Pumpkin Cupcakes

Every year a couple of neighbors in our community get together for trick-or-treating and a party afterwards. This year we offered to make cupcakes and leave it to my mom to find the most creative cupcakes to make.

When I think of fall and Halloween, Pumpkins are the first thing to come to mind. With that in mind...my mom whipped up these adorable Pumpkin Cupcakes which we saw online.

Ingredients:

12 cupcakes baked in orange paper liners

2 pieces green licorice twists (e.g. Twizzlers rainbow twists)

1 can (16 ounces) plus 1 cup vanilla frosting

Orange food coloring

1 cup orange decorating sugar

Green licorice laces

Directions:

1. Cut your licorice twists into 3/4 inch pieces to make the pumpkin stems. Tint the vanilla frosting orange with the food coloring. Tint 1/2 cup of the orange frosting a darker shade of orange with more food coloring. Spoon the darker orange frosting into a ziplock bag; set aside.
2. Place orange decorating sugar into a shallow bowl. Spread the orange frosting on top of the cupcakes mounding slightly in the center. Starting on the edge, roll the cupcake tops in the sugar to cover completely.
3. Use a wooden skewer to mark the ridges in the tops of the cupcakes. Starting in the center or slightly off center, lightly press the skewer over the cupcake tops to create 5 to 6 indentations. Snip a very small corner (1/16 inch) from the bag with the darker orange frosting and pipe lines of frosting in the indentations on top of the cupcakes. Insert the cut green twists for the stems and add the green laces, trimmed into shorter pieces, to make the tendrils.

Happy Halloween everyone and stay safe!!