Halloween baking | The Jill of all Trades

Happy Halloween! It is October 31st and I have a very special recipe to share with you today. It’s a combination of some of my favourite things (cupcakes, chocolate, pumpkin, Oreos and owls). First I thought I would start the post off with some of my Halloween top tens.

My Top 10 Favourite Horror Movies

Many of these are likely not on the top 10 best horror movies of all time list, but they are absolutely on mine. My favourite kind of horror movie is one that involves some sort of possession or an evil spirit or demon. I’m not a fan of anything too gory and I find slasher movies have been overdone (I’m sure they’re about to release to 100th Freddy or Jason movie any time now, and Scream 5 anybody?). I love a movie that is going to make me jump out of my seat, not one that’s going to make me throw up (I’ve given up on the Saw franchise) or roll my eyes (one more blonde bimbo who trips and falls in the woods while running from a masked murderer with a knife and I will kill myself). So, my fave movie picks this year are:

The Conjuring (2013) – I LOVED this movie, and it’s probably one of the best “newer horror movie” I’ve seen in a very long time.
Amityville Horror (2005) – I’m sorry none of the originals are on here. This movie has been redone so many times I just decided to watch the newest one, and can you blame me? Two words: Ryan Reynolds.
Darkness Falls (2003) – The twisted story about a pissed off toothfairy might not be scary to you, but this movie is the reason I still slightly hop onto my bed at night so that whatever living under my bed can’t pull me under.
The Ring (2002) – This movie freaked me right out and that’s all I have to say on the matter.
The Gift (2000) – I was quite young when I saw this, but it’s one movie that actually made me scream out loud.
The Exorcist (1973) – One of the first of it’s kind – This movie doesn’t scare me much anymore since I’ve seen it so many times, but the freaky stories that I’ve heard about the making of the movie really scare me.
Insidious (2010) – The second one is coming out soon and I am so excited to see it. I will admit that this movie almost made me pee.
The Poltergeist (1982) – It’s a classic – my parents weren’t very good at keeping me from watching scary movies as a child. I believe I saw this one when I was 10 and I have loved it ever since.
Carrie (1976) – I loved this movie and I am seriously curious to see how the remake will live up to the original.

Top 10 Halloween DIYs I’ve Seen This Year

I love crafts and love DIYs. You should see my list for Christmas this years it’s out of control. Anyway, thanks to Pinterest, I have found a whack or really neat Halloween DIYs this year.

Top 10 Halloween Bakes

My absolute favourite recipes I found this year were both from the Domestic Rebel and will be on my list for next year: Creepy Crawly CUpcakes and Butterbeer Cupcakes (the Butterbeer cupcakes because of my unhealthy Harry Potter obsession). You can find my other faves below.

So let’s talk cupcakes. I of course had to add a little pumpkin to today’s recipe, so I decided on pumpkin spice cupcakes and a dark chocolate frosting with a cinnamon spice. I really wanted to take this cupcake a step further, I didn’t want to just do pumpkin, I needed something more. More Halloween. And that’s when I stumbled upon this fantastic recipe, and I of course had to try it. I of course also had to make this, because they are cupcakes in the shape of owls, and I love owls, like alot, and so does my boyfriend (they’re his favourite animal). So when he saw these he begged me to make it, and I of course obliged.

I did make a small adjustment to the recipe. Instead of using junior mints for the pupils, I used Cadbury Dairy Milk Buttons. They are essentially little dairy milk discs, and are pretty well meant for the exact purpose in which I used them. I used these for two reasons: 1. I could not find any junior mints at the grocery store; and 2. I am one of those people who just don’t think mint and chocolate belong together. Mint reminds me of toothpaste, and that’ just doesn’t belong in my dessert. Everything tastes awful if you eat it right after you brush your teeth… do you really want your cupcake to taste awful? I didn’t think so. Mint means toothpaste and toothpaste means dentist. Since my last visit to the dentist involved a pair of pliers and a very unhappy wisdom tooth, I have to say that I don’t want to think about a dentist while I’m eating a cupcake, or ever really, but especially not when I’m eating a cupcake.

Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Cupcake Owls

makes 12 to 16 cupcakes

Ingredients

for the Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup milk
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp nutmeg

for the Dark Chocolate Cinnamon Frosting

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup Hershey’s Dark Chocolate cocoa (I used regular cocoa and added a little bit of black food colouring gel to darking the frosting)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1lb powdered sugar, sifted (approx 4 cups)
1/2 cup heavy cream

for the Owls

16 Oreos, split in half
16 orange Reese’s Pieces Candy
32 Cadbury Milk Chocolate Buttons (or junior mints)

Baking Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees and line cupcake pan with liners.
In a medium bowl, melt the butter in your microwave.
Whisk in the sugars, eggs, vanilla and pumpkin puree.
Sift the dry ingredients onto the pumpkin mixture and whisk until just combined. It will still be lumpy at this point.
Add the milk and whisk until smooth.
Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full. NOTE: Don’t be afraid to fill these liners full! These cupcakes do better with more batter in the cups and puff up nicely!
Bake 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. (I baked mine for about 20)
Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the frosting: cream together the butter, cocoa, cinnamon and vanilla. One cup at a time, add the sugar and beat on high until smooth. With the mixer on low, slowly add the heavy cream until you reach your desired consistency. Mix on high for 4-5 minutes or until fluffy.
Make the owls: split the Oreos in half by separating one side from the other. I did this by slowly turning each side in the opposite direction until it came apart. Not every Oreo split perfectly, so I had to go through a bit more than the 16 before I got what I wanted. Place the chocolate button in middle of the eye, slightly off center so that it looks like cross eyes. Separate out the orange Reese’s Pieces candies and set aside. Using the spatula or knife, frost cupcake creating a flat surface. At the top of the cupcake, make two little points with the frosting for the owl ears. Place two eyes on the cupcake, making sure to leave room for the beak and not to cover the ears. Place an orange candy under and between the eyes for the beak.

The cupcakes are literally the cutest things I have ever make, and the pumpkin spice and cinnamon dark chocolate frosting are an amazing combination! This recipe is a must try. These cupcakes were so cute I almost couldn’t eat one! Thankfully I love chocolate so I couldn’t resist. Happy Baking!!

The Jill of all Trades

Tag Archives: Halloween baking

Halloween Things Part II: Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Cupcake Owls