Graveyard Cupcakes

If you are going to bake a bunch of cupcakes and bring them to a party, they may as well be a graveyard of cupcakes. Not every single one needs to say RIP, be creative and make a gravestone for each person at the party. Freak them out with a little personalized grave!

What Mikey and I did for these cupcakes is make a spiced pumpkin cake, topped with a cream cheese frosting, and a gravestone made of gum paste.  So get creative, celebrate the 7^th day and the week until Halloween and spook your friends with their future grave site!

*Gum paste can be made from a mix or you can buy it premade at most cake shops or even Michael’s. The gum paste takes a while to dry so make the headstones a day in advance.

Ingredients:
premade gum paste
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
2 cups confectioner sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
 4 1/2 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising), plus more for pan
 2 tablespoons baking powder
 3/4 teaspoon salt
 1 1/2 cups milk
 1 1/2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
 1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup brown sugar
 7 large egg whites
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp allspice
2 tsp clove
2 tbspoons spiced rum

First things first roll out the gum paste and cut into the shape of a gravestone and let dry overnight. Once they dry, use black food coloring and a paint RIP or your friend’s names on.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line your cupcake trays with cupcake holders. We used brown cupcake liners to signify the dirt under the grass.

Get four bowls together, this is a bit of a jigsaw puzzle but you will see why. In one bowl sift together
flour, baking powder, and salt. In a second bowl combine milk, vanilla, and pumpkin puree, and set aside. In a third bowl beat butter with an electric mixer until the butter is pale and creamy. In a steady stream add continue beating until light and fluffy.

Reducing speed to low, add the flour mixture to the sugar mix in three batches, alternating between the milk mixture and flour, starting and ending with the flour mix.

In the fourth mixing bowl, beat all the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Fold one-third of the whites into the batter just until combined, fold in the remainder in two batches.

Pour the batter into the cupcakes holders so that they are about a ¼ of an inch to the top, and bake for 20 minutes. Make sure they are done by inserting a point and making sure it comes out clean.

When they are done remove from oven, and cool on a wire rack, and once cooled decorate by piping green frosting using our previous cream cheese frosting recipe, to create grass, and then place your gravestones on top! Build your graveyard! BOO!