Halloween Recipe: Trio of Monster Cupcakes {Coles Cake Mix Hack}

Summary: OMG aren’t these fun? Cute little monsters filled with delicious edible slime! Yes, edible slime! I saw the slime in the baking section of Spotlight and knew I had to use it. It’s sticky and stretchy and glittery and very gooey. I promise it tastes delicious, it’s vanilla flavoured & quite sweet. Plus how cool does it look in this little stop motion gif Mr Ask made?

Halloween is my favourite time of year and love making spooky treats. I’ve scared a few people in previous years, especially with the brain dip which looks quite realistic and the black cupcakes are subliminally spooky. I wanted to do something cute & kid friendly as well this year. Something that was easy enough for anyone to make. Slime definitely appeals to kids and the monsters are quite friendly looking. I’m saving all the scares for my upcoming  Halloween cupcake recipe.

All three monsters are very easy to create, even with beginner piping skills. Two of the monsters use a large round open top (Wilton 1A) and the other uses a grass tip (Wilton 233). The candy eye balls are the key feature of these cupcakes. Even a very wonky piping effort looks the part once the eyes go on. You can pick up the eyes from Spotlight, Big W and Woolies. I went with lime flavoured frosting to go with the green colouring but plain vanilla would be lovely with the slime. If you make these I’d love to see them, so be sure to tag me!

Ingredients

• 1 Coles 75c butter cake mix
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup light sour cream
• 3 tblsp vegetable oil

For the buttercream frosting

• 250g butter, softened
• 500g icing sugar
• 1 lime, juice & zest
• 1-2 tblsp milk
• Neon green food colour

For the filling & decorations

• Edible slime
• Candy eyeballs
• White mini marshmallows
• Toothpicks

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 160C and line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper patty pan liners.
2. In a large bowl, add the cake mix followed by the eggs, sour cream and oil. Whisk together until smooth and glossy. Divide the batter between the 12 patty pans.
3. Bake for 15-18 minutes (mine are always perfect at 17 mins) or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool completely on a rack before frosting.
4. Use an apple corer or small knife to remove a small amount of cake & fill with edible slime.
5. To make the buttercream frosting: Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or with electric beaters) and beat until smooth.
6. Add the icing sugar, lime juice & zest, milk and food colour. Mix on low to incorporate and then beat on high for at least 5 mins. Buttercream should feel silky and should have increased in volume.
7. To decorate: Start by making the tall stalk eyes. Add a dab of frosting to the end of a marshmallow and top with a candy eyeball. Set aside to dry.
8. For the tall stalk eyed monsters, use a round open tip to pipe tufts on the cupcake, pulling away sharply to create a point. Finish by securing the pre made marshmallow eyes to one end of a toothpick and poking the other end into the cupcake.
9. To make the multi eyed monsters, use the same round open tip to pipe a blob, just keep the tip low and squeeze out frosting. Decorate with multiple candy eyes.
10. For the hairy monsters, use a grass tip and cover the monster with frosting hair. Top with candy eyeballs.