These gory brain cupcakes are vanilla-flavoured with a strawberry jam centre. They are the perfect Halloween treat.
Halloween Baking
From my Pumpkin Patch Brownie Cups, Blood Spatter Millionaire Shortbread and Halloween Cheesecake Halloween is one of my absolute favourite times to bake. I have so much fun coming up with Halloween bakes and these Brain Cupcakes are no exception.
Cupcakes
I based these cupcakes on my Strawberry and Cream Cupcakes. I went with a vanilla-flavoured cupcake with a strawberry jam centre.
In this recipe, I used self-raising flour. It is the perfect flour for making cakes. As it is a mixture of flour and raising agents to help the cake rise in the oven. If you don’t have self-raising flour, you can use plain flour, but you will need to add an extra 1 tsp of every 200g of plain flour you use.
Related Recipes
Blood Spatter Millionaire Shortbread
For the cupcakes, you can use either unsalted butter or a baking spread like Stork (supermarket-brand alternatives also work perfectly.) I prefer to use a baking spread like Stork as I just find that it makes a lighter and fluffier cupcake.
I used caster sugar in this recipe because I wanted a vanilla cupcake but you could change it up and use light brown sugar instead to get a slightly toffee-flavoured cupcake.
Baking Cups
Whenever I bake cupcakes I always use the same Baking Cups. They are quite deep which for me is the perfect cupcake size. I love how many different colours and designs they come in and they open out to create a little plate to catch any crumbs.
Another thing I love about these Baking Cups is that they have flat bottoms you can bake them on an oven tray and they hold their own shape during baking.
Baking
The cupcakes need to be baked until they are golden brown in colour. The baking time is only a guide, depending on your oven it may take longer/shorter for the cupcakes to bake.
There are a couple of ways to tell if the cupcakes are baked, the first is to test them using a cupcake tester. The tester should come out clean if the cupcakes are baked. If the tester comes out with batter on then they need to be baked longer.
Another way to test if your cupcakes are ready is to gently press down on the top of the cupcake. When you remove your finger if the cake springs back to its original shape then the cupcakes are ready. If you end up with a slight dent in the top of your cupcakes then they need to be baked longer. I would recommend popping them back into the oven for 3-4 minutes before checking them again.
Once the cupcakes are baked leave them to cool on your muffin tray or oven tray for 10-15 minutes before moving to a wire cooling rack to cool fully.
Jam Centre
Once the cupcakes are cooled fully remove the centre of each using a cupcake corer. Fill the holes in the centre of each cupcake with jam. I went with strawberry because I wanted to make the cupcakes as gory as possible.
Keep the piece of the cupcake you remove though and replace it once you have filled the cupcake with jam.
Buttercream Decoration
The brain decoration on top of the cupcake is super simple to do. All you need is some pink American buttercream.
To make the buttercream you need to use unsalted butter. If you use anything like a baking spread it will be too soft and won’t hold its own shape when you pipe the brains.
I didn’t want my brains to be bright pink so I added a tiny amount of pink food colouring at a time until I got to my perfect pink.
The buttercream needs to be piped onto the cupcakes either with a small round piping nozzle or by cutting the tip of the piping bag.
To pipe the brains, you need to pipe two straight lines of buttercream down the centre of the cupcake. Then pipe squiggles on either side of the straight lines. The start of the squiggles should always be from inside, at the top of the straight line.
For the blood spatter effect, I used a raspberry coulis and drizzled it over the cupcakes.
Alternatives
You can use any jam in the centre of these cupcakes, or you could leave it out completely.
I used raspberry coulis for the blood effect on the top of the cupcake but you could use jam.
Equipment
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Brain Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 145 g Unsalted Butter or Stork
- 145 g Caster Sugar
- 145 g Self-Raising Flour
- 3 Large Eggs
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 12 tbsp Strawberry Jam
For the Buttercream
- 250 g Unsalted Butter
- 500 g Icing Sugar
- 3-4 tbsp Whole Milk
- Pink Food Colouring
- 20-30 ml Raspberry Coulis
Instructions
To Make the Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 180C/160 Fan. Line a muffin tray with cupcake liners and leave to one side.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
- Add in the remaining ingredients and whisk until they are all combined.
- Split the mixture into the cupcake liners. I use a small ice cream scoop to do this so I know that they are all even.
- Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. You will know the cupcakes are ready when they are springy to the touch.
- Leave them to cool for 15-20 minutes before moving them to a wire cooling rack to cool fully.
To Make the Buttercream
- Beat the butter for 5-10 minutes until it is soft and supple.
- Add in the icing sugar and beat until all the ingredients are incorporated.
- If the buttercream is too thick add 1 tbsp of milk and mix. Repeat until the buttercream is the desired consistency.
- Add in the pink food colouring one drop at a time until you reach the desired colour.
- Put the buttercream into a piping bag with a small round nozzle and leave to one side.
To Decorate
- Remove the centre of each cupcake and fill the jap with a tablespoon of jam. Replace the pieve of the cupcake you have removed.
- Pipe the buttercream onto the cake. Start by piping two straight lines down the centre of the cupcake and then pipe a squiggly line on each side.
- Drizzle over the raspberry coulis to get a blood spatter effect.
Notes
- These Brain Cupcakes will last for 3+ days in an airtight container.
