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Bloody Brains Cupcakes

Posted by Lisa | Sweet 2 Eat Baking on October 10, 2012
19 Comments // Leave Some Love
Halloween Bloody Brains Cupcakes

Bloody Brains Cupcakes

What do you love best about Halloween as an adult? For me, it still seems like a mystical time of the year. In England, the end of October is normally cold. If it’s not raining, there’s normally a frost in the air and you can always see your breath in the air as a little cloud that shines in the street lights. Obviously, it’s so much better if there’s an awesome full moon with creepy cloud cover too. I love that I can get warm and cosy on the sofa with a giant cup of hot chocolate and a huge warm jumper with the fire on.

As a child, there was a children’s park on a pitch of land after our back garden. There were a lot of trees bordering the park. At night, when I looked out onto the back garden it was creepy. The owls and crow sounds added to it. It was so much creepier with a full moon as the tree branches used to sway in front of the moon creating the perfect halloween scenes you see in pictures and films. I remember going trick or treating too but as I got to my teens I wised up and got cheeky. I used to go trick or treating 2 days before Halloween. That way people weren’t prepared for trick or treaters so instead of sweets and chocolate, they gave money. I used to be out for hours, when I finally arrived home would tot it up to around £10 ($8) or a little more or less depending on areas, etc. Haha, like I said, cheeky! *blush*

Halloween Bloody Brains Cupcakes

Another thing I loved back then and now is the halloween movies come out of the wood work. Whether they were scary ones, or animated aimed at children, I loved them. I’d be scared witless but I still loved them, they are traditional for me. I love gory movies. The movies with zombies in where they were full of gore, like a zombie grabbing a human and literally biting into the brain with blood spraying everywhere. That’s where these bloody brains cupcakes come in.

They’re light and fluffy vanilla cupcakes with a raspberry jam (blood) core, with yummy buttercream frosting brains. The blood and bloody chunks are made by using a pastry brush and wet dabbing liquid red food colouring onto the buttercream frosting. You can optionally add bloody brain matter chunks too by soaking some white sanding sugar in the red food colouring and adding to the cupcakes, gives that extra core factor!! 😉

Bloody Brains Cupcakes Recipe

Bloody Brains Cupcakes Recipe

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Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 15-18 mins

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Be a zombie for a day and get your teeth into some bloody brains cupcakes. Buttercream frosted brains with red brain matter sugar chunks. Much more tasty than real brains!

Ingredients:

FOR THE CUPCAKES:

  • ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter
  • ⅔ cup (130g) granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1½ cups (195g) plain (all-purpose) flour
  • 1½ tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ cup (60ml) milk
  • strawberry or raspberry jam

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING:

  • 2 cups (230g) icing (confectioners’) sugar
  • ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 vanilla extract
  • 1-2 tbsp milk or single (light) cream
  • a drop of red gel food colouring

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180℃/350℉/Gas Mark 4. Line a muffin pan with 12 paper cases.
  2. Warm the milk with the butter until the butter has melted. Set aside.
  3. Whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla until thick and creamy.
  4. Mix in the milk and butter mixture.
  5. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until just smooth with no flour lumps.
  6. Fill cases until ¾ full and bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool on a wire rack. Once cool, core the cupcakes and add a tablespoon of raspberry or strawberry jam replacing the core.
  7. To make the buttercream frosting; cream the butter with the icing (confectioners’) sugar until thick and creamy. Mix in the vanilla and add 1-2 tbsp milk. Add a drop or two of red gel food colouring to colour (I used red and burgundy) don’t worry if the colour isn’t fully incorporated, the blotchy look will add to it.
  8. Pipe a half crescent on 2 sides of the cupcakes with an open nozzle tip (Wilton #10). Then pipe a continuous squiggly sausage slightly overlapping the crescents. Place in the refrigerator to firm up.
  9. To create the blood, place some liquid red food colouring in a small container and dip in a pastry brush. The pastry brush needs to be wet but not dripping wet so strain on the side of the container then with a dabbing motion repeatedly dab the colour onto the firmed buttercream frosting.
  10. (Optional) To make the brain matter chunks (yummy!) place some white sanding sugar or granulated sugar in the liquid red food colouring. Spoon out onto kitchen paper then randomly place chunks in no uniform pattern or shape on top. The chunks really add to the theme, heh!

Notes:

It helps to have domed cupcakes to create the brain shape. A better way of creating domed cupcakes is to change the method in making them. Instead of creaming the butter and sugar, I whisked the eggs, sugar and vanilla almost like a meringue: thick, foamy and creamy. When baked, the cupcakes had the perfect domed top.

I vant to eat your brains. Your sweet, juicy brainnnsss.

Lisa {Sweet 2 Eat Baking} - Decorated Cakes, Cupcakes, Cookies, Desserts & more!

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Posted by Lisa | Sweet 2 Eat Baking on October 10, 2012
19 Comments // Leave Some Love

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19 Comments on “Bloody Brains Cupcakes”

  1. Hayley @ The Domestic Rebel — October 11, 2012 @12:47 am Reply

    Eeek, these are so so cool and so so gross. I love them!!

  2. Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust — October 11, 2012 @2:30 am Reply

    Oh my gosh those are so gross they're awesome! :)

  3. Marjorie (Sugar for the Brain) — October 11, 2012 @3:01 am Reply

    Ahahaha as a future neuropsychologist I have ethical issues with eating brains, but these are gruesomely awesome, I might secretely take a bite ;)

  4. Annamaria @ Bakewell Junction — October 11, 2012 @1:05 pm Reply

    I saw your link on a tweet and had to click on it to see your Bloody Brains Cupcakes. The cupcakes look great. Nice job.

  5. Loretta E — October 11, 2012 @3:34 pm Reply

    These are so gross-looking! I can just picture little boys going crazy over these! I'd just have to close my eyes before eating them...

  6. Jacqui — October 12, 2012 @7:37 am Reply

    Love these gorey cupcakes.

  7. Lene — October 12, 2012 @11:52 am Reply

    Oh my boys would go NUTS over these!! I am with you....LOVE this time of year. Maybe I should have gone trick or treating early....all I ever got was junk candy!

    Thanks for sharing....I think we'll be giving these a try!

  8. Anna @ Crunchy Creamy Sweet — October 12, 2012 @5:28 pm Reply

    They sound delicious and look so gross!! Your description and mentioning the core made me shiver! lol

  9. AutismUnited — October 12, 2012 @8:09 pm Reply

    Ewwww brains. Great idea for Halloween, kids will love.

  10. tom@morethanpepper — October 12, 2012 @10:14 pm Reply

    creepy cupcakes right on

  11. Liz — October 14, 2012 @3:06 am Reply

    Oh, I LOVE these! Perfect for Halloween...and so darn creative!!!

  12. Jocelyn — October 29, 2012 @2:22 pm Reply

    These are soo spooky and creative! I love them! I added them to my Halloween recipe round up here: http://www.grandbaby-cakes.com/2012/10/halloween-everywhere.html

  13. Sylvia @ My Lovely Bites — November 3, 2012 @1:47 am Reply

    These look amazing! Gross, gory and absolutely delicious looking (I mean, raspberry core is ALWAYS delicious no matter what) *_* YUM!

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