Here is our third instalment of our fang-tastically ghoulish Halloween Tutorial series for this month! This week we show you how to whip up and decorate a batch of fun D.I.Y Monster Cupcakes. These vibrant cakes are perfect for getting children involved with creating some spook-tacular Halloween party treats (they’re also great for fun-loving grown ups too). The great thing about these cupcakes is that you can sit and make a selection of different eyes, tentacles, teeth etc and mix and match them to form your own monsterous creation. We’re sure you’ll think these cupcakes are so ‘ghoul’ you’ll want to scare everyone away rather than share them!

What you will need…
A batch of piped cupcakes in bright colours (we used Vine green, Grape/Violet and Orange)
3 brightly coloured balls of sugarpaste / fondant
1 ball of white sugarpaste / fondant
Toothpicks (cut the sharp ends off if planning to decorate these with kids)
Fondant rolling pin
Ball tool (with a larger and smaller ball on each end)
Edible glue
Sprinkles (optional)
Edible glitter (optional)
Scissors
Paint brush
Icing sugar or cornstarch to dust your surface
Candy melts
Disposable piping bags

Step one: Pipe some generous swirls atop your cupcakes in a variety of colours. We used 809 (open round tip), 868 (fine toothed pastry tip) and 828 (larger toothed pastry tip).

Step two: To make eyes roll out balls of white sugarpaste. Indent them with a large ball tool and apply some edible glue inside the impression. Roll up a smaller ball of coloured sugarpaste and gently press this into your white ball. Indent the smaller ball with a smaller ball tool. Roll up another colour in an even smaller size and press this in. Finally take a toothpick or blade tool and create indented lines to create an iris.

Step three: After making the eyeballs you need to assemble them onto toothpicks to position them into your cupcakes. To help stop them sliding down the toothpicks apply a bit of melted candy melt into your toothpick where the eyeball will fit. Before it sets slide your eyeball onto the top and leave to dry. If you’re ready you can insert the eyes into your cupcake when set!

Step four: To create teeth simply play with white fondant to create sharp fangs, picket fence-style buck teeth or more human shaped dentures.

Step five: When it comes to tentacles shape some coloured sugarpaste / fondant into a variety of ‘slug’ shapes (make sure these are long enough to sit from your cupcake to your chosen surface… e.g. plate or cake stand). Add some ‘suckers’ by indenting with a small ball tool, some edible glue and small rolled up balls of coloured sugarpaste.

Step six: Try adding some extra customisation with sprinkles, cut out sugarpaste shapes or edible glitter!

Step seven: Now for the super fun part! Design and decorate your cupcakes with as many eyes, teeth, tentacles, spots etc as you wish.

By the end of this tutorial you should be left with a batch of monsterous treats perfect for petrifying parties and spooky soirées!