Pull Apart Graveyard Cupcakes Food

PULL-APART BEACH CUPCAKES

Steps:

• For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Set the ice cream cones in the cups of in two 12-cup muffin pans so they stand upright.
• In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cake mix, eggs, oil and 1 cup cold water. Beat on low speed just to combine, then increase the speed to high and beat until very smooth, about 2 minutes. Divide the mixture among the ice cream cones. Bake until the cupcakes rise above the edges of the cones and a tester inserted in the center of 1 comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer to cooling racks and cool completely.
• Set aside about 1/4 cup vanilla frosting in a small bowl. Put the remaining frosting in a clean mixer bowl and add about 1/2 teaspoon blue food coloring. Beat and continue to add food coloring, if necessary, to get a sea blue color.
• Dollop a tiny bit of frosting on the bottom of a cone (this will help anchor it to the serving tray) and then dollop a generous amount on top. Anchor the cone to the serving tray and repeat with the remaining cones, arranging them in a 4-by-6 cone grid, with the edges touching.
• Using an offset spatula, smooth the blue frosting across the tops of the cupcakes, adding more as necessary, so it appears as 1 layer and the individual cupcakes are no longer visible. Smooth the remaining blue frosting on the sides to cover the cupcakes but not the cones.
• Pat the graham cracker crumbs onto one half of the cake, creating a wavy pattern along one edge where the water meets the sandy beach. Put the reserved white frosting in a pastry bag fitted with a large leaf tip. Pipe the white frosting along the edge where the water and sand meet to make breaking waves.
• To decorate the beach half of the cake, arrange the blue rock candy just behind the breaking waves to create the crashing surf. Stick some beach umbrellas in the sand, making sure you stick them into the cakes and not the frosted spaces between them. Cut the taffy into beach towels and arrange some cookie bears on the towels on the beach. Arrange some piles of candy rocks on the beach.
• To make palm trees, sprinkle your work surface with a little sugar and roll or flatten the lime fruit slice candies. Cut into 5 palm leaves. (If you have time, let the leaves dry and harden for 1/2 hour or so, they will stick up straighter on the finished tree). Break the pretzel rod in half and stick the leaves on top to make a palm tree. Stick the tree into one of the cupcakes on the beach.
• Attach one end of the twist tie to a gummy candy fish and wrap the other end around the remaining half of the pretzel rod to make a fishing pole. Stick the pole in the sand and add a cookie bear as a fisherman.
• To decorate the ocean half of the cake, arrange gummy candy sea creatures in the water. Stick some cookie bears into gummy candy rings and set them in the ocean to float. Press or roll the caramel candy to flatten and then crimp the edges to make a boat. Attach a square sticky note to a toothpick to make a sail. Stick it in the boat, along with a cookie bear as a sailor.

PULL-APART GRAVEYARD CUPCAKES

Steps:

• For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 12-cup standard muffin tins with paper cupcake liners.
• Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Warm the grape jelly in the microwave until loosened, 20 to 30 seconds, and whisk until smooth. Set aside.
• Beat together the sugar and eggs in another medium bowl with an electric mixer until light and foamy, about 2 minutes. While beating, gradually pour in the butter and then the vanilla.
• While mixing slowly, add half the dry ingredients and then all of the milk. Follow with the rest of the dry ingredients, taking care not to over mix the batter.
• Remove 2 cups of the batter and stir in the grape jelly. Evenly fill the liners about two-thirds full, alternating with yellow and grape batter.
• Bake until a tester inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean and the tops spring back lightly to the touch, 20 to 22 minutes. Place the pan on a rack to cool for 10 minutes, and then remove the cupcakes to the rack to cool completely, about 1 hour.
• For the frosting: Beat the butter and salt in a large bowl until fluffy and combined. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar until smooth and fluffy. Beat in the milk one tablespoon at a time until the frosting has a nice spreadable consistency. Add the crushed cookies and continue to beat until any large chunks are crushed to smaller bits and the frosting has a speckled, greyish look.
• For the decorations: Arrange the cupcakes in 4 rows on a large serving plate or cutting board. Fit a marshmallow between each cupcake, 5 marshmallows per row, to fill in the gaps between the cupcakes. Spread the frosting over the whole rectangle so it looks like one cake. Sprinkle with the cookie crumbs and black decorating sugar.
• To make the tombstones: Use the black decorating icing and a small round tip to write "RIP" or other one-word epitaphs on the top half of the oval sandwich cookies and stick into the cupcakes randomly around the graveyard.
• To make the ghosts: Remove two-thirds of the tube of marzipan and place between 2 sheets of wax paper or parchment. Roll about 1/8-inch thick and cut into 3 rounds using a 4-inch biscuit cutter. You may need to gather and re-roll the scraps for all 3 rounds. Drape over the wrapped lollipops and stick into the cupcakes around the tombstone. Using the black decorating icing and the same round tip, dot eyes and a mouth on the ghosts.
• To make the pumpkins and leaves: Divide the remaining marzipan into 4 small pieces and roll each into a ball. Roll in the orange sugar until coated and place around the graveyard. Use the black icing to pipe a small stem. Fit the tube of green decorating icing with a leaf or ribbon tip to dot bits of green grass poking through the dirt around the graveyard and pumpkins.
• To make a border: Use 6 pieces of the licorice, trimming to fit, to make a border around the cake, leaving the middle of the front side open. Bend the seventh piece into an upside down "U" and stick into 2 cupcakes in the front to make an arched gateway.