Hi everyone, I'm Alex of Enchanted Events & Designs. I was so honored and excited when my wonderful friend Gwynn asked me to make some ghost cupcakes for her Halloween table. I got even more excited when she asked me to do a guest post on her blog to tell all of her wonderful readers how to recreate these yummy treats themselves. The original idea came from Martha Stewart. She has a tutorial on her site, but I modified it a bit to make the assembly a bit easier and of course added pictures.
1) 1 box of cake mix (flavor of choice)
2) Standard and small cupcake tins
3) 1 canister of frosting (flavor of choice)
4) 2 lbs of white fondant
5) Black fondant, or black icing coloring
6) Water and a small brush
Follow the instructions on the box of cake mix for baking cupcakes. Make an equal number of standard and small cupcakes. I use cupcake liners for my standard sized cupcakes so it's easier to handle them once assembled. I recommend baking them at 25 degrees less than the box recommends (so if the box recommends 350 degrees I'll set it to 325 degrees). This will require a longer baking time but the cupcakes will bake up flatter and more evenly.
Roll out your fondant with a rolling pin until you get your desired thickness (about 1/8"-1/4"). Then cut a 6" circle out. I used a 6" round cake board to get a perfect circle.
Then, break off a tiny bit of the black fondant and roll it into a circle in your hands. Flatten it with a finger so you have a small disc of black fondant. Take your brush and dip it into the water and brush it onto the backside of the fondant disc. Place the disc onto the ghost where you'd like the mouth to be located. Repeat this step two more times for the eyes with slightly less fondant. You can also use chocolate covered sunflower seeds but these you should affix with royal icing and I think it's easier just to make some black fondant instead of a batch of royal icing. Plus with fondant you can get creative and make different shaped mouths and eyes!
1 lb white mini marshmallows
2-5 tbsp water
2 lbs powdered sugar
½ cup vegetable shortening
Place marshmallows and 2 tablespoons of water in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave the marshmallows on high for 30 seconds. Stir the mixture and microwave again on high for 30 seconds and stir again. Continue doing this until the mixture has melted, usually about 2½ minutes.
Place ¾ cup of the powdered sugar on top of the melted marshmallow mixture. Now generously grease your hands with the shortening (palms, backs of hand, and in between fingers), then heavily grease the counter you will be using and dump the marshmallow mixture onto it.
Knead the marshmallows as you would bread. Add the rest of the powdered sugar slowly and continue kneading the fondant. Re-grease your hands and counter as needed. If the mixture is tearing easily, it is too dry, so add ½ tablespoon of water at a time until it softens up. It usually takes about 8 minutes to get a firm smooth elastic ball.
Double wrap the fondant in plastic wrap and let it sit overnight.
Prepare the fondant for storing by coating it with a good layer of shortening, wrap in a plastic wrap or Ziploc bag.
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