A bit of yellow and orange food coloring turns these classic vanilla cupcakes into
Candy Corn Cupcakes. They’re perfect for Halloween!
*Creak* Wait. What was that? Do you get a little more jumpy around Halloween? I know I do. Things that would be completely normal any other time of the year all of a sudden take on a wicked twist. I’ve always been a huge fan of ghost stories and things that go bump in the night–and I’m not talking about the neighbor. I even enjoy watching those ghost shows on tv. Well, to be fair, I go through phases because sometimes they can get a bit boring. But they are great entertainment for the weekends in the winter when it’s too cold to do anything else! (I just can’t watch them at night or I freak myself out when I go to let the dogs out.)
My wife and I visited Edinburgh on our trip to Scotland last summer, and we took a haunted tour down into the vaults under the city. We’d actually seen a ghost show where they locked themselves in the vaults for the night. It was pretty cool to get the chance to see them ourselves…albeit I would never want to get locked down there at night! The tour was late at night, and at one point the guide turned the flashlight off…I swear every hair on my body was standing on end. I was sure The Watcher was going to step out of the shadows any second. Creepy! But isn’t that one of the best parts of Halloween? The chance to embrace your inner child and believe in ghosts, goblins and witches for a couple of weeks?
For the record, I have no idea whether I believe in ghosts. I grew up in downtown Charleston, SC which certainly has plenty of ghost stories to go around. Our house was built in 1850…so it was old. It creaked a lot. We didn’t have a guest bedroom, so whenever company came into town, they would sleep in my room up on the third floor. More than one guest reported that they heard footsteps walking up and down the hardwood stairs right outside of my door in the middle of the night. My mother thought that the ghost was upset that things weren’t normal (since I was sleeping downstairs). I have no idea what to believe…but growing up in a historic area like Charleston will really make you question those strange noises at night. *Creak*
With Halloween right around the corner, let’s embrace the other part of this holiday…the candy! And what candy is more iconic for Halloween than candy corn?? These Candy Corn Cupcakes feature a delicious vanilla cake base topped with a simple vanilla buttercream. A bit of yellow and orange food color in the batter turns these classic cupcakes into the perfect Halloween treat! Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/3 cups sugar
- 2 ¼ cups cake flour
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 egg whites
- 1 cup milk
- Food coloring (yellow and orange)
- Candy corn, for garnish
- 1 ½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 ½ Tbsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp milk
Instructions
- In the bowl of a countertop mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes on medium speed).
- In a separate bowl, mix together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the vanilla, egg whites, and ½ of the flour mixture to the mixer bowl. Mix on low speed just until combined.
- Add the remaining flour mixture and mix on low until combined.
- Add milk and mix on low until batter is fully combined.
- Divide batter equally into 2 separate bowls. Add enough orange food coloring to one bowl to create a dark orange batter. Repeat with yellow food coloring in the other bowl.
- Line a muffin tin with paper liners; Fill each liner approximately ¼ full with the yellow-tinted batter. Next, add orange-tinted batter on top until the liners are approximately ½ full.
- Bake at 350°F for 26-28 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
- In the bowl of a countertop mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium-high speed for 5-6 minutes, or until light and very fluffy.
- Add the vanilla and powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing after each addition until fully absorbed.
- Add the milk and mix on medium high speed until well combined. (Note: If the frosting is too thick or thin, just add a bit of additional milk or powdered sugar.) Whip the frosting for another 3-4 minutes on high speed.
- Frost the cupcakes as desired. (I used the Wilton 2D tip for these cupcakes.)
- Garnish with a piece of candy corn before serving.
Notes
If you don't have any cake flour on hand, you can substitute 3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp of all-purpose flour and 2 Tbsp cornstarch for every 1 cup of cake flour. Sift the cornstarch and all-purpose flour together 2-3 times before using in the recipe.
I cannot watch scary movies at night either! My daughter loves to-and watch my reaction – but she’s not the one letting the dogs out at night!
That is so so cool that your wife and you got to tour the vaults under Edinburgh!!! Now those must have been some amazingly haunting ghost stories!!! My daughter and I have this little tradition that we go on a ghost tour in every city we visit – we went on one last year in Charleston and that part of it where we spent walking thru Provost Dungeon was super spooky -specially when people started saying they kept feeling hot and cold spots! And then someone said they felt a tap on their shoulder…boyoboy was I ready to bolt! There is a haunted hotel in Atlanta in Buckhead called the Beverly Hills Inn – with all kinds of sightings and stories reported – did y’all hear about it when y’all were here?
After all that ghost talk I need some comforting and these cupcakes would hit the spot!
Hmmm…the Beverly Hills Inn? I can’t say I remember that one…and I’m really surprised since I usually like checking out stuff like that. Have you stayed there? I keep trying to tell Laura that I want to go down and stay at The Myrtles Plantation. It’s near Baton Rouge, and it’s supposedly the most haunted house in America. I’ve done a tour there…but never a ghost one and certainly never stayed there. In truth, I don’t know if I could handle staying there. There’s like 4-5 rooms, so if the ghost is gonna find you, it won’t have to look hard! Man, I love this time of the year with the haunted happenings, though!
Nope – I am too chicken to stay there! The Myrtle’s Plantation sounds super scary – if I tell my daughter about it, she is gonna wanna go! I can do ghost tours – but that’s about all – I would need some Depends to even go to Netherworld! http://www.fearworld.com/
I remember Netherworld! And no thank you, I’ll pass on that one. We can hang out in the parking lot and eat cupcakes instead. 🙂
Edinburgh, now I get it…that’s where you picked up that Scottish accent.
I never had the courage to ask you about it…finally I know.
So…Hello, Awrite! Hou ar ye?
Hahaha! Where else did you think I picked up that Scottish accent, Mike? Brussels? 🙂
CUPCAKES!!!!!! These are super fun and perfect for Halloween! I don’t like scary movies they give me nightmares for months. The vaults under Edinburgh sound like the catacombs in Paris…without the skulls. I wouldn’t want to be locked down there either!
Wooo CUPCAKES! The skulls part reminds me of a church we visited in Rome that had a back area made entirely out of human bones. It was morbid and disturbing…but also kinda cool. They even had “art” made out of bones. Crazy!!
That icing is so beautifully done. My icing always looks such a mess!
Why thank you, Dannii! I may or may not have practiced on a piece of wax paper before I frosted the actual cupcakes. Haha! 🙂
You can definitely consider I will be recreating these candy corn cupcakes for Halloween! They look so delicious and I am just drooling over that thick layer of frosting. Great recipe!
Thank you so much, Thalia! The best part about these cupcakes is that they are just a basic go-to white cake and vanilla frosting. They can easily be adapted for any holiday…hmmm, candy cane cupcakes perhaps?? 🙂
These cupcakes are so corny…. get it? Candy corn? And I said corny. Laugh. Seriously, you need to laugh at that joke. Loving these… they’d be perfect at our annual Halloween bash… which, by the way, you guys would totally be invited to if you lived closer. So how about you move down here? Sounds like a great plan to me.
You caught me. I laughed at your corny joke. Corny. Get it. Haha. What? I think you just uninvited me to your party. Not cool, man. But it might actually inspire me to start looking for houses in your neighborhood. Just don’t ask any questions when a Roman gladiator shows up at your Halloween party.