Fig Spooks

This is one of the great vintage Halloween cake hacks. Each cupcake gets inverted, a whole dried fig anchored on top with a dab of icing, and the entire shape coated in soft white buttercream that pools at the base like a sheet. The result is a tray of little ghosts, fig-bodied, no fondant required.

The cupcakes themselves bake up from a standard cake mix folded with chopped figs. Cut the figs small or the heavier pieces sink to the bottom of the pan. Bake at 375°F (190°C) until the tops spring back; an overbaked cupcake gets tough and reads dry once it’s covered in icing.

The buttercream needs to be thin enough to flow when spooned over the inverted cupcake, but thick enough to coat. A few drops of milk loosens a stiff frosting; a tablespoon of powdered sugar tightens a loose one. Work fast before the icing sets so it flows down the sides naturally.

Kitchen Tips

• Use a light-colored cake mix (white, yellow, or vanilla) so the ghosts read truly white through the icing
• Pick plump Calimyrna or Mission figs with stems intact; the stem becomes the ghost’s pointed head
• Chill the inverted cupcakes for 10 minutes before icing so the figs stay put
• Work one at a time; the icing sets fast

Variations

• Press mini chocolate chip eyes into the icing while still wet for full ghost faces
• Sub raisins or chopped dates for figs inside the batter if figs aren’t available
• Use a cream cheese frosting tinted pale gray for a moodier ghost