Hocus Pocus Spell Book Cupcakes

Directions

1. Prepare the book brownies: Use a cookie cutter to cut 22 rectangle brownies and place them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Fill a disposable piping bag fitted with a #4 tip with black cake frosting. Pipe a small dot of icing on the back of each edible eye and attach one to each brownie. On the opposite side, pipe a squiggly line for the book's spine, then a straight line next to it with a squiggle over it. Pipe half-circles on the corners and two small dollops on the book. Repeat for all brownies and set aside.
2. Make the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a cupcake pan with liners. In a large bowl, beat the chocolate fudge cake mix, 1 ¼ cups milk, 3 large eggs, and ½ cup softened unsalted butter until combined. Fill the liners about ¾ full. Bake for 18–20 minutes, then let cool completely.
3. Prepare the frosting: In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, beat 1 ½ cups softened unsalted butter, 4 ½ cups powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, and 4 tablespoons heavy whipping cream until smooth and stiff peaks form. Transfer about 1 ½ cups of frosting to another bowl and tint with purple gel food coloring. Add neon green gel food coloring to the remaining frosting until you reach the desired shade. Scoop 1 ½ cups of green frosting into one side of a medium piping bag fitted with a star tip, and the purple frosting into the other side. Fill a large piping bag fitted with an open star tip (Wilton 4B) with the remaining green frosting.
4. Decorate the cupcakes: Using the large piping bag, pipe a ring of green frosting around the top of each cupcake. Sprinkle green sprinkles over the frosting. With the medium piping bag (containing both green and purple), pipe a medium-sized dollop in the center of the frosting. Gently place a prepared spell book brownie on top of the swirled icing.