Gruesome Gatherings – Part 1

For a fun afternoon with the kids which is sure to wow your guests, why not follow our simple recipe to create Creepy-Crawly-Cupcakes!

Ingredients

For the cake mix:

• 125 g dark chocolate
• 3 tbsp milk
• 150 g butter, at room temperature
• 150 g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 200 g plain flour
• 1 tbsp good quality cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• Cocoa powder or icing sugar, for dusting (optional)

For the chocolate butter icing:

• 75 g butter, at room temperature
• 1 tbsp cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 175 g icing sugar
• 1 tbsp good quality cocoa powder

For the Decoration:

• Black liquorice
• Red circular sweets (we recommend smarties!)
• Brown hundreds and thousands

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180/gas
2. Place the chocolate and the milk in a bowl sitting over a saucepan of gently simmering water and heat until the chocolate has melts. Set aside to cool slightly
3. Beat the butter until very soft then add the caster sugar and continue to beat until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then fold in the melted chocolate
4. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and the bicarbonate of soda, and fold in gently to mix. Divide the mixture between your cupcake cases and bake for 15-20 minutes.
5. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to sit for five minutes to cool.
6. For the chocolate butter icing: beat the butter, cream and the vanilla extract until very soft. Then gradually sift in the icing sugar and the cocoa powder, beating all the time, until it is all added. Continue to beat until very soft, then whisk the mixture until it is light and fluffy
7. Once the cupcakes have cooler, put a layer of butter icing on the top and dip into a bowl of hundreds and thousands.
8. Cut the liquorice into smaller pieces and poke into the cake to create the legs.
9. Add two red sweets to the top of the cake, using a small dab of butter icing as glue