Pumpkin Cupcakes

Seth SmootWhether you've got a room full of hungry trick-or-treaters or need the perfect dessert for a festive Halloween party, these realistic-looking pumpkin cupcakes will have guests raving.

About the Pumpkin Cupcakes

These miniature pumpkins look like tiny showpieces, but they're surprisingly easy to make. Karen Tack and Alan Richardson simply create the rounded top by "gluing" on halved chocolate-covered doughnuts with frosting, then transform the cupcakes into pumpkins with orange-tinted frosting. Orange sprinkles or candies up the wow factor, and a twisted pretzel stick creates the perfect stem. A green fruit chew formed into a vine tendril is the finishing touch.

To make your own pumpkin cupcakes, you will need the following:
12 vanilla cupcakes baked in orange paper liners
6 small chocolate glazed doughnuts
1 can (16 ounces) vanilla frosting
Orange paste food coloring
1 cup orange coarse sugar
1 cup orange nonpareils
2 cups orange candy-coated chocolates
6 honey twist pretzels
2 green fruit chews (eg., Laffy Taffy, Jolly Rancher Fruit Chews, etc.)

Here are Karen and Alan's easy decorating steps:
1. Cut the doughnuts in half lengthwise to get 2 equal circles. Spread some of the vanilla frosting on top of a cupcake and attach the doughnut piece, cut side down, on top. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes. Place the cupcakes in the freezer for about 15 minutes or until firm. Spread some more vanilla frosting on the sides to fill in the gaps. Return to the freezer.

2. Place the sugars and sprinkle in separate shallow bowls. Tint the remaining vanilla frosting orange with the food coloring. Spread a thin layer of the orange frosting on the slightly frozen cupcake. Roll the cupcake in the sugar or sprinkles to cover completely. Or press rows of orange candies all over the frosted cupcake. Use a wooden skewer to make the marks in the side of the sprinkled cupcakes. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes.

3. Cut a honey wheat stick in half and insert the cut end in the top of the cupcakes as the stem. Cut the green fruit chews into thin slices and roll into ropes. Twist the ropes into tendrils and place on top of the cupcakes.

Learn more about Karen Tack, Alan Richardson and Hello, Cupcake!