Candy Corn Cupcakes

Halloween is right around the corner.  My kids have moved past the stage where they plan their Halloween costume months in advance.  My daughter used to get so excited about Halloween that she would literally tell me what she wanted to be for the next Halloween on November 1st.  (I learned the hard way that she would change her mind several dozen times before Halloween night - sometimes even as late as the morning of Halloween.)  Since I was the person who was in charge of making their first costumes, maybe it was her way of preparing me for the task ahead. 

This was Courtney's very first Halloween - well before she had any say in what I dressed her in for Halloween.  Ryan was the world's cutest bunny rabbit and Courtney was a sweet little tulip. 

Looking at this picture reminds me of two things: the endless hours that I spent sewing elaborate Halloween costumes AND the fact that my kids are growing up way to fast.

Even though my kids don't get excited about Halloween costumes right now, they still love to get Halloween treats.  My candy corn cupcakes are the perfect treats for this family.
 

Candy Corn Cupcakes
2 cups flour            
1 Tablespoon baking powder         
½ teaspoon salt     
¾ cup butter 
2 teaspoons vanilla              
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup milk
5 egg whites







 
Combine dry ingredients.














Beat butter 2 minutes.













Add sugar gradually.


















Beat in extracts.














Add 1/3 of flour, ½ of milk and repeat.















Beat egg whites until stiff.







Fold into batter.

Using a spoon, scoop 1 teaspoon of batter into each muffin cup.







Tint half of the remaining batter yellow and spoon into the same muffin cups.

Tint remaining batter orange and spoon into muffin cups.

 Bake 30 minutes at 350. 

 These cupcakes just scream Halloween.

I frosted mine with swiss meringue buttercream.  I tinted a portion orange, another yellow and left a little white.  It made for a very festive little cupcake.

 

I took a lot of pictures but these were soooo good.   I especially loved the white cupcake papers that I normally don't like to use.  In this case, they almost became transparent and they let the beautiful cupcake colors shine through.   I hope that you will whip of a batch of these yummy candy corn cupcakes for a special treat this Halloween.

Ciao!