Candy Apple Razor Blade Cupcakes

Urban legends and Halloween go hand-in-hand. Not surprisingly, since the whole idea of Halloween (in the modern sense) is rooted in fear. We delight in the rush produced by being afraid, while still being safe – like haunted houses and scary movies. 

One of the darkest urban legends revolves around trick-or-treating – the infamous poisoned or weaponized candy. And, even though there is little to no evidence of these types of occurrences actually happening, it is a widespread and prevalent fear. I bet some parents still check their children’s candy to make sure that anything suspicious is discarded – mine did!

These cupcakes are my tongue-and-cheek nod to these haunting urban legends. Cupcakes turned candy apple, with a royal icing razor blade to boot. There’s nothing dangerous about these bad boys!

5.0 from 2 reviews

 

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Ingredients

• One box of yellow cake mix
• Ingredients required to prepare cake (eggs, water, milk, etc.) For a richer cake, feel free to substitute milk for the water and add an extra egg.
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• ½ tablespoon ground cardamom
• 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 apples, cored, peeled, and diced (I used Braeburn)
• 2 containers of white or off-white frosting (feel free to substitute your favorite white icing!)
• Red food coloring
• Red colored sugar (you can make your own)
• Fancy straws
• Gray royal icing, 15 second consistency
• Silver luster dust
• Vodka
• Paintbrush
• Fondant and green food coloring (or a green candy like Airheads that can be molded and cut)

Instructions

1. Create razor blade royal icing transfers the day before preparing these cupcakes. For in-depth directions on RIT, go here. After transfers have completely dried, mix vodka and luster dust in a small container and paint luster dust onto transfers to achieve a metallic look.
2. Line a muffin pan with red cupcake liners. Preheat oven to specified temperature.
3. Prepare cake mix as directed. Add cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg. Fold in diced apples. Add red food coloring until desired shade is reached (you can skip this, if you prefer). Spoon batter into cupcake liners. Bake as directed. Cool.
4. Put red sugar into a shallow bowl. Add red food coloring to icing until desired shade is reached. Mound icing on top of cupcake, smooth with a knife. Dip top of cupcake into red sugar to coat. Repeat with all cupcakes.
5. Cut a fancy straw in half. Push half of one straw into the middle of each cupcake.
6. If using fondant, color a small amount leaf green, roll it out, and cut out small leaf shapes. Mine leaves were very basic! Use a green candy like Airheads to make this even easier. Place one leaf on each cupcake.
7. Gently push a razor blade (or half of one, like I did) into the side of the cupcake.

3.1.09