Monster Cupcakes

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Summon your inner monster maker as you craft these scrumptious treats. Dive into our easy-to-follow recipe that guides you through the process of baking moist and fluffy cupcakes that serve as the canvas for your culinary imagination. But the real magic begins with the decoration – unleash a burst of color and character with vibrant frostings and edible googly eyes that will make your taste buds dance in delight.

 

Difficulty:  Easy

Prep time:  20 minutes

Bake time:  14-16 minutes

Inactive time:  30 minutes

Servings:  24-30 cupcakes

 

FAQs:

  • We used a metal cake decorating tip #233 typically used to make grass.  You can use something similar for the desired shaggy, monster-hair look.  Metal decorating tips can be found at local hobby stores or online. 
  • We also highly recommend a piping bag to decorate, but a ziplog bag would work in a pinch.

 

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

1 box chocolate cake mix

3 eggs

½ c oil

1 ¼ c water

 

For the frosting:

1 c unsalted butter, softened

1 t salt

3-4 T milk

4 c powdered sugar

Food colors: purple, blue, green, orange

Candy eye balls – small and large

 

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prep your cupcake pans by placing the liners in each cavity.  Set aside.  
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cake mix, eggs, oil and water.  Mix on low speed for about a minute and then bump up the speed to medium for an additional minute.  Mixture should be smooth with only a few occasional small clumps. 
  3. Divide equally among the cupcake liners – fill each one about ½-⅔ full – we used a measuring cup to help scoop and portion out the batter.  
  4. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 14-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.  Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes or until no longer warm to the touch before decorating. 
  5. To make the frosting:  in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the softened butter and salt.  Cream until smooth. 
  6. Add in half of the powdered sugar and mix on low speed until combined.  
  7. Add in the remaining powdered sugar and about 2 tablespoons worth of the milk.  Mix until combined.  If the mixture appears too dry, add the remaining milk.  If the mixture has incorporated, do not add any more milk – we want it to be a stiff consistency, but not dry-looking. 
  8. Bump up the speed to medium and mix for an additional minute to fluff up the frosting and ensure that it is smooth and well mixed.  Scrape down the sides and mix again.
  9. Divide the frosting equally between four separate bowls and tint each bowl a different color: purple, blue, orange and green.  Mix each color well so there are no hidden white pockets.  
  10. When ready to decorate, prepare a piping bag by fitting with the grass tip #233 (or similar) and transfer your first color of frosting to the bag.  Only fill about ½ full and refill if needed so the bag is not too big and awkward.  
  11. To pipe the decoration, hold the piping bag in your dominate hand and gently twist the top of the bag closed so it does not squeeze out the top.  Your non-dominate hand can help hold the top of the bag and for stability.  When you’re ready, place the tip of the bag about ½ of an inch from the top of the cupcake, starting around the outside edge.  Gently squeeze until the frosting sticks to the cupcake and then carefully squeeze and pull away from the cupcake to create the “hair”.  The frosting will follow wherever you move the piping bag so be sure to stop squeezing the bag before trying to move on to the next.  Continue placing these “hairy” dollops all around the outside edge of the cupcake.  Then proceed with the next row in and all the way around the cupcake until the entire surface is covered.  You can go back and fill in any thin areas.  The benefit to this style of decoration is that the “hair” is very forgiving.  
  12. Before moving on to the next color, place the candy eyeballs on each cupcake.  You can do any variety of small and large eyeballs to customize your monsters.  
  13. Remove the metal tip from the piping bag, rinse and rebag the next color of monster.  
  14. Continue decorating your cupcakes using steps 11-13 until all colors of frosting are used up.  
  15. Enjoy!

 

Storage:  Cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days or frozen for 3 months.  The condensation from the container may start to dissolve the eye ball candies – if desired, place those on just before serving.