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Pumpkin and Witch's Hat Toppers
Published 25 October 2012 by Francine Appleby
Another variation on pumpkin and witch's hat toppers! Keeping the theme Halloween! Cute pumpkin it is!
I promised a recipe as well as an alternative way to make a witch's hat and pumpkin topper for the week before Halloween and I hope you enjoy making these yummy cakes and cute little decorative treats for the occasion. These little pumpkin toppers are really cute and the witch looks a little menacing but fun and these are great for entertaining guests at a party this coming Halloween. The toppers do require some time, both to make as well as dry but well worth the effort for the end result.
I replaced the pumpkin with butternut squash which I already baked before adding to the cake mix. It is naturally sweet and a good alternative to pumpkin if like me, when arriving at the store they have sold out. These are butternut squash cupcakes topped with a plain vanilla buttercream frosting and sugarpaste Halloween themed toppers that will definitely be cause for conversation amongst your party goers. You could replace the quantity of pre-cooked butternut squash for the same amount of pre-cooked pumpkin if you are able to source one.
Ingredients:
Cupcake mixture:
220g self raising flour
120g butter
120g sugar
300g cooked butternut squash
100ml milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 level teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
Cupcake toppers:
200g white sugarpaste
Pinch of orange powdered food colouring
Black, green, and red edible dusting powders
Icing sugar for dusting your hands and work surface
Few drops white rum
Frosting mixture:
700g icing sugar
65g butter
1 teaspoon vanilla essence or extract
How to make the cupcake toppers:
Starting the recipe with the toppers as these will need to be made at least 3 days in advance to allow them enough time to dry.
Warm the sugarpaste between your palms and roll into a sausage shape approx 1 inch in thickness. Chop 7 equal 1 inch lengths and set aside the remainder.
Take 5 of the equal lengths and add some orange food colouring and knead in well. Portion into 5 equal sized small balls ensuring a smooth finish with no folds or cracks. Place the balls on a chopping board and pinch the tops of each ball. 1 pinch to create two little indents and another to create a total of 4 pinch marks as shown in the photo. Once you have created these pinch marks, use the cutting wheel tool to mark grooves for the pumpkin working from the top to the bottom around the sides of each of the balls. Set aside.
Take the 2 remaining 1 inch lengths of sugar paste and roll into an oval ball shape and using your index finger press into one side of the ball to create a concave curve on one side. Using your fingers pinch and shape the chin and nose from the the outer edges of the curve you have just made. This is an easy way to shape the witch's face. Set aside.
Shape some of the remaining white sugarpaste into 2 large cone shapes for the witch's hat and just reference back to your witch's head for the size of the hat to be made. Once you have shaped each of the cones, using your fingers, pinch the bottom outwards to form a base of the hat and keep easing the sugarpaste into shape using your fingers. You can stop there to make a simple hat or one a little more detailed with a drooping pointy end and band as per the two different types as shown in the photo. All the shaping can be done by hand. Leave to dry for at least 30 minutes to an hour before using the black edible dusting powder mixed with a little drop of white rum to decorate the hat and to colour it black using a dry clean paint brush to apply. Leave a thin band of white near to the base of the hat to paint it red or the colour of your choice. It may take two coats of black, so allow the first coat to dry before applying the second coat. Set aside and leave to dry.
Pinch a small amount of sugarpaste from the remaining white sugarpaste and roll into 4 small balls, pressing them and flattening them. Mix half a teaspoon of icing sugar with a little water and dab a little onto the back of each of the flatted balls and attach to the witches heads for eyes. Paint them black also using the edible black dusting powder and rum mixture.
Roll out the remaining white sugarpaste and using a small sharp knife, cut out 5 small squares, each a centimetre square in size. Cut them in half again diagonally across and these will be the 10 eyes for the 5 sets of eyes needed for the pumpkins. Cut 3 smaller squares and half them for the noses for the pumpkins. Now cut 5 small mouths, cutting a zigzag from the sugarpaste to form a jagged mouth. Using some of the icing sugar and water mix, apply the eyes nose and mouths for each of the pumpkins using tweezers to attach them to the pumpkin. Once all are attached allow to dry for 10 minutes and paint them black using the black edible dusting powder and rum mix applying with a small clean paint brush, only painting the top surface area to allow the white outline. Set aside and allow to dry.
Paint the witches faces green with the green edible dusting powder mixed with a little rum using a small clean paintbrush and then paint the outline for the lips using the red edible food colour with a little rum. Place the hat on each of the witches using a dab of the icing sugar and water to secure in place, set aside and allow to dry.
How to make the butternut squash cakes:
Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a food processor and on a high speed setting blend the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, butternut squash, milk, flour, cinnamon and baking powder and mix again on a high speed setting until all the ingredients are combined and a smooth batter is formed. Drop a tablespoon of the mixture into 12 muffin cases in a 12 cup bun or baking tray and bake in a hot oven set to 180° for approx 30-40 minutes. Check them at 30 minutes to see if they are ready and allow up to a further 10 minutes cooking time dependant on their progress. You can tell if when inserting a skewer the skewer comes out clean that the cakes are ready and baked, if not, bake them for a few more minutes until golden and an inserted skewer comes out clean. Remove from the oven with oven gloves once baked and allow to cool.
How to make the vanilla buttercream frosting:
In a food processor, place all the ingredients for the frosting and combine on a high speed setting until smooth and glossy. Fill a piping bag with a small open star tip/nozzle and pipe one continuous tightly formed zigzag along the centre line of each of the cakes, leaving an equal portion of uncovered cake either side of the first piped continuous zigzag. Repeat for all 12 and then pipe in the same way on each of the remaining sides that are yet to be frosted forming 3 rows of piping to cover the top of each cake until all 12 are frosted. Once covered with frosting, place each of your toppers on the cupcakes and serve. Look out for next week's post with more creative toppers!
