Description
These Vampire Bite Halloween Cupcakes are a spooky and delicious treat perfect for Halloween celebrations. Featuring moist, chocolatey cupcakes with a dramatic ‘bloody’ cream cheese filling and skin-tone frosting, they are decorated with realistic vampire bite marks made using red gel icing. This fun dessert combines visual excitement with rich flavors ideal for parties or themed events.
Ingredients
Scale
Cupcakes
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 2 tablespoons red food coloring
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Filling
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- Red food coloring (gel recommended)
Frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 3–4 tablespoons heavy cream
- Peach or ivory food coloring
Decoration
- Red gel icing or syrup (for vampire bite effect)
- Toothpick (for making puncture marks)
Instructions
- Preheat and prepare pan: Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a muffin pan with cupcake liners to ensure easy removal after baking.
- Mix dry ingredients: Sift together the all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl to remove lumps and evenly combine.
- Cream butter and sugar: In a separate large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until the mixture is pale and fluffy, which incorporates air for a light texture.
- Add eggs: Add the eggs one at a time to the creamed mixture, beating well after each addition to fully combine them.
- Combine wet and dry ingredients: Alternate adding the dry ingredients with the buttermilk to the butter mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Then mix in the vinegar, red food coloring, and vanilla extract to create the cupcake batter.
- Bake cupcakes: Spoon the batter into the prepared liners, filling them evenly. Bake in the preheated oven for 18–20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack.
- Prepare filling: Beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar together until smooth, then gently fold in the whipped heavy cream. Add red gel food coloring to tint the filling to a deep, ‘bloody’ red color for visual effect.
- Fill cupcakes: Gently core out the center of each cooled cupcake to create space, then spoon or pipe the red cream cheese filling inside.
- Make frosting: Whip the unsalted butter until creamy and light. Gradually add powdered sugar while continuing to beat. Then add 3–4 tablespoons of heavy cream and peach or ivory food coloring to achieve a smooth frosting with a skin-tone color.
- Frost cupcakes: Spread the frosting smoothly on top of each cupcake to mimic the appearance of skin.
- Create vampire bites: Use a toothpick to poke two small puncture holes closely together on each cupcake top. Apply red gel icing or syrup into the holes and let it drip down to simulate realistic vampire bite marks.
- Optional decoration: Add candy vampire fangs or extra blood drips with red gel icing for a scarier effect perfect for Halloween parties.
Notes
- Chill cupcakes before filling to prevent the cake from becoming soggy.
- Use red gel icing for the most realistic blood drip effect on vampire bites.
- You can substitute the cream cheese filling with raspberry jam or strawberry coulis for a fruity alternative.
- Make sure to cool cupcakes completely before coring and filling to maintain structure.
- Adjust red food coloring quantity to get your desired depth of red color in batter and filling.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cupcake
- Calories: 370
- Sugar: 32g
- Sodium: 210mg
- Fat: 20g
- Saturated Fat: 12g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 43g
- Fiber: 1.5g
- Protein: 4g
- Cholesterol: 60mg
