Purple People Eater Cupcakes

"It was a one-eyed, one-horned flyin' purple people eater..."

Purple People Eater Cupcakes have a classic chocolate cupcake topped with a coconut oil frosting that resembles monster fur.  Decorate these sweets with an edible eye, a candy corn horn, and a pair of wings.  Just like Sheb Wooley's 1950s hit song, these little treats are more cute than they are creepy!   

When I was a kid, there were three things that I loved about Halloween:

1). The candy.  I've (almost) never met a candy I didn't like.  The stickier, the better
2). The costumes.  My mother created detailed, inventive costumes for us every year.  My favorite was probably Michelangelo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  She even made me a pair of nunchucks (cardboard paper towel rolls covered in aluminum foil) and a pepperoni pizza (sewed out of fabric).
3). The silly "spooky" songs.  Whether it was "Monster Mash," "Love Potion Number 9", or "Purple People Eater," I always looked forward to hearing familiar Halloween tunes.  These upbeat ditties were goofy, light-hearted, and ensured lots of giggles.

My favorite of these songs was undoubtedly the "Purple People Eater."  Is there any song that has a more fantastical, ridiculous, laughable premise?  Probably not.  As a kid who always took things literally, I had a lot of unanswered questions after hearing the song: Why does the monster have career aspirations of becoming a rock and roll star?  Would he be eating members of his audience? (seems like a bad way to interact with one's fans, right?)  What's this bit about short shorts?  How does the monster play music from his horn?  I thought this was an anatomical horn, not an instrumental horn? And is this a purple monster that eats people?  Or is it a monster that eats purple people?  Perhaps both?   The song was pure nonsense, which made it all the more fun.  


This Halloween, I decided that the humans should get to eat the Purple People Eater.  How's that for role reversal?  

These cupcakes use my go-to chocolate cupcake recipe.  For the frosting, you'll need to use some sort of fat that remains solid at room temperature.  I used coconut oil, but vegetable shortening should also work ( in fact, the original recipe uses shortening).  The quickest way to achieve the messy, furry look is to pipe the frosting using a metal decorating tip such as Ateco #133 or Wilton #233.  If you have a ton of patience (I certainly don't!) you could also pipe the frosting using a small round tip such as Wilton #1 or #1.5  But again, a grass/fur tip such as Ateco #133 or Wilton #233 will save you tons of time.  

The most difficult thing about these cupcakes was getting the frosting to be the right consistency.  On my first few attempts, the frosting was so thick that I couldn't push any through the piping bag.  I fiddled around with the consistency and added a bit more whipping cream, until the frosting reached the texture of creamed butter.  If the frosting isn't coming out of the piping bag, don't force it.  Add a bit more whipping cream and try again.  Trust me on this one, and you'll save yourself plenty of frustration and hair-pulling.  

As for decorating these cupcakes, I kept it simple by using ingredients that were purchased entirely from the grocery store: licorice wheels, candy corn, orange slices, and confetti sprinkles.  If your grocery store doesn't carry licorice wheels, feel free to omit them or substitute Oreo cookies.  If you'd like, affix a pair of paper wings to the bottom of each cupcake.  I used this bat wing template and a few sheets of scrapbook paper.  I didn't have time to stop at the craft store to buy candy eyes, so I made some myself.  Tomorrow's post will be a DIY tutorial for those candy eyes, so stay tuned!

(click here for printable recipe)

Purple People Eater Cupcakes
(cupcakes use my recipe for chocolate cupcakes.  Frosting inspired by this recipe from
In Katrina's Kitchen, after seeing this post on Spoonful of Flour)

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 6 Tbsp. cocoa
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup strong coffee
• 1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the frosting:

• 3/4 cup coconut oil*
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2-3 tbsp. whipping cream
• purple food coloring (or, blue and red food coloring.  I used gel coloring)
• 12 candy eyes
• 12 candy corns
• 6 licorice wheels, cut in half across diameter* 
• 6 orange slices, cut in half to create two thinner slices
• 12 sets of paper bat wings (optional; I used this template)
• double-sided tape (optional)

Instructions

For the cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tins with liners. 
2. In a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients until well combined. 
3. Add all wet ingredients into the bowl.  Using a hand mixer, mix on medium speed until well incorporated.  Batter will be very thin.
4. Pour batter into prepared muffin tins.  Approximately 1/4 cup batter should be used for each cupcake (do not overfill).
5. Bake for 22-24 minutes.  Top of cupcakes should be spongy and cake tester should come out clean.  Cool completely before decorating

For the frosting:

1. In a large bowl, use hand mixer on medium speed to beat coconut oil until creamy.  Use back of a rubber spatula to break up any remaining solid pieces of oil.  Beat in vanilla.
2. Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time.  Mix after each addition until powdered sugar is fully incorporated. Frosting will be very thick, so sugar may need to be mixed by hand. 
3. With mixer on low speed, stir in the first two tablespoons of whipping cream.  Then, add more whipping cream, one teaspoon at a time, until your frosting is the consistency of creamed butter.  Use food coloring to tint to desired color. 
4. Use a grass decorating tip (such as Ateco #133 or Wilton #233) to pipe frosting onto cupcakes.  (Tip: I recommend putting no more than 1/2 cup of frosting into the piping bag at a time.  If you use more than this, the warmth from your hands may heat up the frosting and change its consistency)
5.Decorate eat cupcake with one candy eye and one candy corn horn.  For the mouth, place one licorice wheel half onto the cupcake, with the straight line (where you cut the wheel) near the center of the cupcake.  Place one halved orange slice onto the licorice wheel, with the cut side down.  


Yield: 12-14 cupcakes

Notes: 
*If you do not have coconut oil, then vegetable shortening could also be substituted.  If you do this, you may need to fiddle with the amount of whipping cream or powdered sugar.  

**If you do not have licorice wheels, you could also use 3 Oreo cookies, with filling removed and cookies cut in half.

(click here for printable recipe)