Halloween Cupcakes!

You plan for the kids halloween costumes and halloween candy year after year, but what about those ghoulishly yummy halloween cupcakes you see made in stores? They’re extremely easy to make as well as fun for the whole family. We’ve compiled our top list of halloween cupcake recipes found on the web and have provided an easy step by step guide to get your halloween cooking and halloween party ideas ready to go.

First off, we found a great recipe called “Bleeding Cupcakes” that looks really easy to do and give off that great halloween vibe. You can find that recipe at 365halloween.com.

Strawberry Bleeding Cupcakes
 

• 1 jar of natural raspberry jelly (no sugar added)
• 3/4 cup mashed strawberries (about 1/2 pound unmashed, organic when available)
• 2 cups unbleached flour (I use 1/2 whole wheat + 1/2 spelt)
• 3/4 cup sweetener (I used fructose but sugar works too)
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup applesauce (”natural” no sugar added kind)
• 1/2 cup non-hydrogenated margarine (I use Earth Balance)
• 1/2 cup non-dairy milk (soy, rice, almond, etc.)
• Optional: 1/2 tsp. nutmeg & 1 tsp. cinnamon
• Optional: few drops red food coloring (not used in my tests)

Line metal cupcake pan with papers, or leave silicone molds unprepared. (If You Care liners are lined with non-chemical silicone, are greaseproof, and always peel off easily.) This recipe seems to be ideal for use with silicone pans, so use those if you have them. My silicone heart cupcakes achieved a dense donut-like feel. Fill liners just 1/3 high with cupcake batter. Add a small amount of jelly into the center of each cupcake. The more you add, the less “structured” your cupcakes will be. More gooey centered, but without a puffy, convex top. A tablespoon should do it. Add more batter until the cupcakes are 3/4 full. Bake for 35-40 minutes until the tops are getting golden and the cupcake looks solid.

Makes 1 dozen delicious, bleeding cupcakes. Let them cool completely and then add more jelly on top as the frosting. Just a thin layer. Put a little placard next to a plate full of these that hints at their special centers: “Raspberry Blood Bites” “Red Surprise Cupcakes” or just “Bleeding Cupcakes”. I made a chocolate version last year which was delicious, but the “blood” didn’t stand out very much against the dark brown cake. Got any ideas?