Carrot Cupcake Ghosts & Friends

Hey y’all!

It’s that time of year again! The time to revel in all things spiced and cozy!

Also, the time to make delicious Fall things topped with adorable Halloween-y decorations.

These little ghost cupcakes (and alien friends) were inspired by a cupcake I made last year in culinary school for our bakery. They were s’more cupcakes –> chocolate cakes, ganache glaze, graham crumbs and meringue frosting ghosts. We called them Baby Boo Cupcakes. SO cute.

So I wanted to do them again with a different spin. These cupcakes are a super soft and spicy carrot cake topped with a light and fluffy cream cheese frosting.

Lemme let you guys in on a little well known secret. I really dislike cream cheese frosting. The texture, the excessive sweetness, how friggen miserable it is to try and frost a cake with it. Hate it.

Buuut, carrot cake kind of demands that you use it…so in order to please myself a bit more, I used some vanilla bean paste for a wonderful vanilla flavor you can’t get from just the extract. I also lightened up on the powdered sugar to avoid that cloying quality. Reallyyy made a difference.

These ghosts and friends are such an easy way to throw together something festive without having to spend hours on it (these Spider Peanut Butter Cookies are adorable, but take a bit more assembly time). Perfect treat to take to a Halloween party! 😀

Carrot Cupcakes: (Adapted from Gimme Some Oven)

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon cloves
3 cups grated carrot (5-6 carrots)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 vegetable oil

Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting:

12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
6 ounces butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
4 cups powdered sugar (or to taste if you’re like me ;D)
Mini chocolate chips (for eyes and piping)
Candy eyes

*Note: If you want to make all 24 cupcakes as ghosts, I suggest doubling the frosting recipe.

Cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, line two muffin tins with cupcake papers. In the bowl of a stand mixer combine eggs with both sugars. Beat until fluffy. Add in the grated carrot and vegetable oil and mix until combined. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula. Mix dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and add the the wet. Mix until the batter just comes together. Scrape down the bowl and mix again until everything is incorporated. Portion out with a cookie scoop and bake for 20-24 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Frosting:

Combine cream cheese and butter in stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy. Wipe down bowl. Add the vanilla bean paste and mix until incorporated. Add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time mixing on low at first and up to high to fully incorporate.

Assembly:

Scoop frosting into a piping bag fitted with a large plain tip. Pipe as desired. Attach eyes, candies and decorate to your liking.

There you have it!

An easy, delicious and adorable treat that would make any Halloween festivity that much more fun. 😀

Happy haunting!