#16 Vanilla Halloween Cupcakes

Happy Halloween!!

Looks like we have spiderman in the house!!

For our Halloween cupcakes I went with a vanilla cupcake and dyed the batter black and orange. I learned from this experience to stick with lighter colors because black takes over everything. Plus it took a lot of dye to get it to a true black. Same with the frosting. I noticed after a few hours the colors started to bleed and it ended up a big black mess.  Oh well Aidan had fun decorating and that's all that counts!

Vanilla Cupcakes (curetsy of Martha Stewart)

Probably one of the best vanilla cupcakes I've had yet! Whole milk really makes a difference too.

The Goods

1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes

4 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

**Optional Gel Food Coloring

The How To

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined.

This recipe had me doing this a little different... usually I cream the butter and sugar together first.

Add butter, mixing until just coated with flour.

In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat.

my butter wasn't completely at room temp so I had chunks of butter through out the batter.

Evenly separate the batter between two bowls. Add gel food coloring. Make sure it's mixed in completely or you'll have streaks.

Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about 2/3 full.

I layered the colors but towards the end I had mostly black cupcakes because of my lack of measuring skills.

Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.

Each cupcake is unique and different

Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

They looked pretty cool on the inside

Billy's Vanilla Buttercream Frosting(courtesy of food.com)

This is some pretty good frosting. I added about 2 more cups of sugar and an extra teaspoon of vanilla.

The Goods
cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

6 to 8 cups confectioners' sugar (I used about 10cups of sugar)

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (used 2teaspoons of vanilla)

Sprinkles and/or Candy for decorating

Gel Food coloring

The How To

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. With mixer on low speed, add 6 cups sugar, milk, and vanilla; mix until light and fluffy. If necessary, gradually add remaining 2 cups sugar to reach desired consistency. Seperate the frosting into two bowls and add color. FYI it took ALOT to get the frosting black, it started off purple then finally (practicly half a jar later) it turned a dark purple/black color.

This will definetly turn your mouth some interesting colors!

My attempt at layering the colors. Towards the end the cupcakes were mostly black due to my lack of measuring skills.

Don't forget to decorate!!

Aidan's art work

He dumped enough sugar on these to sink a battle ship!

These are the ones I decorated for work. I added my vampire mix M&M's that I picked up in Vegas at M&M world

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