GH tip). Set aside until needed.
Step 5Make the buttercream. Using a handheld electric whisk, beat the butter and icing sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in enough blue food colouring gel to achieve your desired shade. Transfer icing to a piping bag fitted with a 1cm fluted nozzle. Pipe icing on top of each cooled cupcake in a tall swirl and carefully stick 3 tentacles on top of each cupcake. Serve.
GH TIP:
If your fondant is too dry to stick easily, use a damp cotton bud to stick the fondant suckers to the tentacles.
TO STORE:
Once decorated the cakes are best eaten the same day. The uniced cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
