Halloween Chocolate Cupcakes with Meringue Ghosts

Have cupcakes looked evermore ghostly? Get spooky with your little ones with this moist chocolate cupcake recipe, topped with googly-eyed meringues. We’d say they are more on the cuter side than scary!

Prep Time
25mins
Bake Time
25mins & 1hr 30mins
Servings

For the chocolate cupcakes

  • 125g plain flour 125g plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking powder
  • 40g cocoa powder 40g cocoa powder
  • 100g unsalted butter (softened) 100g unsalted butter (softened)
  • 150g Tate & Lyle Pure Cane Caster Sugar 150g Tate & Lyle Pure Cane Caster Sugar
  • 1 large egg 1 large egg
  • 165g natural yogurt (room temperature) 165g natural yogurt (room temperature)
  • 2Tbsp of milk 2Tbsp of milk

For the meringue ghosts

  • 2 large eggs, whites only 2 large eggs, whites only
  • 120g Tate & Lyle Pure Cane Caster Sugar 120g Tate & Lyle Pure Cane Caster Sugar
  • Black food gel or sugar eyes for decoration Black food gel or sugar eyes for decoration

Instructions

HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE

To make the chocolate cupcakes (25 minutes for cupcakes)
  1. Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan). Line a muffin tin with 10 cupcake cases and set it aside.
  2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder, set aside.
  3. Cream together the butter and Tate & Lyle Pure Cane Caster Sugar until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add an egg, and whisk to combine. Add the yogurt and whisk again. Gently fold in the sifted flour and cocoa mixture and add 2 Tbsp of milk. Mix until just combined.
  4. Divide the mixture between the cupcake cases and bake for 20-25 minutes until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes, before transferring into a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the meringue ghosts ( 1h 30minutes for the meringues)
  1. Heat the oven to 120C (100C fan). Line two baking sheets with non-stick baking paper.
  2. Put the egg whites into a bowl of an electric mixer and whisk to stiff peaks (when you lift the beaters the egg white forms peaks that don’t flop over at the tip).
  3. Add Tate & Lyle Caster Sugar, one tablespoon at a time, whisking back to stiff peaks after each addition, until all the sugar is incorporated. Transfer the mixture into a piping bag fitted with 1 cm plain, round nozzle.
  4. Pipe the meringue ghosts onto the baking sheet. You want them to be roughly about 5cm wide and 4-5cm high. Hold the piping bag vertically to baking sheet and gently squeeze, pulling it up and away gently, to create a peak. Reserve about two tablespoons of the meringue to assemble the cupcakes.
  5. Bake the meringues for 1h 30minutes until crisp. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool completely.
  6. Use the remaining meringue to ‘glue’ the eyes into the ghosts. Top the chocolate cupcakes with the meringues and enjoy!