These adorable Halloween mummy cupcakes are fun and delicious bake for kids and adults alike! They are made with soft, moist and squishy chocolate cupcakes and a royal icing topping, piped in such way to make them look like cute and not-so-scary mummies.
Quick, easy and versatile recipe, which is guaranteed to be a hit among your guests during the spooky season!
If you are looking for a fun and easy Halloween recipe, these mummy cupcakes along with my chocolate marshmallow halloween bats or my chocolate fudge spiderweb muffins will be a perfect addition to your Halloween parties and gatherings!
The recipe is similar to my chocolate orange cupcakes recipe, but these halloween mummy cupcakes have buttermilk added to the batter ingredients, to create the softest and most tender crumb.
Ingredients notes
Here's what you will need to make these easy mummy cupcakes:
- Chocolate chips - Use the best quality chocolate or chocolate chips you can afford! This really makes a huge difference to the taste of the sponge/ cake.
- Buttermilk - This ingredient helps to tenderise gluten, giving these cupcakes lovely, soft and fluffy texture. Use a room temperature buttermilk to ensure it mixes evenly with the rest of the ingredients.
- Royal icing - I'm using a ready-made royal icing to pipe on top of the cakes. You can make your own royal icing or frosting, just make sure it is the right consistency. It needs to be stiffer than the royal icing we use to decorate the cookies with ( this illustrated guide to royal icing consistencies may help you visualise it better).
Scroll to the bottom of this post for the recipe card and the full list of the ingredients.
Instructions
It couldn't be easier to make these mummy halloween cupcakes. We are simply going to mix together the dry ingredients first, followed by mixing all of the wet ingredients and combining everything together at the end.
Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and add chocolate chips.
In a separate bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk to combine until you have smooth, runny batter.
Divide the batter between cupcake cases and bake for 22-24 minutes.
Hint: Make sure the coffee is cold before adding the rest of the wet ingredients. If it's too hot, you are risking cooking the eggs!
Once the cupcakes have baked and cooled completely, they are ready to be decorated and turned into halloween mummy cakes!
Use a tiny amount of frosting to stick the eyes on top of each cupcake.
Pipe the frosting in straight or uneven lines on top of each cupcake.
Hint: Add few drops of the gel food colouring to your icing/ buttercream to create different colour for the mummy cupcakes!
Substitutions
- Cupcakes - Swap for your favourite cupcakes or the ready-made, shop-bought cake mix instead.
- Buttermilk - Use plain yoghurt, soured cream or kefir instead. You can also make your own buttermilk by combining milk with some lemon juice or white vinegar (for this recipe you will mix 100 ml of milk with ½ teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar).
- Vegetable oil - This can be replaced with sunflower oil, canola oil or grapeseed oil.
- Coffee - If you don't want to use coffee in your recipe, simply replace it with same amount of water.
- Sugar eyes/ googly eyes - If not available, pipe small dots of frosting and use a small chocolate chips or melted chocolate for the eyeballs instead. Small chocolate candy will also work.
- Royal icing - You can swap this ingredient for your favourite type of icing, frosting or buttercream, as long as it is stiff enough and at the right consistency.
Variations
- Flavour variations - Use some extra flavours like orange extract or orange zest, add a handful of chopped walnuts or hazelnuts, white or dark chocolate chips, sprinkles or fillings to upgrade your cupcakes to even more delicious version!
- Different cakes - You can also simply use any other cupcake flavour and decorate it in the same way. Shop-bought cake mix can also be a good idea, if you don't fancy making your own!
- Mini cupcakes or cake - Why not use the cupcake batter and turn it into mini-cupcakes ( use the mini-liners and fill them only halfway, reduce baking times to 10-12 minutes), or one small 2-layer chocolate cake ( use the 6 inch baking tins and bake for about 18-20 minutes).
Equipment
- Muffin/ cupcake baking tin - This recipe makes 12 cupcakes, so you need 12-hole baking tin.
- Silicone or paper cupcake liners/ cases - Use some halloween cupcake liners or halloween muffin cases to make them look perfect for your halloween party!
- Mixing bowls - A couple of large mixing bowl for dry and for the wet ingredients.
- Medium jug or pouring vessel - The cupcake batter is quite runny, so it is much easier to transfer it to the cases if you pour it from a jug, rather than a bowl. Alternatively, use an ice cream scoop to divide the batter between the cases.
- Piping bag or a zip-lock style bag - If you don't have a piping/ pastry bag, use a plastic zip-lock type bag and simply snip one of the corner tips with the scissors.
- Piping tip - To pipe the frosting/ icing and to turn your cakes into halloween mummy cupcakes ( I used #47 Wilton tip, but any flat piping nozzle will work).
Storage
Store any leftover cupcakes in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can also prepare and bake the cupcakes a day ahead. Keep them covered at room temperature and decorate with the frosting the day of serving.
Unfrosted cupcakes can be frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw them in the fridge overnight and bring to room temperature before frosting and decorating.
FAQ
The most common causes for this are overfilling the cupcake cases with batter or over-mixing the batter ingredients. Make sure to only fill about ⅔ of the cupcake case with the batter, leaving plenty of room for the cupcake to expand.
No. Coffee is added to enhance the chocolate flavour, and once the cupcakes are baked, you will not even taste it. If you do not wish to use coffee, simply swap it for the same amount of water.
The oven temperature was probably too high, causing the cupcakes to rise way too fast and crack on top. Lower the oven temperature slightly next time. Even if they have cracks on top, they will still be delicious. And the frosting/ icing on top will cover most of the imperfections anyway!
📖 Recipe
Halloween Mummy Cupcakes
Equipment
- 12 hole muffin tin
- cupcake liners
- kitchen whisk
- large jug or an ice cream scoop
- Piping bag
- piping tip
Ingredients
- 175 g plain/ all purpose flour
- 180 g caster sugar
- 30 g cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 100 g chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
- 100 ml cold coffee
- 100 ml buttermilk *see notes for the alternative
- 110 ml vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
For the topping and decoration:
- royal icing/ buttercream/ frosting of choice
- edible eyes/ candy eyes
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 175°C (160°C fan). Line the cupcake/ muffin baking tin with the cupcake liners and set aside.
- In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Use a whisk to combine them, the add the chocolate chips/ chopped chocolate and stir again to combine.175 g plain/ all purpose flour, 180 g caster sugar, 30 g cocoa powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt, 100 g chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix everything to combine, until you have smooth, runny batter.100 ml cold coffee, 100 ml buttermilk, 110 ml vegetable oil, 2 large eggs
- Transfer the batter into a large jug or a pouring vessel (alternatively use an ice cream scoop) and fill each case no more than up to ⅔ of it's capacity. Place in the oven and bake for 22-24 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow the cupcakes to cool completely before decorating. To decorate, add a small amount of icing/ buttercream into the back of the sugar eyes and stick them on top of each cupcake.
- Pipe the lines of icing/ buttercream on top of each cupcake to create the mummy look. You can also add some food colouring to the icing/ buttercream to create different colours. Serve and enjoy!
Please note that all my recipes are developed and tested in metric grams. I recommend that you use digital scales for a more accurate results. I have provided a conversion to US customary in the recipe but please note that I haven’t tested using this method.
Video
Notes
- This recipe makes 12-14 cupcakes. Make sure to only fill the cupcake cases up to ⅔ of their capacity.
- The batter is quite wet and runny, it is much easier to transfer it to the cupcake cases if you use a large jug or a pouring vessel.
- Buttermilk substitute - to make your own buttermilk, mix ½ tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar with 100 ml of milk. Stir and let it sit for 5 minutes. Use as per the recipe instructions.
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