Learn how to make decorated Halloween cupcakes in 4 designs with these simple tutorials that are perfect for decorating beginners.. These fun treats are EYE-deal for serving at your next monster mash bash!
4 Simple Halloween Cupcakes Designs
Using piping tips doesn’t have to be frightful! These cute Halloween cupcake designs are simple enough for decorating beginners. Using a small handful of piping tips, a batch of cupcakes, frosting, gel food coloring, and some candy eyeballs, I created 4 different designs:
Save your fear face for the haunted house and let’s get started!
Start With Your Favorite Cupcakes
. However, you can use any flavor, such as: vanilla cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes, red velvet cupcakes, confetti cupcakes… or try these delicious cream-filled chocolate cupcakes—you could tint the cream filling orange, or even blood-red for a spooky treat vampires would love to sink their fangs into!
No matter which cupcakes you choose, make sure they are completely cooled before you begin decorating.
Use a Sturdy Buttercream Frosting
The best frosting option for decorating these Halloween cupcakes is definitely vanilla buttercream. I slightly scaled up the recipe so there’s enough for these fun decorations. You want a very sturdy white frosting that will pipe on easily and hold the detailed designs. If you prefer a less-sweet frosting, you could also use this Swiss meringue buttercream. You could use cream cheese frosting, but the piping won’t be as defined.
I strongly recommend using the vanilla buttercream recipe in the recipe card below. I love it because while it’s sturdy, pipe-able, and tint-able to any color, it’s also sweet, creamy, and tastes great on pretty much any flavor cupcake. Functional as well as tasty—this frosting delivers both tricks AND treats!
Gel food coloring works best, and I used Americolor Orange, Leaf Green, Super Black, and Fuchsia + Violet (I used a little of each to make a pinkish-purple).
Monster Cupcakes
Aren’t the monster cupcakes so silly? You can make both designs with the same open star piping tip. If you’re also making the jack-o’-lantern cupcakes, you’ll use the same tip for the pumpkin stem. As an alternative look for monster fur, you could use a grass tip like Wilton 233, which is what I use for Cookie Monster cake and Elmo cake.
For the green monster, you’ll pipe a simple spiral of green-tinted frosting onto the cupcake, then place a large candy eyeball in the center. For the purple monster, you’ll pipe little stars across the surface of the cupcake, the same way you make hydrangea cupcakes for this cupcake bouquet. Add on some small candy eyeballs and sprinkles, and your monsters are ready to party!
Another option for spider cupcakes: Make these cream-filled chocolate cupcakes topped with chocolate ganache. Then use the white whipped buttercream filling to pipe a web on top of the ganache. You’ll need to tint a small amount of the remaining whipped buttercream black to pipe the spiders’ legs.
Frosting Color Success Tips
Not too difficult, right?
And don’t forget the Reese’s peanut butter white chocolate bark!
Easy Halloween Cupcakes Recipe
Ingredients You’ll Need
Instructions
- See recipe Note before starting, because if you only plan to use 1 or 2 of these designs, you can scale down the buttercream recipe. With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add 5 and 1/2 cups (660g) confectioners’ sugar, the heavy cream, and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to medium-high speed and beat for 2 full minutes. Taste. Add a pinch of salt if frosting is too sweet. I always add 1/8 teaspoon. If you notice a lot of air bubbles in your buttercream, stir by hand with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon to “mash” the frosting up against the side of the bowl, which helps pops the bubbles. Do this until most of the air bubbles pop, about 1–2 minutes. This trick requires a lot of arm muscle!
- You can control the consistency of the frosting at this point—add up to 1/2 cup (60g) more confectioners’ sugar if frosting is too thin or more heavy cream if frosting is too thick (add only 1 Tablespoon (15ml) at a time, beat together, then taste and add more if desired).
- Divide the frosting into bowls for however many colors you’re making. If you’re making all 4 designs, divide the frosting into 5 bowls—you’ll need less black frosting than other colors. Tint each bowl with a few drops of gel food coloring, stirring well, until you reach your desired shade of color. Keep 1 bowl white for the spider cupcakes. Note that I used 2 colors of gel food coloring (Fuchsia + Violet) to make a pinkish purple for the purple monster cupcakes. If you’d like to tone down the brightness of any color, use a toothpick to add a tiny dot of black gel food coloring to the bowl, then stir well. Remember that the color will continue to darken as the frosting sits.
- Continue with the instructions below for each design.
- Fit a piping bag with a small open star piping tip (I use Wilton #21), and a coupler, if using. Fill the piping bag with green frosting. Starting from the outside and working your way in to the center, pipe a spiral onto the cupcake. Place a large candy eyeball in the center, tapping it down gently so it sticks to the frosting.
- Fit a piping bag with a small open star piping tip (I use Wilton #21), and a coupler, if using. Fill the piping bag with purple frosting. Using steady, medium pressure, begin piping stars all over the surface of the cupcake until it’s covered. Gently press small candy eyeballs into the frosting, and finish with sprinkles, if desired.
- Fit a piping bag with a large petal tip (I use Wilton #125), and then fill with orange frosting. Fit a piping bag with a small open star tip (I use Wilton #21), and then fill with green frosting. Finally, fit a piping bag with a small round tip (I use Wilton #4), and then fill with black frosting. Start by piping on the orange frosting. Starting on one side, pipe a rounded line from top to bottom, following the curve of the cupcake. Repeat on the other side, then work your way in towards the center, alternating sides, finishing with a vertical line down the center. Use the green frosting to pipe on the pumpkin stem. Use the black frosting to pipe on the eyes, nose, and mouth. Make it as goofy or spooky as you like!
- You only need white and black frosting for this design. Fit a piping bag with a small round tip (I use Wilton #4). Fill the piping bag with black frosting. With a small offset icing spatula or a knife, spread the white frosting onto the cupcake, smoothing around the outside and across the top. To make the web, use the black frosting to pipe 3 criss-crossing straight lines across the top, so you have 6 triangle-shaped sections. Connect them with slightly curved lines, 2 between each section, to make a web. To make the spider, place half of a mini Oreo cookie onto the web, gently pressing it into the frosting so it sticks. Pipe 2 tiny dots of black frosting for the eyes, then stick 2 tiny candy eyeballs to the black frosting dots. Finish by piping 4 black lines on either side of the Oreo, to make 8 little spider legs.
- Store at room temperature, uncovered, for up to a few hours before serving. See make ahead instructions below for more details. Cover and store leftover cupcakes in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. I recommend a cupcake carrier for storing and transporting decorated cupcakes.
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