Halloween Cupcakes in Jars

By barbsjustagirl

Ingredients

• Chocolate Cupcakes:
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (best quality available)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (best quality available)
• 1 cup boiling water
• Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting:
• 1/2 cup (1 stick/8 Tablespoons) butter (set at room temp about 10 minutes, but should still be cool)
• 8 oz. cream cheese (directly from fridge)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (always use pure vanilla extract if possible)
• 4 cups powdered confectioners sugar
• 1 to 4 Tablespoons heavy cream, heavy whipping cream (or milk- although I do like the richness that cream adds)

Details

Servings 16

Preparation

Step 1

Cupcakes:

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (best quality available)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (best quality available)
1 cup boiling water

Directions-
Line muffin tin with paper liners. Heat oven to 350*F.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for one minute.

Stir in boiling water (the batter will be thin, don't worry, this is right).

Fill liners 2/3 full with batter. (I usually put the batter into a large measuring cup with a pour spout, and then pour the batter into the liners.)

Bake cupcakes for aproximately 22-24 minutes.

Cool completely on wire rack before frosting.

Icing:

*Place butter in a large mixing bowl and blend slightly. Add cream cheese and blend until combined, about 30 seconds.
*Add vanilla extract and powdered sugar and blend on low speed until combined. Increase to medium speed and beat until it begins to get fluffy.
*Slowly add the heavy cream, a little bit at a time until desired consistency is met. (Don't add too much if you want the frosting to stay in place when piped on cupcakes.)
*Beat until fluffy, about 1 minute.
*Use at once or keep refrigerated. (This frosting will keep well in the refrigerator for several days, but you may need to re-beat it for the best texture.)

The recipe above will produce a delicious VANILLA flavored frosting, here are a couple of other options to try...

For a Stronger Cream Cheese Flavor: Use an additional 4 oz. (½ block) of cream cheese. This is good for any cake/cupcake recipe that is traditionally topped with Cream Cheese Frosting, like Carrot Cake, or Red Velvet Cake.

For Chocolate Frosting: (my favorite!) add ½ cup unsweetened cocoa (I use Ghirardelli brand, it's really good). Add the cocoa powder before adding the powdered sugar, so it gets fully incorporated into the butter and cream cheese.

Strawberry, Blackberry, etc: Add 2-4 tablespoons of preserves. Depending on how chunky or seedy the preserves are, you may want to blend it in the food processor, and/or strain it through a fine strainer before adding it to the frosting. Add the preserves to the frosting mixture before adding the heavy cream. Depending on the amount of preserves you add you may need very little or no cream, especially if you want the frosting thick enough to pipe. A final option would be to add a drop of food coloring to add to the color of the preserves (for example, pink coloring for the Strawberry flavor).

* This recipe will frost about 22-24 cupcakes if you are piping a nice swirl, or even more if you just spread it on. If you're making a cake, this will frost and fill a two layer 9" cake.

Assembly:


1. Bake Chocolate cupcakes in standard sized paper liners.

2. Once the cupcakes are baked and cooled, remove paper liner, and cut cupcakes in half (horizontally).

3. Prepare a batch of frosting and color the frosting as desired (in this case, orange). Fill a piping bag fitted with a large tip (I used a Wilton 1M) 2/3 full with icing. You could also simply fill (2/3 full) a large ziplock type bag, and cut off one corner.

4. Layer the cupcakes and frosting in clean jars, starting with a cupcake half, then frosting, until there are three layers of cupcake, and three layers of frosting.

5. Top with sprinkles if desired. Serve jars open, or top with lid.

As with most baked goods, these are best the day they are made, but can be stored (covered with lids) at room temperature, or in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

If you're using the recipes I've linked above you'll be able to make about 16 jars.