Bleeding Brain Cupcakes
Red velvet cupcake, filled with jam, topped with brain themed pink icing - perfect for Halloween!
Servings 12
Calories 456kcal
Ingredients
For the sponge
- 150 g Butter or baking spread softened, unsalted
- 150 g Caster sugar
- 2 Eggs large
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 85 ml Buttermilk
- 165 g Self raising flour
- 1 ½ tbsp Cocoa powder
- ½ tsp Bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp Red food colouring I use Pro Gel or Sugarflair
For the filling
- 200 g Strawberry or Raspberry Jam
For the buttercream
- 200 g Butter unsalted, softened
- 400 g Icing sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp Milk
- Pink food colouring I use Pro Gel or Sugarflair
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 160C Fan/180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 and line a cupcake tin with black cupcake cases
- Whisk the butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl until fluffy, ideally with an electric mixer using the paddle attachment
- Add the eggs and vanilla extract, and mix them in
- Add the buttermilk, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda, red food colouring and self raising flour, mix until combined
- Divide the mixture between the cupcake cases
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of a cupcake comes out clean, then put them on a cooling rack to cool fully
- Once fully cool, use a cupcake corer or a knife to make a hole in the centre of each cupcake
- Fill each hole with the jam, you can use a small spoon or a piping bag to do this
- To make the buttercream, mix the butter on it's own for a couple of minutes. This should ideally be done with an electric mixer using the paddle attachment
- Add the icing sugar, milk, vanilla extract and a small amount of pink food colouring, and mix until smooth. (Remember that you only want a pale pink colour so be sparing with the pink food colouring, you can always add more but you can't take away!) If the buttercream is too stiff then you can add a little more milk
- Put the buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a circular/round nozzle. Pipe a line down the centre of the cupcake, then squiggles on either side for the brain effect
- Keep in an airtight container in a cool place, and eat leftovers within 3 days
Video
Notes
- Make sure all your ingredients (particularly the butter, buttermilk and eggs) are at room temperature before you start baking.
- I used unsalted butter for the buttercream, for the cupcakes I used a baking spread.
- You will need to use a professional grade food colouring to get the same vibrant shades that you can see in my photos. Brands I recommend are Pro Gel and Sugarflair. I have also heard good things about Colour Mill and Americolor.
- Please use a good quality vanilla extract for the best flavour. Do not use an essence as they are synthetic, whereas extracts are natural flavours.
- Although I provide cup measurements, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients out using digital kitchen scales. It is the most accurate way to measure ingredients and will ensure the best results. Digital scales are very low cost and can be purchased for around £12 ($16.50).
- For teaspoon (tsp) and tablespoon (tbsp) measurements, please use measuring spoons and not the type of spoons you eat with. Again this will ensure accuracy and provide the best results.
Nutrition
Calories: 456kcal | Carbohydrates: 57g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 91mg | Sodium: 273mg | Potassium: 50mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 46g | Vitamin A: 780IU | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 1mg
