Reese’s Cup Werewolf Cupcakes

 

There is absolutely no way you won’t have a howling good Halloween if you make up a batch of these terrifyingly adorable Werewolf cupcakes! And, not to toot my own horn or anything, but this year, just like last year, I am blogging about a Halloween recipe, prior to the actual date of the holiday. So yeah, I guess I’ll just say “Toot Toot!” Not only do these werewolves look irresistible, but they are also made with multiple Reese Cups – full size and minis, so they also undoubtedly taste irresistible to boot. I love Reese Cups, so I am totally psyched about these naughty little treats. Also I must say, Halloween is my favorite holiday! I mean, think about it…You get to dress weird, drink booze and eat candy for dinner. In fact, all of that fun stuff is encouraged. How could you go wrong on such a day!

Halloween actually has Irish origins. Our modern Halloween celebrations are derived from the Celtic holiday of Samhain. Samhain was Celtic New Year. It was a harvest festival which marked the dying of the sun-god and a turning to the colder, dormant half of the year. On this night, the Celts believed the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead was at its lowest point. The dead could more easily travel back over to our side, and if we weren’t careful, we could accidentally wander over in to their world and be trapped-a good reason to stay close to home and bonfires, no doubt! This belief likely gave rise to our Halloween legends of ghosts, ghouls and witches wandering about on this night in particular. I’ve posted some great Halloween recipes in past years ranging from the historically based traditional recipes such as:

Soul Cakes (Traditional Halloween/ Samhain)

 

Yeasted Irish Barmbrack Bread (traditional Halloween/Samhain)

Irish Tea Barmbrack with a Whiskey Honey Glaze (traditional Halloween/Samhain)

To the more whimsical offerings such as:

White Chocolate Mummy Pretzels

Halloween Cookies & Cream Owl Cupcakes

Mini Mummy Brownie Bite Cupcakes

As well as some wonderful boozy libations to kick your celebrations into high gear:

Fireball Cider Cocktail

Roasty Toasty Cocktail

A few year’s ago I managed to combined whimsical and boozy altogether in my Halloween treats with these adorable – I mean terribly frightening Itsy-Bitsy Tipsy Spider Cupcakes.

And last year was all about the whimsy with these

Black Velvet Frankenstein Cupcakes.

I guess I’m still in the whimsical mood this year because I absolutely could not resist these Reese’s Cup Werewolves when I saw them over at Hungry Happenings.

She makes the most amazing creations there, so you should definitely take a peek. These little devil dogs were not terribly hard to make, but I will say they were a bit fiddly. You had to have a steady hand and plan ahead by piping out all the fangs ahead of time so that they would harden. But would you just look at the end result!! I don’t think I’m barking up the wrong tree when I say these werewolves are just perfection!

So, I’ve given you enough time to gather all your supplies to make these lovely lycanthropes. What are you waiting for? I just bet that you and your friends will be howling at the moon come Thursday night! Happy Halloween ya’ll!!!

• Servings: 24 Cupcakes
• Print

Werewolf Cupcakes inspired by: Hungry Happenings

Chocolate Frosting Recipe from: Sally’s Baking Addition

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup black coffee
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

For the frosting:

• 1 1/4 cup (290 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3 1/2 cups (420 grams) confectioner’s sugar
• 3/4 cup (65 grams) dutch process cocoa powder
• 3 – 5 Tablespoons (45 – 75 ml) heavy cream
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the Werewolves:

• Full Size Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
• Mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
• White Cookie Icing or White Candy Melts
• Wilton Candy Eyes
• Chocolate Candy Melt Wafers (for ears)
• Whoppers (malted milk balls)
• Candy Bones (or make them using white candy melts)
• Chocolate sprinkles (for eyebrows)
• Valhrona Chocolate Crunchy Pearls (for nose, you could also use a mini M&M)

Directions:

For the Reese Cup Werewolves:

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lay the full size Reese Cups flat. Put a dollop of cookie icing on the top of a corresponding number of mini Reese cups. Attach the mini Reese cup “snout” to the full size Reese Cup. Place in fridge to harden.

Using White Cookie Icing or white chocolate melts, pipe “teeth” onto a sheet of parchment paper.  If you are making the bones from chocolate melts, pipe these out as well. Place this in the fridge to harden.

Cut unmelted chocolate melts into triangle shaped “ears”. Set aside.

For the cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and line your cupcake tins with paper liners.

Sift all dry ingredients into a large bowl. In a separate medium bowl, add all the wet ingredients. With your mixer on medium speed, slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and mix for 2 minutes. The batter will be quite soupy – this is ok!

Pour batter into the prepared cupcake tins, filling just slightly more than halfway. Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs. Cool cupcakes in pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes, and then remove from pan to cool completely.

While you’re waiting for the cupcakes to cool, make your frosting.

For the frosting:

Place butter in the bowl of the stand mixer and beat it on medium speed until it is light and fluffy – approximately 2 minutes. Sift the confectioner’s sugar and cocoa powder. Add this sugar/cocoa mixture to the creamed butter 2 – 3 Tablespoons at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add 3 Tablespoons of the cream, the salt and vanilla. Beat on low speed initially, increasing until you reach high speed. Beat for 1 -2 minutes. Add more sugar or cocoa is frosting is too thin or add cream if it seems too thick.

Werewolf Assembly:

Frost  the cupcakes with enough frosting to hold the Reese Cup “wolves” upright.

Remove the Reese cups from the fridge. Using a piping bag fitted with a Wilton #233 tip, pipe frosting fur all over the prepared Reese cups. If you don’t have this tip, you can paint some frosting over the Reese cup and use a paint brush to give it a rough, fur-like texture.

Carefully put the eyes, nose and teeth in place.

Place the Reese cup on the frosted cupcakes. Push two malted milk balls (paws) in front of the decorated Reese cup and pipe “fur” frosting over them.

Add a bit more fur to the top edge of the Reese Cups so that you can attach the candy melt ears.

Place bone between paws.

Enjoy!

Reese’s Cup Werewolf Cupcakes brought to you by: Runcible Eats (www.leaandjay.com)

Links for helpful Kitchen Tools & Ingredients for Reese’s Werewolf Cupcakes:

OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Food Scale

Kitchen Aid Artisan Stand Mixer

Oxo Good Grips Ice Cream Scoop

Wilton Mini Candy Eyes 

King Arthur Double Dutch Process Dark Cocoa Powder

Ghirardelli White Candy Melts

Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Melts

Valhrona Crunchy Pearls

Wilton Graveyard Bones

Wilton #233 Decorating Tip

Wilton Cookie Icing

 

 

 

 

Black Jack Cocktail

Since the weather seems very danged determined to keep rolling out those summer temps, I thought I’d tell you about a nice refreshing cocktail that we have been enjoying – The Black Jack. It is made with a delicious blackberry shrub, a little glug of lemon and orange juice, and Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey served with a splash of tonic water over crushed ice. The perfect thing to cool you down while you’re waiting for the season to change!

So what is a shrub? It is not that small ornamental bush out in the yard. Well, technically it is I suppose. The Shrub that I’m referring to is a concentrated syrup which is made by combining fruit, sugar and vinegar. Just between me and you, when I first read about shrubs all I could think about was the Knights Who Say “Ni” of Monty Python fame. In Monty Python’s “The Holy Grail” these knights will not let King Arthur pass unless he brings them a shrubbery as toll. But I suppose I digress…

So shrubs (the drink) have their roots (yeah, I know I said roots, but I am still talking about the drink, not the plant) in England where vinegar was traditionally used to preserve fruit. This practice then arrived in Colonial America with the settlers. Sailors would take shrubs along with them on sea voyages. These fruity elixirs, being full of vitamin C, helped to protect them from scurvy. In no time folks started mixing that vinegary fruit juice with spirits. Pirates were undoubtedly mixing it with rum. (When in doubt, always blame pirates).  But then, for some reason shrubs fell out of fashion in the 1800s. Lucky for us, shrubs have recently made a big comeback on the cocktail scene.

Several years ago I planted a blackberry bramble in our yard. His name is Chester and this year he grew quite a lot of blackberries. Not enough to make any preserves, or a pie or anything like that, but it was enough to make several batches of blackberry shrub. It is quite easy to make and in addition to mixing it into a cocktail, it can also be used as a glaze in cooking or to liven up a salad dressing. While I did use Jack Daniels for this creation, I must admit mixing the blackberry shrub with some vodka and a splash of tonic is also quite nice. Of course you can also just mix it with plain ole tonic water, without adding any alcohol at all, though I’m not sure why you’d want to do such a thing.   I assure you, the Husband and I have been mixing up the high-test adult beverage versions of this drink. It is deee-lish! On any given night , you might be able to find us out sitting on the porch, toasting to each others health and the much wished for yet slow to arrive Fall temperatures with a  hardy heartfelt “Ni!”

• Servings: 1 cocktail
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

recipe adapted from: Today Show

Ingredients:

For the Blackberry Shrub:

• 4 cups blackberries
• 2 cups apple cider vinegar
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 pinch kosher salt

For the Cocktail:

• 1 1/2 ounces Jack Daniels
• 1/2 ounce lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• 1/2 ounce orange juice, freshly squeezed
• 1 ounce blackberry shrub
• Fever Tree Refreshingly light Tonic Water
• crushed ice
• fresh mint for garnish

Directions:

Prepare the shrub: Place blackberries  in a nonmetal bowl. Add the vinegar, sugar and salt. Stir well and cover with plastic wrap. Place mixture in the refrigerator and let it sit for 2 days.

Transfer the berry mixture to a saucepan and heat over medium heat until it comes to a simmer. Allow it to cook for 10 minutes or so, skimming away any foam that should form.

Strain the berry mixture through a fine-meshed sieve, pressing any remaining berries against the sieve to extract as much juice as possible. Discard any remaining solids. Store shrub in the refrigerator for up to 6 weeks. This makes approximately 1 quart of concentrate.

For the Cocktail: Combine the Jack Daniels, lemon & orange juices along with the blackberry shrub in an ice filled cocktail shaker. Shake it up until it is chilled and thoroughly combined. Strain over cocktail glasses filled with crushed ice. Fill glass 1/2 way and then top with tonic water. Garnish with fresh mint if desired.

Enjoy!

Black Jack Cocktail brought to you by: Runcible Eats (www.leaandjay.com)

Links for Helpful Kitchen Tools & Ingredients for Black Jack Cocktail:

Cuisinart Set of 3 Fine Mesh Strainers

Oxo Steel Double Jigger

24 oz. Cocktail Shaker

Fever-Tree Naturally Light Tonic Water

La Rochere Napoleon Bee Tumblers