Halloween Graveyard Cupcakes

Happy Halloween everyone, I hope you've all had a suitably scary day! I've been busy baking some yummy, sorry SPOOKY graveyard cupcakes which were so easy to make so I thought I'd share a quick recipe for how I made them. I was inspired by this recipe for a Haunted Graveyard Bake which looks amazing but takes a little longer to create. The cupcake cases and bat decorations came as a pack which I bought from Asda last year but I've seen plenty similar in the supermarkets this year. 

Makes 12
125g (4 oz) plain flour
125g (4oz) caster sugar
125g (4oz) soft margarine
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla essence
2 eggs

For the decoration
Nice biscuits of Rich Tea Finger Biscuits
Chocolate to melt
Chocolate sprinkles
Chocolate frosting
Icing sugar for Decoration 
Icing bag 

-Mix all the cupcake ingredients together in a bowl for around one and a half to two minutes until smooth.
-Evenly distribute the mixture between the cupcake cases and bake in a preheated oven at 180C (350F), Gas Mark 4 for 15-20 minutes. They should be slightly golden and spring back when lightly pressed.
-Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely

For the decoration
-Melt the chocolate then brush it on the biscuit. Try to use biscuits with rounded edges to look like gravestones. 
-Mix up a bowl of icing which is thick enough to write with. Using the icing write some spooky phrases on to your chocolate grave stones
-Top each cupcake with a thick layer of chocolate frosting and sprinkle with chocolate sprinkles. You could also use crumbled biscuits or Cadburys Flake.
-Stick the biscuit in to the cake pushing down firmly. It might help keep the biscuit in place if you let the icing slightly set before you add it to the top of the cupcake.

    

Don't forget to check out my other Halloween themed posts; Halloween Nail Art and Party Make Up. Have a Happy Halloween!

Spooky Halloween Nail Art

I had a go at some spooky Halloween nails this week, seeing as I won't get a chance to dress up I thought it might be fun to do something fun with my nails. The frankenstein's monster nails I did using a tutorial from Miss Budget Beauty's youtube channel which I'll include at the bottom of the page. All the other designs I just copied off pictures I found on google.

I couldn't actually find my nail art pen so instead I used an old liquid eyeliner which worked really well and dried matte on the nails which I think looks pretty cool. Unfortunately I forgot to add a top coat to my nails so when I went in the shower the eyeliner washed completely off my nails. Oh well, you live and you learn!

For a first try I was pretty pleased with the results and all the designs were so easy to do. They'd definitely be a great addition to any Halloween costume or as a bit of fun if you're not planning on dressing up.

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