How to make coffin shaped cupcakes inspired by the book Kids' Cakes from the Whimsical Bakehouse

As my fellow crafty blogger Dave Lowe pointed out very recently there are about 140 days to Halloween. Not to be out done in preparing for this most illustrious holiday I did a little "test baking" in the Plaidbunny Test Kitchen, actual baking, not a metaphor!

I got a copy of this super fun book Kids' Cakes from the Whimsical Bakehouse and the coffin shaped rice crispy treats were darling! I do like rice crispy treats but I love cake more and I wanted to see if cake could be cut in this shape.

So I baked a cake.
As you can see in this picture the first side I cut got a little crumby. Very easy solution!
Always make your cuts in the downward direction not sawing up and down. As you can see each diagonal slice made the top angle of the first coffin and the bottom angle of the next. Make each cut parallel to the previous one.

(YUP people that's geometry coming back to bight you in the cupcake!)

Were you one of those people that said "I'll never use this in my life!" about geometry? I knew I would and I love geometry. I'm crazy like that.
So as you can see my second side came out way better than my first. I also recomend keeping all the parts of the cake in the pan until everything is cut. You can see how the cake wanted to fall apart on the end where there was cake missing from the pan.

I wonder where it went...I couldn't have been in my tummy...noooooo.

What I'm thinking is these would look really cool in chocolate cake and then follow the instructions and draw skeletons on the top with white frosting.

There are tons more super cute ideas in:
Kids' Cakes from the Whimsical Bakehouse: And Other Treats for Colorful Celebrations
by
Kaye Hansen and Liv Hansen

More about the book from Potter Craft:

"From the mother-daughter baking and decorating team behind the beloved WHIMSICAL BAKEHOUSE books, this trove of recipes and ideas will help you conjure up a colorful world of pixie dust or pirate’s treasure for your kids.

Chocolate fairies dance atop a woodland cake surrounded by magic wands and tea party cupcakes; extraterrestrial cupcakes orbit a 3-D rocket cake; a spooky mummy mask cake watches over pudding-filled chocolate cauldrons. Ranging from simple to advanced, the recipes and designs in Kids’ Cakes from the Whimsical Bakehouse build your skill set so that even novices can ultimately create every vibrantly decorated, delicious treat in this inspiring book. Kids’ Cakes also offers “Plain and Simple” variations for busy days, and suggestions for involving little helping hands (and boosting their confidence, too) with “Kids Can” tasks.

Chapters include:

The Best Sleepover Ever
Bed Cake, “Half Moon” Black and White Cookies, Banana Bear Pancakes, and Oven French Toast

Step Right Up
Circus Cake with colorful chocolate bareback riders and clowns, lemon butter Balloon Cookies, and Funnel Cakes

Start Your Engines
Fire Truck and Rocket Cakes, Out-of-This-World planet and alien cupcakes

With detailed baking instructions, a color chart, more than 50 recipes, and a ton of decorating tips and designs for creating colored chocolate embellishments, Kids’ Cakes from the Whimsical Bakehouse will show you how to turn any birthday, holiday, or even humdrum day into a sweet occasion and will leave you with unforgettable memories of baking together.

About the Author

LIV HANSEN’s eye for edible decorating comes from her training as a painter. KAYE HANSEN, a self-taught baker, owns Riviera Bakehouse in Westchester County, New York. The bakery has been featured in the New York Times, and this baking duo has appeared on Today, The View, The Early Show, and Food Network. Together, they are the authors of The Whimsical Bakehouse, Christmas Cookies from the Whimsical Bakehouse, and Little Cakes from the Whimsical Bakehouse. Liv and Kaye live in Rockland County, New York. www.whimsicalbakehouse.com"