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Halloween cupcakes do not need to be elaborate to feel like an occasion. A dark chocolate sponge, a swirl of bright orange or chocolate buttercream and a handful of orange and black sprinkles is exactly what children expect, and it is well within reach on a school night.
Use gel colouring, not liquid
The one thing that trips people up. Liquid food colouring is mostly water, and it takes a lot of it to turn buttercream properly orange. By the time the colour is right, the icing has gone soft and will not hold a swirl.
Gel or paste colouring is concentrated: a small dab on the end of a cocktail stick is enough. Add it a little at a time, because the colour deepens noticeably over the next hour as it develops.
Half orange, half chocolate
Make one batch of buttercream, split it, colour half of it orange and beat cocoa into the other half. Two colours from one bowl is less work than it looks and gives you the classic Halloween tray.
A large star nozzle gives the tall swirl in the picture. No piping bag? Spread the icing on with the back of a spoon and let the sprinkles do the work.
About the decorations
The spider rings you can see in the photograph are plastic toys, not food. They are fun, but take them off before handing a cupcake to a young child: small plastic pieces are a choking hazard, and so are hard sweets. Sprinkles are the safer way to decorate for little ones.
Making them ahead
Bake the sponges up to two days before, cool completely and keep them in an airtight tin, or freeze them un-iced for up to three months. Ice them on the day. For the method behind the sponge and a plain vanilla version, see our simple cupcakes.
