Pumpkin Decorated Cupcakes

Are you looking for a quick, fun, easy treat to make for the Halloween season? If you are, you’ve come to the right place! We are here to show you how to create some super cute pumpkin/jack-o-lantern cupcakes. Kids will love them and so will the adults! Dress up your next party’s dessert table with these sweet pumpkin treats!

CAUTION This product contains gluten and dairy.

Materials:

• Hand mixer Mixer whisk attachments
• Mixing bowls x2 (one medium sized and one small)
• Spoons x2
• Scraper x2
• Piping bags x2 (one larger and the other smaller) with attached metal piping tips (one is star shaped & one is small circular shaped)
• Tall cup Measuring cups; 1 c. and 1/2 c.
• Measuring spoons; 1tsp. and 1/2 tsp.
• Pre-baked cupcakes
• Paper Towels (for clean up)

Ingredients:

• Stick of softened butter (room temp.)
• 3.5 cups powdered sugar
• 1.5 tsp. of milk
• 1 tsp. of vanilla extract
• Orange gel food coloring
• Green gel food coloring
• Brown M&Ms
• OPTIONAL: black gel food decorator

Place the whisk attachments into the hand mixer and plug the mixer into an outlet (CAUTION: make sure to put attachments in before you plug it in to ensure that the mixer doesn't turn on while you are doing so).

One attachment has small tabs on the rod, check the underside of the mixer to see which hole this attachment goes into. Place the non-tabbed attachment into the other hole on the underside of the mixer.

Place the stick of room temperature butter into the medium sized mixing bowl and use the hand mixer on speed 2 or 3 to cream the butter (cream for 30 seconds to 1 min; or until fluffy) and use one of the scraper to remove any butter that is stuck in the whisk attachments.

Measure and add the powdered sugar (3.5 cups), milk (1.5 tsp.), and vanilla extract (1 tsp.) into creamed butter and mix on speed 1 (be careful because the powdered sugar will poof everywhere if you go to fast). Mix thoroughly, until everything is well combined and the frosting is smooth (use the scraper to get everything off the sides of the bowl and mix for 30 more seconds to ensure that everything is combined).

Use the spoons to put 3 to 4 scoops of frosting into the second, smaller mixing bowl.

Put 2 to 3 drops of orange gel food coloring into the medium sized mixing bowl that holds the most frosting; mix with one of the spoons. Mix until the frosting color is not streaky and a solid pumpkin orange (30 sec to 1 min).

In the smaller bowl that holds less frosting, add 1 to 2 drops of green food coloring and mix with the second spoon. Mix until the frosting color is not streaky and a solid leafy green (30 sec to 1 min).

Place the larger piping bag with the star shaped tip into the tall cup and fold the bag over the edges of the cup (so that the cup is holding the bag open).

Using the same spoon you used to mix, scoop all of the orange frosting into the larger, star tipped piping bag.

Once the bag is full of orange frosting unfold the edges of the bag off the cup, pick up the bag out of the cup and twist the end to close it off.

Begin to frost!

Start by gently squeezing the piping bag so that the frosting comes out of the tip (notice that its star shaped!).

Pipe a stripe of frosting around the left outer rim of the cupcake starting at the top and ending at the bottom.

Repeat this process on the right outer rim of the cupcake.

Pipe stripes down the middle of the cupcake to fill the center, starting at the top and ending on the bottom.

Take one brown M&M, rotate it on its side and press it gently into the middle, top, outer rim of the frosted cupcake (where you think the stem should go).

Place the smaller piping bag with the circular shaped tip into the tall cup and fold the bag over the edges of the cup (so that the cup is holding the bag open).

Using the same spoon you used to mix, scoop all of the green frosting into the larger, star tipped piping bag.

Once the bag is full of green frosting unfold the edges of the bag off the cup, pick up the bag out of the cup and twist the end to close it off.

Gently squeeze the piping bag so that the frosting starts to come out of the tip, then pipe a small swirling vine off of the M&M stem.

OPTIONAL: Draw out a fun face on top of the orange frosting with the black gel food decorator to make the pumpkin into jack-o-lantern!