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Video: Celebrate Halloween with creepy cupcakes

  1. Closed captioning of: Celebrate Halloween with creepy cupcakes

    >>> this morning on "today's kitchen," delicious desserts. how to make creepy cupcakes for hole beans. sisters katherine kallinis and sophie la monteague of "d.c. cupcakes," showdown, a little bit of siblings rivalry and their new book is called "sweet celebrations."

    >> good morning.

    >> you're going to put us to work this morning to show us how to do the decorations.

    >> two recipes from our cook book , easy to do at home. add half a cup of your favorite halloween candy to the batter and bake it inside the cupcakes and they melt beautifully inside.

    >> do our signature swirl.

    >> i'm not really good with one of these things.

    >> start in the middle and go around and a burst of pressure.

    >> okay.

    >> and that's the best i can do.

    >> and we'll put a fudge spider web on.

    >> fewer fudge in here.

    >> use a squeeze bottle. if you don't have a squeeze bottle, use a ziploc bag and cut a tip

    >> go down straight and then across and cut each quadrant diagonal.

    >> the trick is going fast.

    >> a little less wobbly, and once you have all your quadrants itap the lines. do an outer one and inner one.

    >> perfect.

    >> you can tell who is the pro and who isn't.

    >> okay.

    >> that looks good.

    >> and a little spider on top.

    >> one more layer.

    >> by the way, this is an orange butter cream frosting.

    >> for halloween. the recipe is also in the cook book and we have our monster tie dye cupcakes so fun to make at home with the kids. take your vanilla batter and divide it into four. add color into each one and layer it in your baking pan so a little bit of red and a little bit of blue on top, a little bit of green and a little bit of yellow and bake it in the oven and out it comes looking like a tie dye cupcake.

    >> that's great for a kid's party. so fun.

    >> use any color food color , purple, pink, whatever your favorite color is.

    >> and decorate as a monster.

    >> take some fandant and use a cookie cutter and roll t.cut out large circles to cover the cupcake.

    >> and then we'll make the face.

    >> you'll pipe a circle around, do the circle around. two eyes, a nose and then four piping tips for teeth.

    >> that looks great.

    >> i'm trying.

    >> and we like to put little german berries on for the nose.

    >> that's cute.

    >> and for the eyebrows we like to cut up black licorice and give them scary eyebrows.

    >> make theme evil looking.

    >> and it will stay on.

    >> and you'll let it set.

    >> and fun jelly beans , different colors.

    >> all around.

    >> all around the circle.

    >> i'll eat the jelly beans as i go.

    >> it's a crafting day, willie.

    >> yeah.

    >> come have fun.

    >> you're good.

    >> baking and crafting together. if they tell me what to do, i can do it.

    >> you want little scary eyeballs.

    >> there's a baseball theme. yankees versus the red sox helping you out.

    >> jason varitek from the red sox and at the end of the episode tomorrow, there's a big surprise ending.

    >> very big.

    >> you have to tune in to find out.

    >> ladies, it's great. thanks so much. katherine and sophie, thank you.

    >> do some quality control over here. thanks, ladies. coming up, kathie lee and hoda after your local news and weather.

    >> thank you. test. test. test. test. test. test. test. test.

TODAY recipes
updated 10/5/2012 4:55:33 PM ET 2012-10-05T20:55:33

Recipe: Candy bar cupcakes with spider webs

Ingredients
  • For the cupcakes:
  • 2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 3/4 cups sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 cups whole milk
  • 2 cups of your favorite Halloween candy, chopped up, plus 24 whole pieces for the topping
  • For the frosting:
  • 16 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon whole milk
  • 1⁄8 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons orange food color
Preparation

For the cupcakes:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two cupcake pans with twelve paper baking cups each.

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, and set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a bowl with a handheld electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, approximately 3 to 5 minutes.

4. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix slowly on low speed after each addition.

5. Add the vanilla extract to the milk, and set aside.

6. Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, then gradually add one third of the milk mixture, beating slowly until well incorporated. Add another third of the flour mixture, followed by another third of the milk mixture. Stop to scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the remaining flour mixture, followed by the remaining milk mixture, and beat just until combined.

7. Using a standard-size ice cream scoop, fill each baking cup so that it is two-thirds full.

8. Add 1 tablespoon chopped candy to each baking cup, and mix into the batter with a fork or spoon.

9. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

10. Let the cupcakes cool on a wire rack for approximately 20 minutes.

For the orange buttercream frosting:

1. Cream the butter in the mixer on medium speed.

2. Add half of the confectioners’ sugar, and mix on low speed. Increase speed to medium once incorporated.

3. Add the vanilla extract to the mixture.

4. Add the remaining confectioners’ sugar to the mixture, and mix on medium speed.

5. Add the milk and salt.

6. Once creamed, mix on high speed until smooth.

7. Add the orange food color.

8. Mix on high speed until the color is achieved. Add more food color if you would like a darker orange. Frost each cupcake with a signature swirl, and top with the corresponding Halloween candy. Serve and enjoy!

Creating spooky fudge spider webs

Nothing screams "Halloween" more than creepy cob webs! Try this easy method for decorating your cupcakes with fudge spider webs.

1. Using a squeeze bottle of fudge or chocolate ganache, starting at the top of your cupcake, squeeze a straight line down the middle of your cupcake, touching the bottom.

2. Next, squeeze a straight line going across the middle of your cupcake.

3. Squeeze two lines, cutting each quadrant in half.

4. Finally, connect all the lines with short, slightly curved strokes to finish the web.

5. Repeat for all your cupcakes, serve, and enjoy!

Serving Size

Makes 24 cupcakes

Recipe: Tie-dyed monster cupcakes

Ingredients
  • For the cupcakes:
  • 2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 3/4 cups sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 cups whole milk
  • 1 teaspoon each of blue, red, green and yellow food color
  • For the vanilla buttercream frosting:
  • 16 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 4 cups sifted confectioners
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon whole milk
  • 1⁄8 teaspoon salt
  • For the monster faces:
  • Fondant roller
  • 1/4 pound bright blue fondant
  • 3-inch circle cookie cutter
  • Assorted candies
Preparation

For the cupcakes:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and line two cupcake pans with twelve paper baking cups each.

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, and set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a bowl with a handheld electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, approximately 3 to 5 minutes.

4. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing slowly on low speed after each addition.

5. Add the vanilla extract to the milk, and set aside.

6. Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, then gradually add one third of the milk mixture, beating slowly until well incorporated. Add another third of the flour mixture, followed by another third of the milk mixture. Stop to scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the remaining flour mixture, followed by the remaining milk mixture, and beat just until combined.

7. Divide the batter equally into four smaller bowls. To each bowl, add 1 teaspoon of a different food color, and mix with a spoon until the batter is uniformly colored.

8. Then, using a tablespoon, place layers of cupcake batter of different colors in the baking cups. It's okay if your spoonfuls are uneven because this will result in a cool "random" tie-dyed effect. Repeat until all baking cups are two-thirds full.

9. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

10. Let the cupcakes cool on a wire rack for approximately 20 minutes.

For the frosting:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a bowl with a handheld electric mixer, mix the butter, sugar, vanilla extract, milk and salt until the frosting is light and airy, approximately 3 to 5 minutes.

2. Place the frosting in a piping bag fitted with a large round metal tip. Frost each cupcake with a signature swirl of vanilla buttercream.

To make the monster faces:

1. Roll out a piece of blue fondant, and using a cookie cutter, cut out a circle with a diameter of 3 inches. Place on top of the frosted cupcake to form the monster's face.

2. Using a piping bag fitted with a small round tip, pipe a circle of frosting around the circumference of the blue fondant circle. Pipe two small dots of frosting for the monster's eyes. Pipe another two short linear angled strokes above its eyes to anchor its eyebrows. Pipe one small dot to anchor its nose. Pipe a row of small dots below its nose to represent your monster's teeth.

3. Next, decorate your monster's face with candy. Line the circle with jellybeans. Cut two short pieces of black licorice, and place them on top of the linear buttercream strokes to form the monster's eyebrows. Place two tiny candy balls on the white dots of frosting to form the pupils of its eyes. Place a German berry candy on top of the dot of white frosting to form its nose. Serve and enjoy!

Serving Size

Makes 24 cupcakes

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