How To Make Desserts Inspired By Your Favorite Scary Characters, But Sans the Extravagance

Transform regular cupcakes, muffins, and teeny tiny tarts into horror movie-inspired characters, with our master list of ingredients and everything else you could possibly need.

Halloween is the perfect time to get creative in the kitchen and express your love for desserts with spooky creations of our favorite monsters and creepy crawlies. Whether you enjoy classic horror films or modern thrillers, there are always memorable characters that leave a lasting impression.

We will leave the creative bit to you and get started with the base and decorations part, and everything else you might possibly need to create your own spooky dessert. These ingredients are basic pantry staples and the rest are easily available in the market and should be affordable for any home baker. The key ingredients you will need include:

For the Base

There are many elaborate options out there, but we suggest simpler cupcakes, muffins, or even sooji halwa, with a twist, as the base for your dessert.

1. Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp baking powder

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C.
• Line a muffin tin with paper liners.
• Mix together the dry ingredients.
• Beat eggs and milk together, then add to the dry ingredients mixture along with melted butter.
• Fill liners and make them 2/3 full. Bake for 15 mins.

2. Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg yolk

Instructions:

• Mix butter and sugar until fluffy.
• Beat in egg yolks.
• Stir in flour, then roll into balls and flatten with a fork.
• Bake for 8-10 mins.

3. Semolina Treats

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp ghee or butter
• 1 cup semolina/sooji
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup cashews, chopped
• 1/4 cup milk

Instructions:

• Lightly grease an 8x8-inch pan with ghee. Set it aside.
• In a saucepan, melt the ghee/butter over medium heat.
• Add the semolina and roast for 2-3 minutes, stirring continuously, until golden brown.
• Remove from heat and quickly mix in powdered sugar, raisins, cashews, and milk.
• Press the mixture evenly into the prepared pan. Allow to cool completely.
• Cut into desired shapes while still hot!

The Decorations

Now depending on what character or idea you choose for your Halloween dessert, you will also need:

• Chocolate: Semi-sweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate bars can be used to add to the cupcake batter and also to decorate the cupcakes. These can act as eyes as well for ghosts, or Frankestine’s monster.
• Cream cheese: Cream cheese is used to make the cream cheese frosting for the cupcakes. That can be used for ideas like Casper the Ghost or mummies.
• Food coloring: Consider black, red, and green food coloring to achieve creepy color effects in the dessert. Without this, it might be difficult to replicate anything that is a nightmare on a plate, but lip-smackingly delicious.
• Whipped cream: A great alternative to pastry creams that might be too nauseating for some, whipped cream is less dense and light on the palate and will be liked by those who dislike the rich cream and frosting used in typical desserts.
• Jelly: Chopped jelly bits can add a nice texture to your dessert or add a spooky flair to your dessert easily. Jelly can be made at home with just gelatin and some water, heated and stirred in a pan.
• White chocolate: This will be a great contrast to the darker cocoa, as therich chocolates also make good ghosts and characters that have more white in them like the spirits.

The Ideas

Here are some easy-peasy ideas based on our ingredients that you can easily make:

• Werewolf Cookies: Use chocolate chip cookies decorated and cooled to look like a werewolf face with chocolate chips. You can also use the baked semolina for this one.
• Vampire Cupcakes: Red velvet cupcakes can get a makeover topped with frosting "fangs".
• Frankenstein Cupcakes: Use green food coloring for the cupcake batter. Then, use different colored frosting to make the green face of Frankenstein. Don’t forget the frosting bolts on the neck!
• Scream Cupcakes: Vanilla cupcakes topped with red jelly "blood" dripping down the sides will make for a great long-faced cream character.
• Mummy Cupcakes: Thin buttercream frosting can be used to resemble "bandages" on cupcakes or cookie surfaces with eyes popping out of them. Make sure to keep a little space in the center for a dark background.