Marbled Chocolate Orange Halloween Cupcakes

Catchy title, I know. 

As many of you know, I love baking, and what better excuse to bake something exciting and creative than Halloween? These marbled chocolate orange cupcakes would be perfect for any Halloween gathering or just as a fun treat to make you feel cosy and autumnal. You can experiment with the flavours as well - instead of orange, you could use vanilla, lemon or peppermint if you prefer. Of course, you can make these all year round - just take off the pumpkin toppers! If you want to find out how to make these scrummy cakes, look no further: 

For 9 cupcakes, you will need:

For the Cupcakes:

• 175g of unsalted, softened butter
• 175g of caster sugar
• 175g of self-rasing flour
• 3 medium eggs
• Grated zest and 2tbsp of the juice of one orange
• 2 tbsp of cocoa powder 
• Bake-able orange and black food colour (I used the Dr. Oetker Gell Food Colours in Jet Black and Neon Orange)

For the Chocolate Icing/Decoration: 

• 150g of unsalted butter, softened 
• 350g of icing sugar
• 2 tbsp of cocoa powder
• 9 cupcake cases (I brought these metallic orange and black ones from eBay)
• 9 pumpkin/Halloween related cupcake toppers (optional - I brought these rice paper pumpkins from eBay)

Method: 

• Preheat your oven to 180 C (350 F, gas mark 4). Line your bun tin with 9 cupcake cases. 
• Put the butter, sugar, flour, eggs, orange zest and orange juice in a large mixing bowl. Mix them together with a kitchen aid, or an electric hand whisk if you live in the olden days like me. Beat the ingredients until they're smooth and combined.

• Halve the mixture, putting half in another large mixing bowl. Sift in the cocoa powder in one half of the mixture and mix it until combined. Add the orange food colour the the plain orange mixture and the black colour to the chocolate mixture. Add a few drops then mix in. Keep adding the colour until it is the intensity that you want it to be. 
• Put a dollop of each mixture in each cupcake case and drag a skewer through the mixtures to create a marbled effect. Make sure that your skewer touches the bottom so that the swirl continues through the middle of the cake, not just the top. 
• Put your cupcakes in the oven for 25 minutes or until you can put a clean skewer into the cakes and it comes out clean. 

• To make the icing, place the butter into a bowl and beat it with a wooden spoon until smooth. Sift in the icing sugar in quarters so it doesn't coat your kitchen in a white sheet, making it look like a scene from Frozen. Beat in the icing sugar each time you add a quarter. Add the cocoa powder and beat in until combined. If your icing is too thick, add 1-2 splashes of milk. 
• When completely cooled, ice your cupcakes with a piping bag. I (or my mum, because I can't do it) start from the outside, working up to the middle and lift the piping bag to make a small peak. Place your topper wherever you want to and take very Intsagram-able photos before enjoying with a steamy cup of tea. 

Hope you enjoy them - happy baking! I've got an exciting week planned; on Saturday I have a Halloween party with friends from my old school who I can't wait to see again, but before then I'm going to London for a dose of Oxford Street shopping. Yes, I am going to Lush and yes, I will report back to you. 

From, 

Eleanor