Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Meringue Ghosts

Decadent dark chocolate cupcakes with fluffy meringue ghosts make for one scrumptious, spooky Halloween treat!

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Meringue Ghosts – Decadent dark chocolate cupcakes with fluffy meringue ghosts make for a scrumptious, spooky Halloween treat! | thecomfortofcooking.com

But, before we get into these boo-tiful Halloween cupcakes, I have a giveaway winner to announce! Thanks to all who entered last Thursday’s Sara Lee giveaway and left your kind comments on my cake jars. I wish I could pop one on each of your doorsteps with a little festive bow and a spoon for immediate enjoyment!

Without further a-boooo (okay, I’ll stop), congratulations to the winner of the giveaway… Katie Reeve Smith! Wahoo! Katie, feel free to contact me with your address. And go use that gift card for some fabulous fall shopping, why dontcha? I’m thinking pumpkin everything.

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Meringue Ghosts – Decadent dark chocolate cupcakes with fluffy meringue ghosts make for a scrumptious, spooky Halloween treat! | thecomfortofcooking.com

Now, onto the cupcakes… perfect for Halloween and also for a deliciously belated birthday celebration! I rang in the big 2-8 over the weekend at a BBQ with friends, but what’s a little extra indulgence to recover from the festivities? The cleanup after the party required a cupcake, y’all. It wasn’t an option.

Inspired by McCormick and all their delicious, fun Halloween recipes, I created these spooky ghost cupcakes with glittery orange frosting and fluffy white meringue ghosts. Swirls of red and yellow food colorings made the pretty pumpkin hue easy to obtain, and for the eyes, toothpick dabs of black food coloring added an extra special touch!

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Meringue Ghosts – Decadent dark chocolate cupcakes with fluffy meringue ghosts make for a scrumptious, spooky Halloween treat! | thecomfortofcooking.com

The dark chocolate cupcake is fluffy and moist, rising right to the occasion for two layers of luscious, decadent frosting! A sparkly coat of orange sugar crystals (found at most hobby, craft or cake decorating stores) gives the orange frosting gorgeous glittery pizzazz, too. But, let’s be honest, people. The main event here is really the puffy little ghost meringues!

Aren’t they darlin’? I mean… uh… terrifying?

Roll up your sleeves and recreate these spooky treats for your own Halloween festivities! They’re easier than they look, eye-rolling delicious, and sure to impress even the most discerning goblins and ghouls!

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Meringue Ghosts

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Meringue Ghosts

Yield: 16 cupcakes

Ingredients

For Dark Chocolate Cupcakes:

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract
  • 2 large eggs

For Orange Frosting:

For Meringue Ghost Frosting:

Instructions

For Dark Chocolate Cupcakes:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. Into a large bowl, sift flour and cocoa powder together. Whisk in both sugars, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until well combined. Whisk milk, oil, vanilla and both eggs into the dry ingredients just until all ingredients are evenly incorporated. The batter will be runny. Divide batter evenly among muffin pan cups, filling each about 2/3-full.
  3. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cupcakes rest in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

For Orange Frosting:

  1. In a medium bowl, mix white frosting with food coloring until desired shade is reached. Pipe frosting on top of cupcakes. Place 1/4 cup sprinkles on a small shallow plate, turn cupcakes upside down and press gently against sprinkles to coat evenly.

For Meringue Ghost Frosting:

  1. Simmer 1 inch of water in a medium saucepan set to medium heat.
  2. Place egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Place bowl over the saucepan, making sure the bottom is not touching the water. Heat mixture for about 6 minutes, whisking constantly, until sugar dissolves and the mixture is hot to the touch (about 120 degrees F).
  3. Transfer bowl to a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk on medium speed for 1 minute. Increase speed to high and whisk until stiff, glossy peaks form, 5-10 minutes more. Add vanilla and whisk until just incorporated, about 1 minute.
  4. Pipe frosting on top of cupcakes with a wide round tip. With a toothpick dipped in black food coloring, add eyes and a mouth to the meringue ghosts.
  5. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
  6. Enjoy!

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

Join the Conversation

  1. Aww these turned out so so pretty! Look at how cute they are, I love them! :)

  2. Happy belated birthday! And I love these cupcakes – perfect for Halloween!

  3. These are so cute and festive Georgia! Perfect fall/Halloween treat! YUM! :)

  4. Okay this is just too cute! I’ve made bloody cupcakes and spider cupcakes but no ghosts – definitely need to squeeze this in before Halloween!

  5. Very cute! And I love the sparkle on the orange frosting :)

  6. So adorable! Have been searching for a halloween cupcake idea, so thanks!

  7. Happy belated birthday Georgia! These are the perfect Halloween/fall cupcakes – I love how festive and cute they look :)

  8. Oh my goodness — I can’t even believe to tell you how adorable they are. I definitely need to stop by my cake-decorating store so I can get myself some orange sanding sugar. Can’t wait to make these for Halloween! Thank you so much for the inspiration!

  9. These cupcakes are truly boo-tiful!! I love them. :)

  10. These are too cute for words. Not too cute for me to eat though!

  11. They are so dang adorable! Beautiful colour contrast.

  12. i love these! So cute but they also look like they’d be really tasty too; the best of both worlds!

  13. Happy Belated Birthday! These cupcakes are so fun! You ghost look perfect and I love the contrast of the dark chocolate cupcake with the orange sprinkled frosting and the crisp white ghost! So cute!

  14. Ah–these are SO adorable! We’re throwing a Halloween party and they’d be perfect.

  15. HOW CUTE ARE THESE??! Ohemgee!!! Love em!

  16. These are so adorable, Georgia!! And happy, happy belated birthday! xo

  17. These cupcakes are SO adorable! I just love them.

  18. Very cute!!! Love them!! Who wouldnt get into the halloween spirit with these!

  19. These are way cute! Our girls would find these to be too much fun!!

  20. They look incredible! Did you use Dutch processed cocoa to get that deep,dark color?

  21. Thanks! Yes, I used Valrhona cocoa powder, which is Dutch processed. A drop or two of black food coloring doesn’t hurt, either!

  22. Darling and terrifying!! So so cute, Georgia ;)

  23. These cupcakes are perfectly executed, Georgia! Not only that, they sound really delicious!

  24. Bootiful! Georgia, these are the cutest ghost cupcakes I have seen yet! Stinkin’ cute, I tell ya! Excellent work for McCormick. Love your styling and photography here. Hope you had a fun birthday weekend, girl! Pinning! xo

  25. These are adorable! Happy belated birthday!

  26. These are too cute, I love the meringue ghosts!

  27. These are so cute Georgia!! And spooky too : ) I love making fun treats this time of the year. And happy belated birthday!!

  28. These are adorable, I love the colors you used Georgia!

  29. Ok, Georgia, these are so stinking cute! What a clever idea! I hope you had a lovely birthday!

  30. These are so fun, Georgia. They look perfect!

  31. Georgie, these are absolutely perfect! I love the contrast of colors!

  32. Happy Belated Birthday, Georgia! These cupcakes are SO much fun!

  33. These are just too cute Georgia! I’ve seen quite a few Halloween inspired treats but these are certainly my favorites! Thank you for sharing!

  34. the orange next to the chocolate with that beautiful white ghost ontop!!! Just perfect!

  35. These cupcakes are SO CUTE! What a great idea!! Plus, they look delish!

  36. you do such a nice job with your pics Georgia. No, these aren’t terrifying, they are darling. :-)

  37. Gah, stinking adorable. What fun for Halloween! :)

  38. These are the cutest little cupcakes I’ve seen. Very artistic and original. Love it. it is gonna be a big hit, it’s all over on pinterest.

  39. 5 stars
    Okay I am definitely making these for my son’s Halloween party at school. I have to= i mean what kind of mother would I be if I didn’t LOL!

  40. oh yes they are so cute i love that on my Halloween party.

  41. This is just TOO CUTE!!! I`m in love with the meringue ghosts!

  42. Those cupcakes are soo adorable! They make me want to host a Halloween bake sale : )

  43. Boo, love this. The colors really make it pop

  44. These look so pretty and the color combination is so amazing. Very creative post indeed. PInned!

  45. These are just too adorable! You are so talented at decorating cakes/cupcakes. Mine never quite turn out just so, I’m a very frustrated cake decorator!

  46. These are darling. I love how you created that little ghost on top of the cupcake. These will be fun for Halloween.

  47. Happy Belated Birthday! And those are *seriously* cute cupcakes!

  48. These are so darn cute, I can’t even stand it Georgia!! You are so creative in the kitchen. And happy belated! We’re the same age. Let’s make 28 our best year! xo

  49. These are so amazing!! Seriously, some of the cutest cupcakes I’ve ever seen. Happy belated birthday, Georgia! :)

  50. Georgia, these are the cutest dang cupcakes I ever did see. I love the little ghost faces. Pinned.

  51. These are so much fun! I want to go make some right now and then throw a halloween party. Thanks for sharing!

  52. OMG! These cupcakes are so cute! Who wouldn’t fall in love with them? Just have to pin it! Thanks for sharing such a cool halloween dessert!

  53. These are ADORABLE!!! Pinning!!!

  54. 5 stars
    I made these this morning for a party tonight! The cake came out awesome… However my meringue was very soupy and I used the electric mixer for over 15 minutes!! I put it on the cake anyways (so i will add my own creativity later) but it looked like the meringue was melting off!! Not sure what I did wrong, but it was an awesome idea!!!!

  55. These are adorable! Thinking maybe for my sons ghostbuster birthday? We do not like canned frosting, could the meringue frosting be used for the orange part as well?

  56. I would use a denser frosting for the bottom layer, as it needs to be rolled in the sugar and support the meringue top. Feel free to swap a homemade buttercream for store bought. Just make sure your bottom layer frosting is on the thicker, denser side.

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