Ghost Cupcakes

These Ghost Cupcakes are super spooky and cute, but so easy to make. Their chocolate cupcake base is rich and fudgy and they're topped with a homemade marshmallow fluff that's delicious. A little ghost face is piped on with melted chocolate.

These cupcakes are easy to make, but sure to impress with their cute design.

A FEW NOTES BEFORE WE GET STARTED

• Room Temperature Ingredients:
  • Butter: It’s important that the butter for both the cakes and frosting is softened. In a pinch, you can put your butter in the microwave for about 5 seconds on each side, but watch closely to make sure it is just softening and not melting.
  • Eggs: You also want to make sure that the eggs are at room temperature to ensure that they are properly incorporated into your batter. If you forget to leave them out before you start baking, place them in a bowl of warm water for about 15 minutes until they becomes room temperature.
• Measuring Your Ingredients:
  • I strongly encourage that you use a kitchen scale to measure your ingredients and ensure that you have the most accurate measurements possible.
  • However, if you don’t have a scale on hand and will be using cup measurements, make sure to use the “spoon and sweep” method when measuring to avoid packing in too much of any dry ingredient.
• Oven Temperature:
  • Make sure to preheat your oven for at least 15 minutes before you start baking.
  • I recommend purchasing an oven thermometer to get to know your oven so you can adjust your baking temperatures accordingly. Some ovens run slightly warmer or colder so its important to know yours to make sure your baked goods come out right.

Preheat oven to 350º F. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt and set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl with your spatula as needed. Add vanilla.

With the mixer on low, add the buttermilk. Beginning and ending with the flour mixture, alternate between adding the flour mixture and the coffee to the batter. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Using a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop, carefully scoop 2 tablespoon of batter into each cupcake liner. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and split the remaining batter among the cupcakes until they look even.

Bake for 22-24 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the pan cool on the cooling rack for 15 minutes before gently pulling the cupcakes out of the pan and letting them cool completely on the cooling rack.

Once the cupcakes are cooled, stir together the egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in a double boiler. Continue to stir constantly until mixture reaches 160º F on a candy thermometer.

Transfer to a mixing bowl, add in the vanilla, and mix with the whisk attachment on medium-high speed for 3-4 minutes followed by high speed for another 4-5 minutes until stiff peaks have formed.

Scoop the meringue into a pastry bag fitted with an Ateco 807 or similar piping tip. Starting in the middle of the cupcake, hold the piping bag upright and apply pressure to pipe straight down. Swirl in a clockwise motion as you pipe, staying close to the center so that the marshmallow fluff stacks on top of the first layer in a beautiful swirl design.

Melt the bittersweet chocolate in a small bowl. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a small piping tip like a Wilton 3 or 4.

Carefully pipe two little circles for eyes and one circle for a mouth on the marshmallow topping of each cupcake to make a ghost face. Enjoy!

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