Halloween Cupcakes – Monster Cupcakes with Edible Cupcake Wrappers VIDEO

Serve these Halloween cupcakes with edible wrappers at your party this year and you won’t have to deal with messy paper wrappers. These Cute Monster Cupcakes are decorated with brightly colored modeling chocolate wrappers and googly eyes.

This post first appeared on Hungry Happenings on October 4, 2015. It has been updated with a new VIDEO tutorial.

Monster Cupcakes

It’s been a while since I’ve made edible cupcake wrappers out of modeling chocolate (candy clay) and I thought Halloween was the perfect time to revisit this fun cupcake idea. If you are looking to make some super fun Halloween cupcakes you’ve got to give these monster cupcakes a try.

Paper cupcake wrappers have come a long way in the past few years, but even with all the festive new designs, you still can’t eat them.

But, you can eat these modeling chocolate cupcake wrappers and they taste great.

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Halloween Cupcakes

If you have never made modeling chocolate, now is the time to give it a try.

How can you resist making these sweet little monsters?

I thought these Halloween cupcakes were so much fun that I decided to host a small Monster themed Halloween party just so I can serve them. It’s actually just a movie night with some friends, but I know the kids are going to love these little guys. I’m also making some furry monster cups filled with a kid friendly dessert.

I have lots of fun monster themed appetizers and desserts that would be fun to serve at a Halloween party. My favorite being my Mini Monster Cheese Balls.  My Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Monsters and Rice Krispie Treat Monsters are pretty fun too. Scary Monster Cookies and Mini Monster Cakes would also be fun additions to your Halloween Monster Party.

To make your own family of monster cupcakes, you’ll need to make some modeling chocolate in a variety of bright colors. I find it easiest to use colored Candy Melts to make brightly colored modeling chocolate, but you can also make it using pure white chocolate which can be colored using gel food coloring. powdered food coloring, or candy coloring. See instructions for coloring modeling chocolate on my chocolate tips page.

How to make modeling chocolate (candy clay) using colored Candy Melts

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Candy Melts Modeling Chocolate

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

2 mins

Total Time

12 mins

 

Make modeling chocolate using two ingredients to create edible cupcake wrappers and other fun edible decorations.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: modeling chocolate

Keyword: candy clay, fondant, modeling chocolate

Servings: 1 batch

Author: Beth Jackson Klosterboer

Ingredients

• 1 - 12 ounce bag Wilton Candy Melts*
• 1/4 cup corn syrup plus more if needed
• *If using a 10 ounce bag of candy melts start with 3 1/2 tablespoons of corn syrup.

Instructions

1. Pour the candy melts into a microwave safe bowl.
2. Heat on high power for three 30 second increments, stirring after each.
3. Allow the candy melts to sit for 2 minutes, then stir until melted.
4. If not completely melted, heat on high for 15 second increments, stirring after each until melted.

5. Now, the MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO allow the candy coating to cool to between 91 and 92 degrees Fahrenheit, stirring frequently until cooled properly.

6. Pour in corn syrup.
7. Stir slowly until well incorporated.
8. Pour mixture out onto a counter top, preferably marble or granite.
9. Knead until glossy and smooth.
10. Wrap the modeling chocolate in plastic wrap and place in a zip top bag or airtight container.
11. Allow to dry for at least 30 minutes before using.
12. Modeling chocolate will keep for several months, if stored properly.

What is the difference between modeling chocolate and candy clay?

• They are really the same thing with the exception of the type of chocolate that is used.
  • Modeling chocolate is made using pure chocolate. Pure chocolate is made using cocoa butter.
  • Candy clay is made using confectionery coatings, usually Candy Melts. Some people refer to this as fake chocolate because they are made using vegetable oil in place of cocoa butter.

I will use the terms modeling chocolate and candy clay interchangeably!

You can read more detailed information about the different types of chocolate and modeling chocolate on my  Chocolate Making Tips page.

Why do I need to check the temperature of my Candy Melts when making candy clay?

• I have found after making modeling chocolate for almost 20 years, that the most important thing in being successful at making perfect modeling chocolate every time is making sure it cools to between 91 and 92 degrees Fahrenheit (33° C)  before adding the corn syrup.
  • If you add the corn syrup to chocolate that is too hot you’ll end up with greasy modeling chocolate. See my troubleshooting on how to fix your greasy modeling chocolate.
• To measure the temperature, you will need a good thermometer. I use Thermapen thermometers because they are extremely accurate and register the temperature much more quickly than any others that I’ve tried. Thermapens are not cheap, but after throwing away so many less expensive thermometers because they just didn’t work, I was so happy to find one that I love.  I’ve owned one for about 15 years and just got another one from Thermapen.

Once you have your modeling chocolate (candy clay) made you can decorate your Monster Cupcakes.

Halloween Cupcakes – Monster Cupcakes (see the video below the step-by-step tutorial)

You’ll Need:

baked cupcakes
1 1/2 ounce modeling chocolate per cupcake for edible cupcake wrapper*
frosting (the amount per cupcake depends on how you frost them, but figure between 1-3 ounces per cupcake)
optional, colored sugar (1-2 teaspoons per cupcake)
1/2 – 1 ounce modeling chocolate per cupcake for eyes and mouth
optional, jumbo candy eyes

*Each cupcake wrapper will use approximately 1 1/2 ounces of modeling chocolate, however you will need more to be able to roll it out and cut it into the cupcake wrapper shape.

How to make cupcake monsters:

Cupcake Wrapper Template

• Print a copy of this cupcake wrapper template (click here.) BE SURE TO PRINT IT IN LANDSCAPE MODE.
• Cut out around the template. Wrap it around one of your cupcakes, to see if it is the right size.
  • You need the paper template to overlap at the ends by at least 1/2 inch to allow room from the thicker modeling chocolate wrapper, so adjust the template as needed. Re-size then cut out a new template.

Candy Clay Cupcake Wrappers

• Roll out one color of your candy clay to about 1/8th inch thickness.
  • I find it easiest to roll my modeling chocolate out on a Wilton Easy Flex Silicone Mat using a non-stick silicone rolling pin or a fondant roller. The mat is perfectly smooth so it wont leave any marks on your modeling chocolate and it’s non-stick surface is perfect.
  • If you don’t have a silicone mat you can roll out the candy clay on a gallon size zip top bag or on a cutting board that has been dusted lightly with powdered sugar or corn starch.
• Once you’ve rolled out the candy clay use a pizza cutter to cut out around the paper template.
• Then wrap the candy clay strip around the cupcake sealing the edges with a tiny bit of water or piping gel.

How to make sugar coated monster cupcakes:

• Pipe frosting over top of your cupcake then carefully pick up the cupcake and dip it into a bowl of colored sugar.
• OR sprinkle the sugar over top of the frosting.

How to make furry frosting monster cupcakes:

• Use a multi-opening pastry tip (also referred to as a grass tip or fur tip) to add colorful frosting fur to your cupcakes.
  • It is so fun making fur. Just frost the cupcake with a little frosting, then pipe fur all over the top by squeezing the pastry bag then letting go and pulling away to create wisps of fur.
  • You’ll notice in the video tutorial that I didn’t bother adding a layer of frosting under the frosting fur. If the fur sticks to your cupcakes then you can skip the step too. Sometimes it’s difficult to get the frosting to stick unless there is some frosting on the cupcake.

How to decorate your Monster Cupcakes:

Roll out the modeling chocolate and use small cookie cutters and plunger cutters to create googly eyes and silly grins for your monsters.

• Eyes:
  • When making the eyes, be sure to keep the modeling chocolate about 1/2 thick so that you can easily insert lollipop sticks.
  • For some of the eyes, I cut circles out of the colored modeling chocolate then simply pressed some jumbo candy eyes into the circle. Wilton has some creepy bloodshot (the blue monster) or yellow eyes (the green monster) which are great for these cupcake monsters. The other eyes on my monsters are created out of modeling chocolate.
• Mouth:
  • To make the modeling chocolate monster mouth, roll out black candy clay to about 1/16th inch thickness.
  • Cut using an oval cutter for an open mouth.
  • Cut out a circle then cut into that circle using a knife or the same round cutter to create a smiling monster cupcake.
• Teeth:
  • Roll out white modeling chocolate to about 1/16th inch thickness.
  • Cut square, pointed, or rounded teeth using plunger cutters, a knife, or small metal cutters.

How to attach modeling chocolate (candy clay) pieces together:

• Brush a light amount of water or clear piping gel on the pieces to use as edible glue.
• I love using Wilton’s Water Brush as it holds water in the pen. You can just wet the tip of the brush and brush it over the candy clay.
• In the video below you’ll notice I squeeze some water out onto my silicone mat and dip the tip of the brush into it. I do that just to show you that I’m using water. I usually just squeeze the brush just enough to allow some water to drip off the tip then use the wet tip to brush over the modeling chocolate pieces.
• You can also use clear piping gel. I do recommend using the piping gel if your modeling chocolate cupcake wrappers are not holding well along the seam.

Watch the video to see how to decorate these Halloween Cupcakes…

Here are some of the products I used to create these cupcakes monsters that are available on Amazon.com (commission earned for sales)

    
    
   

Have fun decorating your own monsters and be sure to snap a picture and share it with me. I’d love to share your picture in my Readers’ Gallery. You can send your picture to beth@hungryhappenings.com.

Once you get the hang of making edible cupcake wrappers using modeling chocolate, you can create all these amazing holiday cupcakes.

Edible Cupcake Wrapper Tutorials

Snowman, Monsters, Carrots
Sea Life, Reindeer, Pilgrim
Football, Rudolph, Gingerbread
Crown, Snowflake, 50 Yard Line

If you want to make more Halloween cupcakes be sure to check out my Vampire Cupcakes and Werewolf Cupcakes.

You might also like these cute Black Cat Cupcakes.

If you want to make some really delicious Halloween cupcakes check out the recipe to make these Pumpkin Cheesecake Stuffed Chocolate Cupcakes.