Recipe

Graveyard Cupcakes

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Graveyard Cupcakes

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by cheese1227

Graveyard Cupcakes

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by Heena

Graveyard Cupcakes

Photo 3 of 4
by Heena

Graveyard Cupcakes

Photo 4 of 4
by Heena

  • This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Halloween Treat
  • A&M's Testing Notes: The poor souls buried in these shallow graves must have died before the economy tanked because these chocolate cupcakes are really, really rich. Two sticks of butter and a goodly amount of...

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  • Chef

    Heena's Notes: Wistful, creative, playful and even (yes, I’ll admit it) cute – these are the words that come to my mind when I think of cupcakes. I recently did a step-by-step photo-tutorial of Halloween...

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Serves 12

  1. Preheat the oven to 350⁰F (175⁰C). Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners.

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  2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

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  3. Sift the cocoa in another bowl. Whisk together the cocoa and hot water until smooth.

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  4. Melt the butter and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat until combined. Remove from heat and whisk for 4-5 mins with an electric mixer on medium-low speed until cool to touch.

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  5. Whisk in the eggs, one by one, beating until incorporated before adding another.

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  6. Add the vanilla, then the cocoa mixture, beating only till combined.

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  7. Switch the mixer to low speed and add half the flour followed by half the sour cream, beating only till combined. Fold in the remaining flour and sour cream.

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  8. Divide batter evenly among the lined cups filling each ¾ full, and bake until a cake tester comes out clean, about 20-25 mins.

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  9. Cool the cupcakes completely on a wire rack before frosting.

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  10. Make the chocolate frosting: Chop and place chocolate in a bowl. Heat the cream with the syrup in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat until it just comes to a simmer.

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  11. Pour the cream over the chocolate and let sit for a few minutes. Stir the chocolate into the cream until smooth and shiny.

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  12. The ganache will thicken as it cools. Refrigerate it, stirring after every 10 mins until it has a soft spreading consistency.

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  1. Place a generous dollop of frosting in the center of the cupcake. Spread the frosting evenly around the cupcake with the back of a spoon or an offset spatula.

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  2. Crush the Oreo cookies finely to get ‘dirt’.

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  3. Starting at the edge, roll the cupcake tops in the Oreo dirt to cover completely.

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  4. Fill a piping or ziplock bag with the remaining chocolate frosting pushing it all the way down. (Microwave the frosting for 10-15 seconds if too stiff.) Press out the excess air, fold the open end 2-3 times and staple or tape shut. Using scissors snip off a small slit at the end or fit it with a round decorating tip.

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  5. Using the piping bag, decorate the rectangular cookie to make the ‘tombstone’.

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  6. Insert the rectangular cookie into the cupcake.

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  7. Arrange the graveyard cupcakes on a platter layered with the remaining Oreo dirt

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3 Comments on Graveyard Cupcakes

Cheese_for_twitter0001 Reply

Hi Heena,
As you may have guessed, my 9-year-old daughter came home from school just as I was about to decorate the tombstones, and she exercised a bit of her whimsy on them.

Sunshine_in_my_glass Reply

Haha.. That's the best review ever. Thanks!! : )

Sunshine_in_my_glass Reply

P.S. The chocolate cupcakes are adapted from Martha Stewart's Devil's Food Cupcakes.

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