Creature From the Deep Tentacle Cupcakes Tutorial for Halloween

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These easy, creepy, Creature from the Deep cupcakes are the perfect treat to make for Halloween.  The tentacle cupcake toppers are made from gum paste, so they're edible!


 These tentacles squirm their way out of the inky chocolate frosting on these dark chocolate cupcakes.

There's a surprise hidden inside the cupcake, too.  When you bite in to them, you find a gooey, dripping, dark chocolate ganache center.  Ewwwwww!  (In the best possible way.)

I made these cupcakes as part of my horror movie cupcake set for a young friend's Friday the 13th themed 13th birthday party.

Creature From the Deep Tentacle Halloween Cupcake Tutorial:


The gum paste tentacles are incredibly easy to make.  There's a video tutorial at the top of the page showing the process, too, if you like that better than written descriptions.

First, roll a small piece of gum paste (I like Satin Ice brand best) into a snake shape:  long, thin, and pointed at both ends.

Curl the tentacle into a curved shape and place on parchment paper or waxed paper to dry.

Roll out a thin piece of gum paste and use the small end of a round piping tip to cut out very small little round shapes.  Use vodka or everclear to glue the small round suckers onto the tentacles.

Let dry for at least several hours.

Paint the tentacles with gel food coloring watered down with more vodka or everclear.  You could color the gum paste ahead of time instead, but I wanted the mottled, blended color look that painting the color on gives.

In the meantime, make the ganache filled chocolate centers (if you want to).

Materials for Ganache Filled Chocolates:

Melt the chocolate melts and cover the inside of a bon bon chocolate mold.  Let cool and harden.

I wanted my ganache to ooze out when bitten, but not too runny, so I used a 1:1 ratio of heavy whipping cream to chocolate.

Heat the cream, and pour in the dark chocolate.

Whisk the dark chocolate into the hot cream, and the heat from the cream will melt the chocolate.

Keep stirring, until you have glorious dark ganache like this.  

LET IT COOL DOWN BEFORE ADDING IT TO THE CHOCOLATE MOLDS.

When cool, fill the chocolate shell with the ganache, but not QUITE all the way to the top of the mold.  Melt more of the chocolate melting wafers, and fill the rest of the chocolate mold with that chocolate to complete the hard exterior shell.

Chill in the fridge and only remove when completely firm.

Don't attempt to put the chocolate centers in the cupcakes until the cupcakes are completely cool.  You don't want to melt that thin exterior shell and let the ganache leak all over the inside.

Use a spoon or knife to dig out a small core from the center of the cupcake.  Press the ganache filled chocolate into the cupcake.  I didn't worry about getting the chocolate completely level with the top of the cupcake because I knew I would be adding icing.

Swirl on the icing (chocolate buttercream frosting used here, colored with black food coloring) and top with two or three of the tentacles.  

Then eat them... if you dare!

Other Halloween Cupcakes and Cookies You Might Like:

Navigational image leading reader to tutorial for gum paste ghost cupcake toppers.

Nicole Wills, creator of Tikkido

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