My kids love Halloween and all the fun creepy things that go along with it.
My daughter found a picture of a vampire party and has been begging me to have one. She is all about anything that is fancy, but also really likes creepy cool stuff as well. When I saw these cupcake wrappers from Bella Cupcake Couture, I knew I could do something that was fun but wouldn’t take tons of time. Aren’t they so cute? They were so easy to use and add so much to the cool and creepy of these cupcakes. And, last time I looked, they were on sale! Go check them out here. Because is October not the busiest month of the year? When I was little it was my favorite month, but now I kind of just can’t wait until it’s all over.
Now to the cupcakes. I actually have a tried and true Red Velvet cupcake recipe that I made several times and loved. But then I moved to high altitude. And it doesn’t work at all. It’s not the same. I tried all the little tricks that they tell you, and none of them worked. Since then, I have been looking for a recipe that is simple, moist and delicious. That’s not asking too much, is it?
Well, this is the one that comes closest to my old favorite, although I had to alter it a bit. As in, I added more chocolate. Because if it doesn’t have enough chocolate, then it’s just a red colored cupcake. Red velvet means chocolate and red. I personally don’t like at all the taste of red food coloring. I know some people think I’m crazy and say that it doesn’t have a taste. But it SO does. Because of this I use Wilton’s No Taste Gel Food Color. I know you can find it at Walmart.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cup flour
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons cocoa
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 egg
- 2 tablespoons red gel food color (I use Wilton no taste red)
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place liners in 2 cupcake tins.
- In medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa. Set aside.
- In large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, combine oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar and vanilla.
- Mix until combined.
- With mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until combined.
- Divide batter among liners (I got 20), each about 3/4 full.
- Bake for about 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove from tins to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Place each cupcake in decorative wrap, then frost with cream cheese frosting.
- If using straws, cut each into 3 equal pieces and dip each end into red food coloring and then stick into frosting.
- Use a toothpick to add more 'blood' if desired.
Notes
Instead of straws, you could use a chopstick or something of a similar size dipped in the food coloring to make 2 vampire bite marks in the cupcakes.
Ingredients
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 4-5 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk or cream
Instructions
- Cream together butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy.
- Add vanilla and beat until thoroughly mixed.
- Slowly add powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached, add a bit of milk or cream if needed.
It’s that extra step that really gives it that spook edge!
Ooooh love how cute these cupcakes turned out with our spook-tacular cupcake wrappers. Looks like a red velvet cupcake recipe we definitely need to add to our recipe book. Thanks!