Halloween Cupcakes

This weekend I will be making TONS of cupcakes...when I say tons, I generally make 50-60. Not because I have any special event, or really anything to do with them, but I LOVE decorating them. LOVE LOVE LOVE it! As I have mentioned before, I LOVE SPRINKLES. Every shape, color, and size. Holidays give me an excuse to use them!! Also, my cupcake recipe, is pretty darn amazing, not to brag. One recipe my dad was great at was cakes. So I use his cake recipe and altered it to make the perfect batch of 16 cupcakes...now if you are not a person who likes to make cupcakes from scratch, get the Betty Crocker butter yellow mix. Its good (not as good, but good) and you can still decorate them!! Yay! 

Amazingly Yummy Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 cup  granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean
1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
1/3 cup full-fat sour cream
1/4 cup vegetable oil 
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup whole milk

Note: You can NOT use low fat sour cream, or skim milk. These are cupcakes, they are not supposed to be "healthy" :)

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. In a small bowl, combine sugar and seeds from the vanilla bean. If you are unsure how to get the seeds of a vanilla bean out, check out you tube, they have some great tutorials. 
3. Mix slowly, make sure to press the seeds into the sugar to get the vanilla flavor into the sugar. 
4. Get out your kitchen aide and mix together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
   
5. Add the vanilla bean sugar and mix until well combined.
6. Add butter and mix on medium-low speed for three minutes.  The texture should be fine/crumbly. 
7. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream, oil, and vanilla extract.
8. Add this mixture to the flour/butter mixture, and mix on medium until combined.
9. Slowly add milk and mix on low speed until just combined.  The batter will be liquid.  (Don't worry, you didn't do anything wrong.  It's supposed to be that way.) **
10. Fill cupcake liners just over 1/2 full. I bake then in batches of 8. (2 pans of 8). 
11. Bake for 14 minutes and then test to see if they are done. They are done when a toothpick comes out without wet batter stuck to it.  The cupcakes should appear white with specks of vanilla bean. They should not turn a golden brown.  If they are not done, test again in two minutes.  If they are still not done, test again in another two minutes. Mine are generally done in 16 minutes. 
12. When the cupcakes are done, remove them immediately from the tins and leave them on a cooling rack (or just on your counter if you don't own a cooling rack) to cool.

**For holidays I also add in 2 drops of food coloring to make them more festive. I do orange for Halloween :)

For the frosting, I always use the Wilton Buttercream Frosting Recipe found here when I am decorating. If I am just frosting to eat, I use a less sweet frosting, but it does not work as well for piping frosting. 

Decorating Ideas: 

Sprinkles!!

Food coloring (to color your frosting)

Candy corn

Red Hots

Licorice Rope (red and black)

Mini Chocolate Chips 

Milano Cookies

Writing Gel 

Candy Corn Pumpkins 

Here are some decorating ideas for Halloween Cupcakes I made last year. I will post pictures after this weekend of my new ideas too!