Halloween Pumpkin Cupcakes

Surprise your trick-or-treaters with these delicious cupcakes with pumpkins. A delicious sponge decorated with chocolate cobwebs, best served with candy spiders.

Makes 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients

For the cake

• 175 grams butter

• 175 grams golden caster sugar

• 300 grams self raising flour, sieved

• 3 medium eggs

• 5 tablespoons milk

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 100 grams cooked pumpkin or butternut squash, mashed

• 50 grams chocolate and hazelnut spread

• zest of 1 orange

For the topping

• 115 grams icing sugar

• a little orange juice

• 55 grams plain chocolate, melted or use chocolate and hazelnut spread

• liquorice sweets and laces to decorate

Equipment

• a 12-cup muffin tin, each cup lined with a cupcake case

• a small piping bag of folded grease-proof paper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200 celsius.  Then place the first six ingredients into a bowl, and beat with a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth.

2. Stir in pumpkin mash and orange zest.

3. Divide half the mixture evenly between the 12 paper cases.

4. Add a half teaspoon chocolate spread and then top with remaining mix.  Bake in a pre-heated oven for 20-25 minutes. 

5. Add a little orange juice to the icing sugar until thick and spread over the muffins.

6. Pipe the melted chocolate in 4 circles over the top and then drag a skewer through to give the cobweb effect. Place the sweets and laces on top to look like a spider.

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