Chocolate Halloween Cupcakes

Hi, as Halloween is coming up I wanted to do a little post so I made some  Chocolate Halloween Cupcakes 🙂 However these cupcakes can be made all year round too.

For these Chocolate Halloween Cupcakes I used cherry jam that had lovely pieces of cherry in them.  However if you do not want to use jam you can use a different fulling such as a nutella core that can be found here – Chocolate Nutella Cupcakes.

If you don’t have a cupcake corer you can just use a spoon or a knife.  (A little cupcake corer are really inexpensive and a handy little thing to have in your kitchen).

The meringue does not need to be caramelised, you can just pipe it on and leave it as is. You could even just whip up some cream instead of making the meringue and pipe that on or use a spoon to place some on the top of the cupcake.  I was given a small blowtorch as a present and of course, wanted to give it a little test 🙂

I had never made a meringue like this before and therefore wanted to give it a try.  It was really quite easy and a great work out for my shoulder 🙂  Lola, our little dog was also very happy. As my chosen bowl that I used to make the meringue was a little small and the meringue decided to splattering everywhere 🙂
So much to learn and fun to be had in the kitchen!:)

You can decorate these cupcakes as you wish 🙂 I just chose some little smarties however you can go to town or keep them very simple with just the meringue on top :).

Today, I seem to be in a really happy mood as there are smiley faces all over this post 🙂 🙂 🙂

I hope you enjoy and have a good week xx

(Recipe from LOLA’S Forever: Recipes for cupcakes, cakes and slices – only very slightly adapted )

Chocolate Halloween Cupcakes

Recipes of My Art

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Servings 12

Ingredients

  

• 3 eggs
• 220 g caster sugar
• 150 ml sunflower oil
• 80 ml full fat milk
• 150 g self raising flour
• 45 g cocoa powder
• JAM CORE
• 100 g cherry jam
• 6 amarena cherries or maraschino cherries roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon of the cherry syrup optional
• Cherry Liqueur optional
• MERINGUE
• 3 egg whites
• 180 g caster sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence/extract
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• Items to decorate optional

Instructions

 

• Line the muffin tins with 18 muffin cases.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C
• Using a free stand mixer with a whisk attachment or a hand held mixer, beat the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add the oil and milk to the egg mixture and give a quick mix. If using a free stand mixer change the attachment to paddle attachment and sift in the cocoa powder and flour. Very quickly, on a medium to high speed mix it all together, do not over mix.
• Divide the mixture between the muffin cases and place in the oven and cook for about 20 minutes. Test with a cake tester to make sure they are cooked then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• To make the JAM CORE - Mix the jam, cut up amarena cherries/maraschino cherries and the syrup/liqueur together.
• To make the MERINGUE - Place the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in a heat resistance bowl. Using an electric whisk beat until light and fluffy, about a minute. Bring a small pot of water to the simmer. Place the bowl onto of the pot (the water must NOT touch the bottom of the bowl). On a high speed beat the mixture for 8 minutes. The mixture will thicken slowly, when it forms peaks that hold their shape remove from the heat and add the vanilla essence. Beat for another 2 minutes until it is thick and can hold its shape.
• To Assemble the Cupcakes - using a knife or a cupcake corer remove some of the middle of the cupcake. Using a teaspoon fill each hole with the JAM CORE.
• For the MERINGUE - use a piping bag and a large star nozzle, pipe the meringue over each cupcake. Using a blowtorch quickly caramelise the tops of the meringue or serve as is without caramelising the tops. Decorate as you wish.