Orange and Chocolate Halloween Cupcakes

Celebrate Halloween with these delicious Orange and Chocolate Halloween Cupcakes at just 3.5 syn each

It's Halloween on Tuesday, and it's a time of year that gets my kids super excited. They love the whole getting dressed up in costume and hitting the street to go trick or treating. But, it's not just about the Candy, it's about seeing the whole neighbourhood come together to create and fun and entertaining evening for both the adults and the children.

Every house decorated with ghouls and lights and amazing Halloween props, adults dressed up as well as the kids, and some house even having a hot drink or adult beverage available as you make your way around the houses. It's kind of like a street party and we love it. We are blessed to live in such an amazing friendly neighbourhood.

Over the weekend, the kids had spotted these cute little Halloween Muffin cases, and I figured they would be perfect for these Orange and Chocolate Halloween Cupcakes. I always bake something for the kids this time of year, usually cookies or cakes of some sort, and I rarely get to enjoy them, as they are normally high in syns for just one little nibble.

This year I decided to have a go at some low syn ones we could all enjoy, that still tasted great. If I am going to use syns on a cake, it has to be worth my syns and I would rather use a few more syns on something that tastes good, than hardly any syns on something that doesn't.

These were really yummy, and the kids loved them too. The chocolate orange swirl on the top of the cupcakes was such a neat idea. I wasn't sure if it would work at first, but it was perfect.

It literally is just a mixture of my low syn cream cheese frosting (quark and cream cheese) similar to what I made for this Mini Egg Sponge Cake at Easter, with a swirl of Chocolate Spread (I used Nutella, but any brand of chocolate spread is fine) for the chocolate fix. I chose to use regular icing sugar those this time.

To get that chocolate flavour to the Orange and Chocolate Halloween Cupcakes, I use 100% pure cocoa (which is much lower in syns, don't use a drinking chocolate powder, as those are much higher in syns and will increase the syn value of these cakes). Then alongside the cocoa, I also use Silk Chocolate Cashew milk, which is low in syns and great for that chocolate flavour. For those in the UK who can't get this, you can use Alpro chocolate milk (just be sure to adjust the syn value accordingly).

For sweetening, as per usual with most of my cake recipes. I use Sukrin: 1 which is a great natural tasting sweetener that can be ordered on can be ordered on Amazon. I have tried many different types of sweetener in the past trying to find one that is natural and tastes natural and I think this is it. I usually just use some syns on honey or maple syrup, but it’s nice to know I can now use this and reduce the syns even further. Instead of Sukrin, you can use any sweetener of choice But I can’t recommend Sukrin enough, it tastes so good in baked goods and is by far the best tasting natural sweetener I have found.

Also, don’t forget that Slimming World has recently made some changes to sweeteners and anytime you use a tablespoon or more, it should be synned at 0.5 syns per tablespoon, this is to protect your weight loss.

To get the orange flavour, you will need some natural orange extract, available at most grocery stores in the baking aisle or on Amazon, for the orange colour you will also need some orange food colouring.

As well as the icing, just for an extra effect and totally optional, I added some black and orange sprinkles. They just completed the look of these delicious Orange and Chocolate Halloween Cupcakes.

For piping on the icing, you can add the icing and chocolate spread to a sandwich bag, push it all down to one corner, snip off that corner and then use it to pipe it on top in a swirl, I then used a cocktail stick, just to make a swirl effect. So pretty don't you think?

Make these for a party or take them to a Slimming World taster, or don't share at all and keep them just for yourself. Either way, they are delicious.

The chocolate cake part to these Orange and Chocolate Halloween Cupcakes is so delicious, you could vary these up with all kinds of different toppings, like a chocolate icing or pure chocolate spread for that real chocolate fix. So many possibilities - yum!!

What kitchen items do I need to make these Orange and Chocolate Halloween Cupcakes?

• Measuring Spoons
• Measuring Cups
• Kitchen Scales
• Mixing Bowl
• Wooden Spoon
• sandwich bags or piping bag
• muffin tray 
• cupcake cases (Halloween themed ones are cute)

Continue to Content

Orange and Chocolate Halloween Cupcakes

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

This recipe is vegetarian, Slimming World and Weight Watchers friendlyExtra Easy - 3.5 syns per cupcakeWW Smart Points - 3

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Ingredients

• 150g/1 cup of plain flour 
• 4 level tbs (20g) of 100% pure cocoa powder 
• ½ cup of sukrin: 1 (or use another sweetener of choice) 
• 1 tsp of baking powder
• ½ tsp of baking soda
• pinch of salt
• ½ cup of fat-free plain yoghurt
• 1 tsp of orange extract
• 2 eggs
• ¼ cup of silk cashew milk or Alpro chocolate milk 
• spray oil
• for the icing:
• ⅔ cup of quark or blended fat-free cottage cheese
• 2 level tbs of icing sugar 
• 1 tbs of chocolate spread 
• orange food colour (I prefer a paste, as it stops the icing from going too thin.
• few drops of orange extract (to taste)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180c or 350f (gas mark 4)
2. Add the plain flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and a pinch of salt to a bowl, mix to combine.
3. In a separate bowl add the eggs, chocolate milk, orange extract, yoghurt and sukrin and whisk until smooth.
4. Add this to the flour mixture and fold till well combined.
5. Spoon into 12 muffin cases, sprayed with a little spray oil.
6. Place in the oven and bake for approx 25 mins, a skewer entered into the centre should come out clear.
7. Once cooked, cover over with a clean tea towel while they cool down, this helps the cupcakes to stay nice and moist. 
8. Once cooled you can make the icing, combine the quark, icing sugar and orange extract, add a little bit of orange food colouring at a time until you have desired orange colour.
9. Add this to a small sandwich bag on one side, then add the chocolate spread next to it in the bag, so you have a kind of strip of icing and a thin stripe of the chocolate spread cho(don't worry it doesn't need to be perfect.).
10. Squeeze the bag, so that you push all the icing to one corner, then carefully snip off a small piece of the corner. 
11. You can then roughly pipe the icing onto the top of the cupcakes.
12. Use a wooden skewer to make a rough marble swirl on the top of the cupcakes and add the sprinkles.
13. Enjoy!!

Notes

Nutritional information is an estimate and is to be used for informational purposes only.

Syn value of cocoa powder can vary from brand to brand. The three brands I use are 100% cocoa powder (not Dutch Processed) and are 1 tbs for 20 calories (1 syn).

You should always double check the syn values of items which are synned, as brands can differ. 

Ingredients can vary greatly from brand to brand and therefore it would be impossible to give accurate information. Also, double-check syn values of synned ingredients as different brands can vary. 

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Nutrition Information

Yield 12 Serving Size 1 cupcake
Amount Per Serving Calories 92Total Fat 1.9gSaturated Fat 0.6gCholesterol 31.6mgSodium 187mgCarbohydrates 14.9gFiber 0.9gSugar 3.8gProtein 4.7g

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