Creepy Halloween cupcakes are so fun! Filled with a red, juicy Amarena cherry and topped with bleeding sugar glass shards!
Halloween is fast approaching — It’s time to start thinking about scary Halloween cakes and cupcakes.
Don’t let their creepy looks fool you; these filled cupcakes taste amazing!
- The cupcake is a rich, dark chocolate devils food cupcake.
- They are filled with Amarena cherries and syrup.
- They are topped with a magnificent cream cheese buttercream.
- They are decorated with a homemade sugar glass shard and edible blood.
What you need to make these cute and creepy bleeding Halloween cupcakes:
Dark Chocolate Devil’s Food Cupcakes
- 2 cups of all-purpose flour
- 2 cups of sugar
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ⅔ cup butter
- 2 cups of water
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Butter Cream
- 8 ounces of cream cheese
- 1 stick of unsalted butter
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
½ tsp Kosher salt - 1 tsp of vanilla extract
Sugar Glass Shards
- ⅔ cup of superfine sugar (sometimes called bakers sugar or casters sugar)
- 1 ½ cups of water
Edible Blood
- 1 tbsp of Lyle’s golden syrup or corn syrup
- 6 tbsp of powdered sugar
- 1 tsp of red gel food dye
- 1 tsp water
Extras and Special Equipment
- 1 jar Amarena cherries (find these by the cocktail ingredients)
- Candy Thermometer
- Silpat
How to make cherry filled cupcakes.
The first step is to core out the cupcakes.
You can do this with a cupcake corer tool. I haven’t ever used one of these, so I am not sure if it is any faster. If you have used one leave a comment on what you experience is with coring cupcakes.
MY METHOD: Just like with my St. Paddy’s Day Car Bomb Cupcakes, I use a small paring knife at a 45-degree angle to carve out a small cone shape. It’s much easier than it sounds. Once you get this technique down, you can fill any cupcake with anything – like a pro. No need to overthink it, just make a little hole.
Once you have the cupcakes cored, you can fill them with an Amerena cherry and a few teaspoons of the syrup that is in the cherries. This will give you the most fabulous bleeding cupcakes.
The frosting on these is a creamy, cream cheese buttercream.
It isn’t overly sweet. Decorating cupcakes with spattered edible blood may be the best part about making these cupcakes – it is fun! Maybe it’s my inappropriate sense of humor talking; but, I legitimately feel like everyone should love these scary Halloween cupcakes with bloody shards of glass coming out of the top. Am I right?
How to make edible glass.
Making sugar glass is another straightforward technique that sounds intimidating at first.
All it involves is heating sugar and water in a pan.
It couldn’t be simpler. Making sure the candy glass comes out perfectly does require a candy thermometer. That tool is your secret weapon for creating sugar glass. Buying a candy thermometer is a small price to pay to amaze your friends with these fantastic creations. You can usually pick one up for less than ten bucks.
Once the sugar syrup reaches 275℉
Pour it on a cookie sheet prepared with non-stick spray, or onto a nonstick mat. I use a Silpat silicone mat to do this. Nothing sticks to these mats. Once you have poured your sugar, use a heat resistant silicone spatula to spread it into a thin sheet quickly. The mat makes it easy to spread the hot sugar nice and evenly.
Let the sugar cool and then crack it into shards.
I like to dip the shards in the edible blood and the stab them — lovingly, of course —into the blood-spattered cupcakes. Be warned the sugar glass will start to melt inside the cupcakes after a few hours so it is best to stab your cupcakes relatively close to the time that you are serving them.
How to make edible blood.
I know you have been waiting for all of your life to have this question answered.
Edible blood is a mixture of corn syrup and food grade gel coloring. Confectioners or powdered sugar is used to thicken it. It is easy to make, and it stains everything so be careful. Definitely, DO NOT use edible blood as costume blood unless you want to be stained red.
Happy Halloween
I hope that you will enjoy these Halloween themed cupcakes as much as we did. These are the perfect cupcakes for a Halloween party. And I hope that this will be one of your go-to Halloween cupcakes recipes.
Creepy Bleeding Halloween Cupcakes
Ingredients
Black Chocolate Cupcakes
- 2 cups All-purpose flour
- 2 cups Sugar
- 2 tsp Baking soda
- 2 tsp Baking powder
- 1 cup Unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- ⅔ cup Butter
- 2 cups Water
- 2 Eggs beaten
- 2 tsp Vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Buttercream
- 8 ounces Cream cheese softened
- 1 stick Unsalted butter softened
- 4 cups Powdered sugar
- ¼ cup Heavy whipping cream
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
Edible Sugar Glass
- ⅔ cup Sugar superfine, if possible
- 1 ½ cups Water
Edible Blood
- 1 tbsp Lyle's golden syrup OR light corn syrup
- 6 tbsp Powdered sugar
- 1 tsp Red gel food dye frosting coloring, use more if needed.
- 1 tsp Water use a little water to thin if needed.
Extras and Special Equipment
- 1 jar Amarena cherries
- Candy Thermometer
- Silpat Mat
- Piping Bag
- Piping Tips
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350℉.
- Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk slightly to blend.
- Add the water and butter to a saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Add the hot liquid to the dry ingredients and mix.
- Add the beaten eggs and vanilla.
- Portion out into lined cupcake pans. Should make approximately 18 cupcakes.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Until wooden stick comes out clean.
- Set aside and cool before frosting.
Cream Cheese Butter Cream
- Beat together the cream cheese and butter until slightly fluffy.
- Add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. Incorporate slowly at first.
- Add the cream and vanilla, beat on high until fluffy.
- Refrigerate for about an hour before using.
- Place the frosting into a piping bag and pipe frosting onto cupcakes. (optional)
Edible Sugar Glass
- Add the sugar and water to a saucepan.
- Using a candy thermometer, bring to boil and then to 275℉
- Stir occasionally and watch very closely. The sugar syrup's temperature will rise very quickly once it gets over 200℉
- When the sugar is heated, quickly pour out onto a non stick surface and the spread with a non-stick, heat-resistant spatula.
Edible Blood
- Mix all of the ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Add more red gel to get a darker color.
- Thin with water if needed.
- Spatter all over the cupcakes using a spoon.
