Cooking With Your Kids

Halloween is coming up just around the corner! Make this extra-special for you and your kids. To help you do that, all of my recipes this week will have some sort of Halloween theme. Today, I’ll be making Halloween cupcakes using yellow cake mix.

For the sake of time, I’m using a store-bought box of yellow cake mix. I recommend buying from the all-natural or organic section of the grocery store or your local Whole Foods.

Some of you may be worried about using pre-mixed cake mix—the preservatives, trans fat, and other yucky chemicals that you want to exposure your kids to. So for those of you, I found this recipe for natural yellow cake on the Whole Foods Web site. Check it out HERE.

The frosting I use is a creamy and plain delicious. I added extra orange flavor and extra orange coloring to make it even more Halloweeny.

Halloween Cupcakes with an Orange Frosting

Ingredients

For the cupcakes
1 box yellow cake mix (or homemade cake mix)
Orange juice
1/2 cup diced candied orange peel

For the orange frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 1/2 cups sugar
1 pinch salt
3 tablespoons orange juice
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 drops orange food coloring
1 tsp orange zest

First, get the muffin/cupcake pan out. Let one the kids line it with cupcake liners. (If you can find orange cupcake liners, it’ll make this recipe even better!)

Next, make the cupcake batter. Follow the instructions on the yellow cake mix package, but instead of using water, substitute it for orange juice. Fill and bake the cupcakes in the oven.

To test the cupcakes doneness, use a toothpick and poke the middle of one of the cupcakes. If the toothpick comes out clean, you’re ready to take them out to cool. Let cool for 30 minutes to 1 hour before frosting.

While the cake is cooling, make the frosting. In a mixing bowl, beat together the softened butter, sugar, and pinch of salt. Beat until the mixture is smooth. Next, beat the orange juice, corn syrup, and vanilla extract. Beat until creamy. Finally, add the orange food coloring and orange zest. Beat until the color is thoroughly mixed in with the frosting.

When the cupcakes are cooled, let the kids have fun slavering on the frosting. Enjoy!

Yield: 24 cupcakes.

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