Halloween Graveyard Cupcakes

Let me just say that Halloween is my favorite holiday. And by favorite, I don't mean that it necessarily means more to me, but I take the most delight in it. The endless possibilities for creativity with both costumes and decorations, the smell of Autumn in the air, the crunch of brilliantly colored leaves under your feet; everything about it makes me content yet enthused. It comes as no surprise, then, that I love making Halloween treats!

I have an easy and fun way to present your favorite cupcake recipe with this spooky theme that you'll definitely enjoy making.

Things you'll need:
Your favorite cupcake recipe (cupcakes made, cooled, and ready to be frosted)
Green food/icing coloring
Black food/icing coloring
Halloween themed paper liners
Wilton #233 or #234 decorating tip
Dark chocolate, melted (or more black frosting, whichever you prefer to decorate with)
Tombstones (there are a few different options for you here that I'll go over)

Divide prepared frosting into two bowls. Using food/icing coloring, make one bowl black and the other green (you can play around and find what shade you like best here, but keep in mind that you can always go darker, but can never go lighter)

It's very hard to get true "black" with food coloring.

Spread black frosting onto cupcakes for "mud". 

Using a decorating bag equipped with the 233 or 234 decorating tip and filled with your green frosting, pipe "grass" onto your newly "muddy" cupcakes by piping frosting out straight down  and pulling straight up, letting the frosting fall away from the tip (be gentle here; once you get the hang of it, you can decide what look you're aiming towards). You may have to play around with your recipe to make sure it is thick enough to hold this shape (such as adding more powdered sugar). You can keep clusters of grass very close together, so that no "mud" shows through, or you can aim for a more haggard graveyard look and let some "mud" show through.

Left: Fully covered, Right: Sporadically covered

To make the tombstones, you have a few options. You can do what I did here : pipe tombstone shapes using dark chocolate onto parchment paper, harden them in the fridge, and peel them off. Or, what I did with these cupcakes : prepare sugar cookie recipe of your choice ( I was short on time, so I was forced to buy pre made slice and bake dough) and cut out tombstone shapes and bake normally.
Using dark chocolate or leftover black frosting, decorate tombstones with lines, messages, skulls; anything you want. You can even search for ideas online of what to add.

Then, using a sharp knife, cut a slit in the top of each cupcake, and place tombstone into the cupcake.