The Forbidden Forest of Cupcakes

What’s hidden in the forbidden forest…

This time, I decided to try a chocolate cupcake recipe from scratch and I like it sooo much more than boxed. For the frosting, I almost always make my own homemade, but I tried out a new recipe and it’s my new favorite! Next I sprinkled the cupcakes with crumbled oreos for the “dirt”. The trees are edible! I drew a tree on a piece of paper, slid it under some wax paper, and traced the lines with a bag of melted candy melts. I liked the theme of “something” being buried under the trees, so I added a little raspberry puree filling. I left in the seeds for a more blood and guts look:

Chocolate Frosting
1 stick unsalted butter
2 oz of semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 box (16 oz) confectioners’ sugar
1/3 – 1/2 cup milk.

Combine the butter and the chocolate in a small saucepan. Melt over medium heat, stirring constantly. Add the cocoa powder and stir until smooth. Transfer the chocolate mixture to a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer.
Add the confectioners’ sugar alternately with the milk, adding more milk, if necessary, to thin, and beat until fluffy and smooth. (Source: Hello, Cupcake!)

Raspberry Puree
16 oz of frozen unsweetened raspberries
1/4 cup of white sugar
1 tsp of lemon juice

Thaw frozen raspberries. Combine all 3 ingredients in a blender, and blend until smooth. This made way more than I needed for 24 cupcakes, but I didn’t mind. The rest is great on ice cream or yogurt! (Source: Slightly adapted from Joy of Baking)

Happy Halloween!!