Thursday, October 8, 2015

Murderous Cupcakes







Today we start our series on Halloween-themed treats. What better way to start than with murderous cupcakes. These cupcakes were pretty easy, but they do take some time. 




Here are the materials you'll need:

  • Red Velvet Cupcakes (scratch, mix or bakery fresh)
  • White Frosting
  • Wilton Frosting weapons (we got ours a Michaels, but Joann Fabrics had some too)
  • Wilton Sugar Sheet - one sheet in bright yellow (I got mine from Amazon).
  • Black icing in a tube (Michaels, the grocery store and Joann Fabrics all had this)
  • Black muffin cup baking papers (Available at Michaels and Joann Fabrics)
  • Kitchen Scissors - clean, we're going to cut food with them.
Don't skimp on the red food coloring

Step One: 
First you have to decide if you are making your cupcakes from scratch, buying a mix, or just buying cupcakes. We went with Red Velvet for the red as blood coloring. 

We made ours from scratch but if you need a short-cut go for the mix or the finished cupcakes. 

Here's the recipe we used for red velvet cupcakes. Don't skimp on the red food coloring for this. Once your cupcakes are done, let them cool. They have to be cool before you frost. 




I over filled my cupcake tins so the cupcakes would grow out of them and give me some interesting shapes.



Step Two:
Frost your cupcakes with the white frosting. You may choose to leave swaths of the red visible as I did here. It will leave you a great place to put a frosting weapon in later.



Step Three:
Make your crime scene tape. Take your Wilton sugar sheet and cut a thin ribbon. Trim it down to about 1/2 inch. This doesn't have to be exact. Leave it long, you'll cut it after the next step.



Step Four:
We're going to write the words, "Crime Scene" on your tape. You may want to practice writing this with the frosting on a piece of paper before writing it on your sugar sheet ribbon. I found using block capital letters made it easier to write neatly. This is so much easier to do before you put the ribbon on the sugar sheet.

Step Five:
Place your completed Crime Scene Ribbon on the cupcake as desired. Then take your frosting weapon of choice and stick it in the cupcake - only so far that it stays, you don't want to hide the weapon. 




And you're Crime Scene cupcakes are ready for Halloween. 

A couple of notes - the Wilton frosting weapons are edible, but they are hard to eat and don't taste great. They are made of the same stuff as those stale tasting letters from my childhood birthday cakes. The Sugar Sheets are also edible and they don't seem to have any taste at all. 

Now go out and enjoy some Crime Scene Cupcakes for Halloween or your next mystery themed book club. 

Come on back next week when our series on Halloween treats continues...




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