"This great pumpkin is perfect for a humongous autumn party."

humongous pumpkin cupcake

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Prep Time: 20 min.
Bake Time: 15-20 min.
Decoration Time: 25 min.
Difficulty: Moderate
Yield: Makes 26 cupcakes.

1 box (18.25 oz.) Devil’s food cake mix
4 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup oil
1½ cans vanilla frosting
Orange food coloring
3 cups of Halloween M&M’S ® Brand Chocolate Candies, separated by color (2 cups orange M&M’S® Brand Chocolate Candies; 1 cup black M&M’S® Brand Chocolate Candies)
3 12-cup cupcake pans
26 paper cupcake liners
1 18-inch cake circle, firm cardboard or platter

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the cupcake cups with the paper cupcake liners.
2. Beat the cake mix with the eggs, buttermilk and oil until blended. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake pans.
3. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven, transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely.
4. Tint the vanilla frosting with the orange food coloring. Line the cupcakes snugly into a large pumpkin shape on the cake circle or platter. Follow this pattern—one row of 4 cupcakes, one row of 5, one row of 6, another of 5, another of 4. This leaves 2 cupcakes to be placed at the pumpkin’s top for a stem (use the photo as a guide).
5. Spread orange frosting over the cupcakes, covering them completely so they look like one big cake. Use black M&M’S® Brand Chocolate Candies to outline the pumpkin, and to make the eyes, mouth and nose. Fill in any remaining area of the pumpkin with orange M&M’S® Brand Chocolate Candies.
Tip: There are several ways to get similar results. You can frost each cupcake individually with orange icing. Place the cupcakes in a pumpkin shape and then use black M&M’S® Brand Chocolate Candies to create jack-o-lantern facial features. You can randomly add orange M&M’S® Brand Chocolate Candies.
Tip: Finally, you can always use the top of any round layer cake as the pumpkin. Frost both the sides and top of the cake. Arrange black M&M’S® Brand Chocolate Candies to highlight the jack-o-lantern facial features, and then arrange orange M&M’S® Brand Chocolate Candies randomly over the rest of the cake to complete the face.