In my Bile & Bloody Bandages post, I talked about how Halloween food rides a fine line between being creepy and too gross to eat. I specifically mentioned a kitty litter cake that my cousin had brought to a party. She served it in a clean litter box with a poop scoop and melted a whole package of Tootsie Rolls® into it. It looked a little too real and not many people ate it.
But I’ve had a change of heart. I removed the litter box, scoop, and that unfortunate mound of you-know-what. While my Kitty Litter Cupcakes are still gross-looking, they’re more palatable than the kitty litter cake. They’re almost cute, actually!
More importantly, they taste great! And once you get past the melted Tootsie Roll®, what you’re actually left with is homemade yellow cake filled with chocolate pudding and topped with fresh whipped cream and cookie and cake crumbs. That’s not too gross, is it?
At the end of this recipe is a quickie version.
Makes 24 filled cupcakes.
1-3 oz package chocolate pudding (the kind you cook)
2 cups milk
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1¾ cups granulated sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
4 extra large eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 TBS white vinegar
1-16 oz container heavy whipping cream
2 TBS confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1½ cups of plain vanilla cookie crumbs (I used half of an 8.4 oz package of Pally Thee Biscuits but use what you prefer)
Blue and green dye (optional)
24 Tootsie Rolls®
Make the pudding:
Prepare the chocolate pudding according to package directions. Pour the pudding into a bowl and place a piece of cling film directly onto the pudding to prevent a skin from forming. Put the pudding into the refrigerator.
Make the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Line two standard-size 12-cup muffin tins with paper baking cups. You will probably have enough batter for 25 – 26 cupcakes (which can be used for the kitty litter).
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Set aside.
Cream the butter for 30 seconds. Add the flour mixture all at once, the eggs, and ¼ cup of the milk. Beat on medium-high speed for 2 minutes.
Stir the vanilla and vinegar into the remaining milk.
Add the milk mixture in three installments (about ¼ cup each) to the batter and beat on low speed just until incorporated after each addition. Fill the baking cups two-thirds of the way full.
Bake for 18 – 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes from the oven. Cool completely.
Make the whipped cream:
Place the heavy whipping cream in a small mixing bowl. Add the sifted confectioner’s sugar. Beat on low for 1 minute (this prevents the cream from splashing). Gradually increase the speed and beat on medium-high for 2 minutes or just until stiff peaks are about to form in the whipped cream. Put the whipped cream in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Fill the cupcakes:
To fill the cupcakes, cut a hole.
Insert a paring knife into the top of a cooled cupcake at a 45 degree angle. Don’t push the knife all the way down to the bottom—you don’t want the filling to leak out!
Cut a cone out of the cupcake.
Pull the cone out of the cupcake and cut off the bottom half (with the pointed end). Set aside the bottom half of the cone to use in the kitty litter topping.
Fill the hole in the cupcake halfway with the chocolate pudding. Cover the chocolate pudding with the top part of the cone. Press lightly. Once all of the cupcakes are filled, set aside.