HALLOWEEN!

We’re all friends. I mean look at us, hanging around, doing whatever, watching the ridiculously scary new Pretty Little Liars episodes on a usual Saturday night.

All good fun, no problems, lots of food and a great night.

That is how hanging out with friends usually is, honestly, don’t get me wrong. But on Halloween, things start to happen. It usually starts with ‘something evil lurking in the dark’, and then when you turn around, ‘you see a sigh that almost stops your heart’…

Holy....

Holy….

When it is not Halloween, you ignore said sight. I mean, it must have been a trick of the dark, the door closing a slight gust of wind, the howling trees just whistles of the night. There can’t really be a faceless man waiting to butcher you, using all the tricks of the trade to build up his sick anticipation. Just doesn’t happen.

But then again… it is Halloween… so how can you possibly ignore it? How can you ignore the shiver that runs down your spine but when you turn around, no one is there. How do you rid yourself of the sensation someone outside your window is glaring at you with a twisted smile on their face… do you dare peak through the window? Or are you too afraid to see Freddie’s clawing hands rip through you like you were a cotton stuffed mannequin?

halloween 3

Or maybe, on Halloween, what you should be most wary of are those who are closest to you… people who you believe are your closest friends yet something about them just isn’t quite right. They are too happy all the time, looking like a glass-eyed doll, a grin plastered on their face, engraved almost like the Joker’s grin has been slashed into his face for the rest of time…

I mean, this lady was obviously not wary enough of her company…

halloween 40

You should be scared for your sanity on Halloween. Just like the werewolves that pierce the air with their long, painful howls, the full moon also affects us. People become different. They act…. Suspicious but not overly so, making you believe it is all in your head. Psychological warfare is their game. And you keep believing it is all in your head until it starts with the simple cut on the finger. ‘Oh sorry, it is an accident’ they claim and you shrug it off because if you don’t, well… you just don’t wish to think of it at all…

halloween 4

You continue on with whatever you are doing, now yourself looking like that haunting plastic doll, a stiff grin forced on your face to show how unaffected you are by the bloody knife which seems to never stop dripping…

Come outside, they sayand ‘you hear the door slam and realize there’s nowhere left to run’… They come closer, approach you and you see that big bloodied knife in their hands, as solemn as a demon child in movies while you ‘wonder if you’ll ever see the sun’

Possessed.

Intent.

Vengeful.

halloween 5

Or are you? Were you really scared? Did the night not enliven your senses, the tingling giving you adrenaline rush? Did you not peak through your fingers at the exorcist and smile, just a touch?

Maybe you were playing their game, following their rules, so you could flip the switch, turn the tables and show them exactly what it means to be

Bloody.

Ruthless.

Insane.

halloween 6

Because after all… it is Halloween…

********************************************************************************

Haha ok, you got me, I lied, JJ (oh yeah, the girl I am ‘about to kill’ is JJ :D) and I did not try to murder each other to celebrate Halloween festivities, nor were we possessed by demonic spirits, witches or any of the kind 🙂

The only dog howling was my neighbours Labrador and that did not last too long either 😉

halloween 7

Admittedly, I pushed her to we both had fun posing with real serrated bread knives and pumpkins and basic creepy stuff because come on… it is fun 😀
The blood you see, as crazy as this sounds I am sure, is actually red food colouring, no biggy at all so I hope no one was hyperventilating over that 😉

halloween 8

Nothing scary, nothing crazy, just a hell-of-a-lot-of-halloween baking!

halloween 9

We made so many different designs of cupcakes, it is scary just thinking about it!

I mean, they are not cute or anything, I mean, damn guys, if I found one of these cupcakes in my room, I would be screaming my head off… truly frightening stuff 😉

halloween10

Honestly, where to begin, where to begin… oh yes, perhaps the actual cupcake recipe would be a good spot 😀
After all it did make such insanely smooth, soft and deliciously buttery cupcakes. Oh and those frostings which were just so melt-in-mouth style…

halloween 11

Definitely the place to start if you must ask me 😀

Cupcakes
Source: Mastering The Art Of Baking

Makes: 12 + one mini loaf

Ingredients:

  • 225g plain flour
  • 1 ½ tsp of baking powder
  • 150g caster sugar
  • 125g unsalted butter, softened
  • 60ml full cream milk
  • 3 eggs, room temperature (ours weren’t)
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • 100g 70% or more dark chocolate (if want half chocolate batter)
  • Decorations as desired
    halloween 12

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees C. Line 12 muffin tins with muffin liners + lightly grease one mini bar tin
  2. Sift the flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl, add sugar, eggs, butter, milk and vanilla
  3. Use an electric mixer to beat on low speed until combined
  4. Increase speed to medium and beat for 3 minutes or until well combined and mixture appears paler
  5. Divide mixture in half. Melt chocolate over low heat in saucepan until smooth
    halloween 14
  6. Pour into half the batter and mix in till well combined. 
  7. Divide mixture evenly among the cases (JJ and I filled them up a little over halfway)
  8. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean from the centre of the cakes
    Go JJ Go!

    Go JJ Go!

  9. Cool for 5 minutes in the tin then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely (We then refrigerated them immediately since JJ had to leave and we needed time to frost them – not recommended but if no time, it works :D)
    halloween 16
  10. Decorate as desired!

I will tell you all about our decorations in a minute, I promise, but there ain’t no way you are getting anything done without a sweet sweet coating 😀

Now, we made two different types of icing because we are just so pro like that 😉

It's time... to frost ;)

It’s time… to frost 😉

First up, we have the classic vanilla buttercream:

Vanilla Buttercream

Source: Mastering The Art Of Baking

Makes: Enough for 12 cupcakes (I would say make double, our batch was enough)

Ingredients:

  • 100g butter, softened
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • 160g icing sugar (we used icing mixture), sifted
  • Full cream Milk, optional if needed (we didn’t)

Method:

  1. Use an electric beater to beat the butter and vanilla in a small bowl until pale and creamy
  2. Gradually beat in the icing sugar, about 60g at a time
  3. Test the consistency – if the frosting is too thick, beat in a little milk, one tbs at a time, until desired consistency

Note:

  • Beat in any flavourings required or desired or both according to taste e.g. cocoa powder, citrus peel etc.

halloween 27

Vanilla Glace Icing
Source: Mastering The Art Of Baking

Makes: Enough for 12 cupcakes (again, I recommend doubling the recipe)

Ingredients:

  • 180g icing sugar, sifted
  • 20g unsalted butter
  • 1 tbs water

Method:

  1. Put all ingredients in a heat-safe bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (make sure base of bowl does not touch water)
  2. Stir until the butter has melted and the icing is glossy and smooth
    halloween 18

Note:

  • We found out that the cold version of this icing is ridiculously malleable like fondant so used it to make shapes to decorate with 😀

Now, we made many different types of cupcakes. While some such as a spider and its web are a simple task of drawing, others went through an intense five minute planning session. Legit 😉

IMG_2483

So here are some ideas pour vous mes cheris!

  • Dye your frostings different colours – We did this in many ways but I personally found my favourite results from doing this came from double colour piping- simply place a barrier in centre of the piping bag out of hard aluminium foil then put equal amounts of each colour on either side. Carefully remove the aluminium barrier and then scrape any icing back into the piping bag. Twist together and voila, use a large tip to pipe away your two-tone frosting!
    halloween 20
    halloween 21
  • For our spidery green slimy cupcakes, we simply used fudge writing to draw on them – but the inside holds a delicious Cadbury milk chocolate ‘scary egg secret’. Basically we took out a small cone from each cupcake and stuffed it with half an egg. Frost over the top and everyone is surprised! We used coloured glace icing for this 🙂
    halloween 22

    The sole actual halloween candy found in Coles... dude...

    The sole actual halloween candy found in Coles… dude…

    halloween 24
    IMG_2481

    This is AZ - I went to a charity walk for Diabetes with her and she is showcasing the inside slimy greeness of these cupcakes for you ;)

    This is AZ – I went to a charity walk for Diabetes with her and she is showcasing the inside slimy greeness of these cupcakes for you 😉

    IMG_2599

  • For our ‘worm dirt’ cupcakes, we stuffed the words inside, dirt inspired us to place sprinklets on top… 🙂
    halloween 25
  • For the jack o lantern and both Mr Luna ParK and Ms Medusa, we used dried glace icing, coloured it and rolled it into the shape desired – it worked just like fondant :D, rolling easier actually 🙂
    halloween 268
  • Last we actually did use all white icing, one to make a cute little ghosts (with cachous balls as eyes) as well as a voodoo heads, for which we added chopped cashews for a stitched up mouth 😀

IMG_2459

Sweet dreams mes amis, JJ and I say goodnight for now but the fun has obviously just begun… watch out!

 

Blog Signature

126 Comments

  3. Kathleen Richardson says:

    That pic of the knife cutting into the finger… once I figured out what it was, yuk, you got me. Truly creepy and fun! Hi to your lovely friends who helped with the baking and tasting. Glad to see you’re having such a good time through your high school years.

    Like

    « Reply
  19. libishski says:

    Those are some cute cupcakes!

    A friend of mine recommended Pretty Little Liars but haven’t had the chance to watch it again. Maybe when I finally finish my damn uni assignments!

    Like

    « Reply
  20. Lisa says:

    Halloween is my favorite holiday, but unfortunately Hurricane Sandy wiped it out this year. However, your post and spooky/yummy cupcakes made me smile AND drool! I love all the photos..you are so cute!

    Like

    « Reply
  29. Liz says:

    What a great array of Halloween cupcakes! I love the twisted icing…I need to try that method. You two are so cute…I still love my high school friends 🙂

    Like

    « Reply
  35. Alex says:

    Great fun post! 😛 I can never get my icing right – I don’t know why. I’ll try your instructions next time I do some cupcakes. Have a great weekend!

    Like

    « Reply
  57. Hotly Spiced says:

    What a terrific range of Halloween cupcakes. My favourite clip from the ones you’ve posted has to be Michael Jackson’s Thriller. I remember so well the hype surrounding the release of that video clip. And it so deserved the hype! xx

    Like

    « Reply
  60. Suzie says:

    Love all the pictures! It looks like you two had a great time messing around and baking! I love Halloween, it’s my favorite. Your cupcakes are so cute. Have a Happy Halloween Uru!!

    Like

    « Reply
  86. Gina says:

    I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to sleep tonight after seeing the first pics, I think the cupcakes put me at ease thought. Hope you have a wonderful Halloween, stay away from those horror movies though.
    -Gina-

    Like

    « Reply
  109. Balvinder says:

    By reading your post, no wonder why all kids and teens love Halloween. This year my daughter’s class has put up a haunted house in their school for spooks and squeals. Hope they have a safe Halloween party tomorrow!

    I like your special effects on photos and all your creepy creations.

    Like

    « Reply
  110. petit4chocolatier says:

    Too cute! Love the cupcakes: especially the Cadbury surprise! Creative idea : )
    Everything was superb, as always!
    Happy Halloween and enjoy!!

    Like

    « Reply

Sweet Comments Welcome!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Blog at WordPress.com.