Halloween Swirled Cupcakes

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 350°F and line a cupcake pan with orange liners.
2. Mix the yellow cake batter following the box directions. The box I used called for 3 eggs, ⅓ cup butter, and 1 cup water.
3. Split the batter into two bowls. Tint one half with black gel food coloring and the other with electric orange gel.
4. Fill each liner about ¾ full, adding an equal amount of orange and black batter. I placed the black on top and gently swirled it. If any orange poked through, I covered it with a little black batter.
5. Bake for 23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with moist crumbs. If there's wet batter, continue baking.
6. Let the cupcakes cool completely.
7. Wrap each cupcake with a spiderweb wrapper and secure with tape.
8. Frosting: In a mixing bowl, combine 1 cup room-temperature butter, 5 cups powdered sugar, and 4–6 tablespoons heavy cream.
9. Mix on low until the sugar is incorporated, then beat on high for about 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
10. Split the frosting into three equal parts.
11. Color each portion with Halloween gel paste colors. I used Electric Purple mixed with Regal Purple to get a deep purple I liked. Add as much as needed for intense shades.
12. Load a large piping bag fitted with a star tip with all three frosting colors side by side, trying to keep each color running the full length of the bag so you don't have to refill. If using a smaller bag, wash it between refills to keep colors bright.
13. Pipe a tall swirl of frosting onto each cupcake.
14. Sprinkle festive Halloween sprinkles on top.