Headless Horseman Cupcakes

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Holy guacamole guys! There’s just ONE week left before Halloween! Say whaaaaaat?!

And that means we’re getting down to the wire for getting you all set up to have the most AWESOME Halloween dessert table EVER. Seriously, you are going to be the envy of the town!

So today, we’re kicking it up a notch with some Headless Horseman cupcakes! But don’t be fooled, these little guys are a lot easier to make than they look. All you need is a little royal icing, some cupcakes, and some frosting (pssst, you can even buy those last two at the store. It’s ok, it can be our little secret).

You also need the I’m-going-to-make-your-life-so-much-easier Headless Horseman template I made for you. That’s right, I made you a template just because you’re awesome and I heart you guys. Can I get a virtual fist bump of awesomeness?

And so the Horseman comes. And tonight he comes for you (with cupcakes)! Mwahahaha!

Headless Horseman Cupcakes

• Author: The Simple, Sweet Life
• Yield: 12 cupcakes 1x
• Category: Dessert

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 12 cupcakes
• A butter-free frosting (like the one in this recipe)
• One batch of royal icing
• Yellow and black food coloring
• A flat edged food-only brush
• Black sanding sugar (or make your own)

Instructions

1. For this recipe, you’ll need to whip up a batch of royal icing to a fluffy 20 second consistency (see link for details). Place a piece of parchment paper over your template, and pipe your royal icing moons, giving each a little spike at the bottom to stick into the cupcake. Let dry overnight.
2. Once your royal icing has dried, painted your moons with your brush and a little yellow food coloring. Take a few spoons of your leftover royal icing and tint it black. Spoon the black icing into a piping bag with a small tip (something like a Wilton #1) and pipe your headless horsemen directly onto your moons, using a toothpick/needle/skewer to work the icing around and into the small details. If you’re not comfortable free-handing the headless horseman, and if you don’t have a projector, you can print out the template, cut him out of his circle, and trace him onto each royal icing moon with an edible food pen. Allow the royal icing to dry overnight.
3. Whip up some cupcakes and frosting of your choosing (or even get some from the store if you’re pressed for time. I promise I won’t tell.), tint the frosting black, pipe it onto your cupcakes, and roll in your black sanding sugar. Top with your dried headless horseman toppers and voila!

Notes

A note about the frosting: the frosting needs to be a butter-free frosting (like 7 minute icing/boiled icing) because the dry royal icing cupcake topper will soak up all the grease from a butter-based frosting and become discolored. A buttery frosting will work in a pinch if you don’t plan on putting your royal icing topper on until your ready to serve the cupcakes, but any farther in advance and the toppers will begin to noticeably deteriorate.

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