How to Make Ghost Cupcakes

The first cupcakes I made with my mom for Halloween were these ghost cupcakes.  My mom saw them in a magazine somewhere a couple of weeks ago, and she immediately called me saying that I HAD to make these cupcakes for Halloween.  They sounded like a good idea in my head, and I also pictured that they would look just as adorable in person, but I had no idea I would love them as much as I did when we made them! 

If I were to choose which cupcake to eat from the five cupcakes that I presented earlier, this would definitely be it.  I couldn't get over how adorable the ghosts were when I was making the cupcakes, and since they have no frosting, they're even better! (Ok, ok, I realize that is a purely opinion based reason, but it is true, for me at least).  I am not a huge fan of frosting, and I chose to make this cupcake without any, but, if you happen to really like frosting, then by all means feel free to put a light layer of frosting over the top of your cupcake. (If you use chocolate frosting, just be careful when draping the white fondant over the frosting that you don't get the fondant covered in chocolate!)

This is literally the easiest cupcake decoration ever.  You don't need frosting, and if you can use a rolling pin and a round cookie cutter, then you're good to go.  Ghost cupcake done.  Literally, that's all it is.  Oh, and a couple of tootsie pops.  And some mini chocolate chips.  But seriously, that's all you need.  

Ghost Cupcakes

Things You'll Need

cupcakes, any flavor

tootsie pops (or blow pops, or any lollipop in that round shape)

fondant (homemade or store bought is fine)

mini chocolate chips

rolling pin

large, round cookie cutter

How to Make Ghost Cupcakes

To begin, take an unfrosted cupcake (or lightly frosted, if you desire) and insert an unwrapped tootsie pop into the center of the cupcake.  I found that I had to slightly trim off the end of the lollipop stick, because the tootsie pop was sitting up too high in the cupcake.  Trimming the end off is a good idea because it may help to keep the cupcake from tipping over once the lollipop and fondant are placed over the cupcake. 

Roll out some fondant on a flat surface with a rolling pin.  An important tip to keep in mind when working with fondant is that it will dry out and become hard to work with very quickly if it's not properly covered.  Therefore, keep whatever fondant you are not using at the moment sealed in a plastic bag to ensure that it stays at a consistency that can be worked with*.  Roll the fondant so it is about 1/8 " to 1/4" in thickness, and then carefully cut out circles using the cookie cutter.  

Carefully drape a fondant circle over the tootsie pop, and gently begin to shape it so that it looks like a flowing sheet, to form the body of the ghost.  Using a small drop of water as an adhesive, carefully place two mini chocolate chips to create the ghost's eyes.  Allow the fondant to dry on its own for a little while, and you're done!

*I recommend making one cupcake at a time to ensure that the fondant doesn't dry out.  Don't cut out all the circles in advance, but cut out each circle as you need it.