Halloween chocolate orange cupcakes

27 Oct 2020

I always try to push my creativity whenever I can. So I wanted to bring you something special for as a vegan Halloween treat that's not the same old pumpkin recipe everyone makes. I wanted to come up with something different. And since I haven't made a cake recipe in a few weeks I thought it's time again to put my vegan baking skills to the test.

I also like recipes that look impressive, but are super easy to make. So even if you are a beginner you will be able to master this recipe. It's also very forgiving, so even if you make one mistake along the way, you will be able to save it. And one thing that's really important to me is to keep the ingredient list as simple as possible. You will be able to find all ingredients in your local supermarket. I normally browse Sainsbury's for the things I need, but any supermarket should have the ingredients needed for this delicious Halloween treat!

And my first question when I came up with this recipe: Wouldn't the oranges go too soft and disintegrate? Answer is: no, they won't ;-) And you are only baking them for a short time anyway. The other advantage of using oranges as cups is that you get an even stronger orange aroma, which is heavenly - or should I say hellish? Muahahah

For more delicious vegan recipe ideas, also check out my other videos on my youtube channel and subscribe here:

https://www.youtube.com/c/exceedinglyvegan

I love how spooky, yet cute these guys look! Initially I thought about adding eyes made with cloves, but then I thought why use another ingredient? Just carve otu some eyes. And luckily it worked realy well.

When I posted about me experimenting on my social media someone asked me how I was able to carve out oranges without breaking the peel. It's actually really easy. Just carve out along the sides and the whole flesh will come out fairly easily. It's a bit messy though, but once you've done one and got the hang of it it's actually surprisingly quick and fun.

Easy vegan Halloween treat in carved out orange

I love how you eat the cupcakes out of heads. It goes so well with the Halloween theme haha. By the way if you are looking for more vegan Halloween ideas scroll down to the end of the method where you will find another one of my recipes.

Best vegan Halloween recipe - easy chocolate orange cupcakes

Have a happy Halloween everyone and enjoy! And let me know what you think of my recipe in the comments below.

INGREDIENTS (10 cupcakes):

Step 1:

10 medium to large oranges

Step 2 dry ingredients:

200g self-raising flour
175g brown sugar
40g cacao
1/2 tsp baking powder

Step 3 wet ingredients

175ml orange juice
80g walnuts

Step 4 wet ingredients:

150ml sunflower oil
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp orange extract (or zest of 1/2 orange
1 tsp vanilla extract

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METHOD:

Step 1:

Wash 10 oranges and then cut off approx. 1/4 off the top (keep the tops for later). Then start carving them out. The flesh actually comes out quite easily if you push in with a tablespoon along the sides.

While carving them out make sure you collect the juice in a container or bowl as you will need some of it for later. Filter the orange flesh via a sieve and push down with a spoon in order to get all the juice out.

Step 2 dry ingredients:

Add all ingredients from step 2 to a large bowl and then mix, making sure there are no lumps.

Step 3 wet ingredients:

Blend 175ml of the orange juice you just collected together with 80g of walnuts until you get a smooth cream. Set aside.

Step 4 wet ingredients:

Add all ingredients from step 4 into a bowl. By the way you can use the zest of 1/2 orange instead of orange essence, but I preferred it with the essence) Then combine with the smooth walnut cream you just blended.

Step 5 combine wet and dry ingredients:

Mix together all ingredients from step 2 - 4 until you get a smooth dough. Again, make sure there are no lumps.

Step 6:

Place the carved out oranges on a baking sheet. Make sure they stand straight and don't roll over. You can balance them by chopping off bits at the bottom.

Step 7:

Fill the carved out oranges with the chocolate orange dough - but only up to 1/2. If you fill it up too much the dough will overflow when baking.

Step 8:

Bake the filled oranges in the preheated oven at 180C (360F) for 25 min. If you used smaller oranges the dough may overflow a bit, but don't worry about it. You can easily scape it off the sides and just place it back into the orange. The oranges work as cups anyway, so you can refill them easily should that happen.

Step 9:

Let the orange cupcakes cool down. Then carve out eyes into them with a knife.

Before serving place the orange tops back on and garnish with a mint leaf. Don't place the tops before serving because the acidity of the orange will bleach your chocolate orange cake filling and the juice will make it soggy. You can however also carve out the flesh from the tops in order to prevent this (though it thought it's extra work and I am all about efficiency hehe).

Spoon out the cake from the orange and enjoy!

And if you like this vegan Halloween recipe you might also like my brain cupcakes with cherry blood.