This is going to be a fun post, I can tell…….
YIPPEE!! Its the week of Halloween!!! I love this holiday, people! Not just me, though – my family too. My mom, my sister and I always decorate our houses with cute Halloween decor – not creepy stuff, though – I don’t dig on having fake spider webs and black lights on my front porch. Cute stuff, like pumpkins, candy corn and cute, friendly little ghosts! Although I will admit that I have an embarassingly large collection of The Nightmare Before Christmas stuff on display every year (its my second favorite movie ever!), which is about as morbid as I get on Halloween (however, I guess the fact that I leave it all out on display until Christmas adds to the morbid factor a bit).
Sorry, just couldn’t resist!!
Anyway, back to my post….every year we all get together and watch fun stuff like It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!, Hocus Pocus (boy, do I love Bette Midler!) and the Disney version of Ichabod Crane (you know, the cute animated version with Bing Crosby narrating? Golly I love that movie!) So obviously, Halloween is big in my family. Which is why I was SO excited when Clara of I Heart Food 4 Thought chose Chocolate-Chocolate Cupcakes for this week’s TWD recipe with the idea in mind that we could decorate them for Halloween!! How fun!! How clever you are, Clara!
Now, you’d think that a cupcake wouldn’t take much trouble…wouldn’t cause any confusion….no worries, right? W-R-O-N-G. We’ve had all kinds of nerdy food discussions all week about these cupcakes! Just look! Apparently these cupcakes came out rather dry for many of the bakers, and dry cupcakes just won’t do. So, the TWD geniuses started thinking of ways to make them more moist – sour cream, pudding, oil instead of butter, applesauce, less flour, etc – really good stuff! So I took their ideas and ran with it; I’ll give you the low-down:
- Instead of using a softened stick of butter, I used half butter (melted) and half oil
- Instead of 1/2 cup buttermilk, I used 1/2 cup low-fat sour cream
- I used half brown sugar, half white sugar instead of all white
- I used semi-sweet chocolate instead of bittersweet (for the cake and the glaze)
And there you have it. Its not much of a change but I’ll tell you, these were THE MOST AWESOME CUPCAKES I’VE EVER TASTED. Oh my heavens, that chocolate glaze….to die for!!! These were seriously amazing. Seriously. And oh-my-goodness, did I have a good time decorating them all Halloweeny-like!
I was planning on sending these to work with hubby tomorrow, but after tasting, I think these babies will stay right here with mama! Oh yeah!
You know, honestly, I’d love to know what these cupcakes taste like when using the recipe as written. I’m sure they’re still fabulous – but I just couldn’t risk a dry cupcake…nope, sorry.
Isn’t that little plate cute?! I got that at Hobby Lobby and I’m oh-so-proud of it!!
Ok, I suggest rushing over to Clara’s blog and getting the recipe for these babies…..they’re good. What a great party treat!
Honestly sometimes I surprise myself how smart I am. HAHA. Love all your Halloween inspired cupcakes. I’ll take the candy corn ones please! Thanks for baking with me this week!
Clara @ iheartfood4thought
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Comment by CB — October 27, 2008 @ 2:54 PM
I like all of your changes actually – they definitely would have ensured moist cupcakes. And I agree that these should stay with you, unless you’re willing to share with me 🙂
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Comment by Caitlin — October 27, 2008 @ 6:36 PM
So cute! Your glaze is soooo beautiful and dark.
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Comment by food librarian — October 27, 2008 @ 7:17 PM
Those look so good! I was hunting around for a chocolate cupcake recipe, and I’m so glad I found one with such rave reviews. 🙂 But I must be dense, because I can’t seem to find the recipe on Clara’s blog. Have I made an idiotic mistake?
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Comment by Milly — October 27, 2008 @ 7:30 PM
Milly – Clara’s post will be up tomorrow with the recipe! I posted this early (we’re supposed to post on Tuesdays) – so sorry for the confusion! Hope you get the recipe and have lots of luck with it!!
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Comment by Amy — October 27, 2008 @ 7:35 PM
Great! Thanks for the quick response. I’ll be sure to check Clara’s blog obsessively starting tomorrow morning.
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Comment by Milly — October 27, 2008 @ 11:09 PM
These look so good!!!
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Comment by My Sweet & Saucy — October 27, 2008 @ 11:21 PM
I love the plate! you should be very proud. Seriously.. *=)*
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Comment by Sihan — October 27, 2008 @ 11:26 PM
Love all your photos and your cupcakes look scrumptious!
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Comment by HoneyB — October 28, 2008 @ 5:26 AM
your decorations are so cute!! and i love that plate 🙂 great job — glad your changes made them moist 🙂
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Comment by kim — October 28, 2008 @ 7:01 AM
Oh..yours look so adorable.
I love your plate.
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Comment by chocolatechic — October 28, 2008 @ 8:36 AM
Oh no, you don’t want to taste the recipe as written. I made them that way, and well, mama was more than happy to send those babies away, whereas mama would typically be a chocolate cupcake hoarder. It sounds like you hit it out of the ballpark with your modifications, and your cupcakes look festive and delicious!
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Comment by Cathy — October 28, 2008 @ 8:43 AM
I think the cute Halloween is, well, cute, and your cuppies look great with all their candy corn and sprinkles. I took the same approach as you – a few tiny changes and mine turned out also. Great job!
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Comment by Nancy (n.o.e.) — October 28, 2008 @ 9:03 AM
That’s what I get for not reading the P&Q this week. 🙂 Love the pics – they’re incredible!
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Comment by hornedfroggy — October 28, 2008 @ 9:22 AM
they look so cute!
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Comment by ashley — October 28, 2008 @ 9:42 AM
Those to freaking amazing! I love that little platter!
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Comment by mybakingaddiction — October 28, 2008 @ 10:08 AM
Love how you did ’em up! Good thinking with the changes.
Trick or treat or cupcake? Great photos, btw!
~ingrid
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Comment by ingrid — October 28, 2008 @ 10:42 AM
What GORGEOUS cupcakes! Okay, I’m seriously drooling. They look awesome!
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Comment by Melissa — October 28, 2008 @ 11:53 AM
Your whole post today was amazing! The plate, the cupcakes, and the movie! I love the nightmare before Christmas. We play the music CD all season too.
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Comment by Erin — October 28, 2008 @ 4:36 PM
The cupcakes turned out great! With your modifications, they were nice and moist (as advertised). Thanks so much for your help, and thanks for posting. 🙂
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Comment by Milly — October 28, 2008 @ 4:41 PM
Your cupcakes look very tasty!!
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Comment by Marthe — October 29, 2008 @ 5:16 AM
Although they are a bit too colourful for me, they look tasty!
Ulrike from <a href="http://ostwestwind.twoday.net/">Küchenlatein</a>
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Comment by Ulrike — October 29, 2008 @ 8:37 AM
These look great! I love how you changed them to make them better!
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Comment by Erin — October 29, 2008 @ 8:57 AM
Great job on the cupcakes–I love all your Halloween colors. And the plate in the last photo is terrific. What a find!
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Comment by Di — October 29, 2008 @ 9:37 AM
I love all your Halloween photos!
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Comment by Shari — October 29, 2008 @ 8:58 PM
I did mine as written and they were good — not really moist, but not dry. I was careful to pull them out of the oven just a little underdone. (I think the original recipe must be really sensitive to overbaking.)
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Comment by Barbara — October 30, 2008 @ 3:28 PM
I’m with you Amy…all about the cuteness of the season. I think your cupcakes ARE very cute with the colorful candy corn. Love your photos. Happy Baking
AmyRuth
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Comment by AmyRuth — November 1, 2008 @ 11:41 AM
Wow, you really do love Halloween! Your cupcakes look so good with those candy corn decorations. Very cute!
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Comment by LyB — November 2, 2008 @ 5:31 PM
those are very well baked cupcakes, just love the colors!
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Comment by Melouca — October 10, 2015 @ 3:24 AM