Creepy Halloween Skull Cupcakes

You can use any chocolate cupcake or muffin recipe for these scary skull cupcakes which are always are hit at any Halloween party I bring them to. I was inspired by the movie 'Night of the Living Dead' when creating them.

• Preparation Time: 30 mins
• Cooking Time: 18 mins
• Total Time: 48 mins
• Calories: 276 Calories

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup water
• 1 ½ (16 ounce) packages prepared vanilla frosting
• 1 (7 ounce) pouch prepared chocolate frosting
• 1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix (such as Duncan Hines®)

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners, preferable dark-colored or Halloween-themed ones.

Step 2

Combine cake mix, water, eggs, and oil in a large bowl; beat with an electric mixer on low speed until moistened, about 30 seconds. Beat at medium speed until batter is smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full.

Step 3

Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 18 to 21 minutes. Remove from oven and cool tins on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Remove cupcakes from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before decorating, about 1 hour.

Step 4

Frost each cupcake with a thin layer of white vanilla frosting and refrigerate for 30 minutes to make decorating easier.

Step 5

Remove cupcakes from fridge and apply a second layer of white frosting. Fill a piping bag outfitted with a small round tip with chocolate frosting and draw a skull face on the cupcakes: pipe large ovals for the eyes, two dots for the nostrils, and a large "stitched" smile for the mouth.