Hallowcakes - Vanilla Matcha Halloween cupcakes

Hallowcakes are my version of halloween cupcakes! 

I used a basic vanilla sponge recipe and Magnolia Bakery's creamy buttercream for the icing, except that on half of the batch of cupcakes I added some Matcha green tea to the buttercream for an extra halloween touch!

For Magnolia Bakery's creamy vanilla buttercream recipe click here

Happy Halloween!!!

Halloween spooky dessert: Meringue Ghosts

Here is a little fun recipe i decided to try this weekend for the upcoming halloween festivities: The Meringue Ghosts. Simply make the meringue by whisking 4/5 egg whites until foamy then add about 1/2 tsp of cream of tartar (or salt) and when the mixture forms stiff peaks add 200g of extra fine sugar, continue whisking until no sugar granules can be felt in the meringue. Form ghost shapes using a piping bag and bake in the oven at 100 C for about 1 hour. For the eyes I used chocolate chips and decorating gel.

*Meringue making textures*

Vanilla Cupcakes

Yesterday i made my favorite vanilla cupcakes:) It is quite hard to find a good cupcake recipe without the cupcakes coming out as "sugar bombs". The one I use is from the Hummingbird Bakery book 

and it is simply delicious!

Tip 1: always have your ingredients at room temperature 

Tip 2: always sift the flour (for the batter) and the icing sugar (for the icing) so you don't get any lumps

Tip 3: for a fluffy buttercream icing beat the mixture for at least 3 minutes

*Preparing the ingredients*

*I use Tahitian vanilla pods*

*The most common recipe of cupcakes starts by creaming the butter and the sugar together. Hummingbird mixes all the dry ingredients first and than incorporates the eggs and milk*

*Sifting the icing sugar to make the buttercream icing*

*Finger-lickin good buttercream icing :p *

*I like to put the icing with a spatula instead of using a piping bag*

*Sprinkle some edible glitter for a touch of sparkle :)*