Halloween is a great holiday for fun treats and desserts, with so many creative possibilities. (I made these Eyeball Cupcakes a few years ago.) This year, I decided to make a whole bunch of Halloween cupcakes all at once — I’ve had pictures of these in my binder for a long time and I just wanted to finally make them. Here are the designs and instructions. Note: You may find it easiest to use a cake mix for the cupcakes, because the decorations are the focus. Chocolate cupcakes made from a devil’s food cake mix hold up well.

MUMMY CUPCAKES

You will need:
Chocolate cupcakes
White fondant (use a gourmet brand for the best taste)
Something for the eyes (I used mini chocolate morsels. Mini brown M&Ms would be good, or you could use candy eyeballs.)

Roll out the fondant until about 1/8 thick. Best to do this on a surface covered in confectioner’s sugar (icing sugar). Use a knife or pizza cutter to cut thin ribbons, then lay pieces of the ribbon across the cupcake. Attach the eyes. They won’t stick very well on their own, so use a dab of water or even frosting to fix them in place.

PUMPKIN CUPCAKES

You will need:
Vanilla cupcakes
Buttercream frosting
Orange food coloring
Orange sanding sugar
Pretzel sticks

After coloring the frosting, spread a nicely shaped mound of it on top of the cupcake. Cover with sanding sugar and press it lightly so it adheres. With the tip of a knife, draw lines extending from the center. Insert a pretzel stick into the middle.

WITCHES’ CAULDRONS

You will need:
Chocolate cupcakes
Chocolate frosting
Vanilla pudding
Green food coloring
A mix of Halloween sprinkles
Pretzel sticks

Scoop out a portion in the middle of each cupcake. Don’t go too far down. Put the chocolate frosting around the hole and put a dab of it at the bottom of the hole (to help keep the pudding in place).

Make the vanilla pudding and color it green. Scoop it into the cupcake holes, then top with sprinkles. Insert a pretzel stick at an angle into the pudding. (If you’re not going to eat these right away, insert the pretzel sticks shortly before serving — otherwise they will get soggy.)

WHITE GHOST CUPCAKES

You will need:
Chocolate cupcakes
Chocolate frosting
White chocolate
Mini chocolate morsels

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Snip off a tiny corner of a plastic sandwich bag.

Melt white chocolate in the microwave (remove it as soon as it’s melted, or it will become too thick). Spoon it into the sandwich bag and pipe the outline of a ghost on the parchment, making one corner of the bottom of the ghost very long and narrow — this is what you will use to insert into the cupcakes. Fill in the outline with chocolate and smooth it out ever so gently with your finger or a knife. Quickly place two morsels on for eyes, then refrigerate until solid. Insert into frosted cupcakes.

M&M MONSTERS

You will need:
Any kind of cupcakes
Buttercream frosting
A variety of food coloring — try green, purple, and orange
Brown, green, and orange M&Ms
Candy eyeballs

Color the frosting in a variety of colors and spread on the cupcakes. Decorate with M&Ms and candy eyeballs. You can see I did random designs as well as faces.

Note: You should store these at room temperature or make them just before serving, as the M&Ms will get a frosty look after spending time in the refrigerator.

The main thing with all of these cupcakes is to HAVE FUN and be creative.

Happy Halloween!