Boo-tiful ghost cupcakes
Part bake, part Halloween activity and 100% spooky fun. These chocolatey cupcakes come topped with their very own crispy meringue ghosts, complete with chocolate faces and rather fetching little quiffs. They take a little longer thanks to the meringues, but everything is surprisingly simple to make. One for a rainy half-term afternoon when little hands are looking for something frighteningly fun to do.
Prep time: 1 hour 30 minutes Cook time: 15 -18 minutes
Serves 12 people
Ingredients
- For the meringue ghosts
- 2 large FREE eggs, whites only
- 200g caster sugar
- Dark chocolate, melted
- For the chocolate cupcakes
- 250g salted butter, softened
- 250g caster sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla paste
- 4 large FREE eggs
- 200g self-raising flour
- 50g cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- You will need
- Electric hand whisk with balloon attachment
- 2 piping bags
- 12-hole muffin tin
- 12 black paper muffin cases
Method
- Preheat the oven to 120°C/100°C fan/gas 1.
- Place the FREE egg whites in a very clean bowl and whisk with the balloon whisk attachment until they form soft peaks.
- Add the caster sugar a small spoonful at a time, whisking well after each addition. Keep whisking until all the sugar has been added and the meringue is stiff and glossy.
- Transfer the meringue to a clean piping bag and cut a 1.5–2cm opening in the end. Pipe 12 equal mounds onto a lined baking sheet, lifting the piping bag quickly as you reach the top to give each little ghost a quiff.
- Bake the meringues for 1½ hours. Turn off the oven, wedge the door open slightly with a utensil and leave them inside to cool completely for another hour.
- Once the meringues have baked and cooled, make the chocolate cupcakes. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6.
- Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla paste until light and fluffy. Crack in the FREE eggs and briefly beat to combine. Add the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and beat again until everything comes together into a smooth, chocolatey batter.
- Line the muffin tin with the paper cases and divide the batter evenly between them. Bake for 15–18 mins, until the cupcakes have risen and are cooked through. Test with a skewer to check.
- Leave the cupcakes to cool on a cooling rack while you finish the ghosts. Spoon the melted dark chocolate into the second piping bag and snip a very small hole in the end. Pipe three dots onto each meringue ghost to make two eyes and a mouth.
- Once the cupcakes are completely cool, add a small puddle of melted chocolate to the top of each one and gently press on a meringue ghost to stick it in place.
