Twit Woo Hooting Halloween Owl Cupcakes

Serves	Makes 12 muffin size cakes and 24 smaller fairy cake size cakes
Prep time	30 minutes
Cook time	25 minutes
Total time	55 minutes
Allergy	Egg, Fish, Wheat
Dietary	Vegetarian
Meal type	Dessert, Snack
Misc	Child Friendly, Pre-preparable, Serve Cold
Occasion	Birthday Party, Casual Party, Halloween
Region	British
By author	Karen S Burns-Booth

These are GREAT fun…..just bake some chocolate fairy cakes, muffins or cupcakes, decorate them and then turn them into Hooting Halloween Owls, just like that ~ it’s magic. I made these last year for a children’s Halloween party, and they all loved them. The recipe is based on our British fairy cake or angel cake recipe, where the top of the baked cake or muffin is cut off to create the “wings”. This wonderful recipe idea is one that I have adapted slightly from Tana Ramsay, the wife of the famous Gordon Ramsay…..she has some great family recipes, of which this is one.

Ingredients

CAKES

300g butter, softened
300g golden caster sugar
225g self-raising flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
6 medium eggs

FOR ICING AND DECORATION

200g butter, softened
300g icing sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
liquorice all sorts, sweets or candies

Note

Directions

Step 1	Heat oven to 190C/380F/gas 5. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with brown muffin cases. Beat the first 5 ingredients to a smooth batter and spoon between the cases, almost filling them to the top. You may have a little left over. (Alternatively, use a fairy cake or cup cake tin for smaller ones – again, try to find some brown paper cases. You should be able to make 24 “owls” if you make them in the smaller cake tin.) Bake for 20-25 minutes until risen and spongy. Cool on a rack.
Step 2	Decorating the Owls: Beat the butter and icing sugar until smooth, and then add the cocoa powder, mixing well. Slice off the very tops of the cakes and cut each piece in to half. Spread a generous layer of icing over each cake.
Step 3	Working on one cake at a time, take a pair of the large round liquorice all sorts sweets that are yellow or pink with black centres, see photos. Sit the eyes on top of the cake; then add the two pieces of cake cut from the top (curved edge up) behind the eyes but slightly slanted towards the eyes – to make the eyebrows or owl’s ears. Finish by adding a piece of orange or pink sweet, in between the eyes to the front, for the beak.
Step 4	Watch the owls “fly” off the table when the children see them!