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Halloween Vampire Bat Cupcakes
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Halloween Vampire Bat Cupcakes

Yummy chocolate cupcakes with easy vampire bat decoration!
Course Dessert
Cuisine British
Keyword Cupcake
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 12
Calories 470kcal
Author thebakingexplorer

Ingredients

For the sponge

  • 175 g Butter or baking spread unsalted, softened
  • 175 g Caster sugar
  • 3 Eggs large
  • 1 tbsp Milk
  • 150 g Self raising flour
  • 25 g Cocoa powder
  • ¼ tsp Baking powder
  • 50 g Chocolate chips
  • Black food colouring

For the buttercream

  • 150 g Butter unsalted, softened
  • 260 g Icing sugar
  • 40 g Cocoa powder
  • 2-3 tbsp Milk
  • Black food colouring

For decoration

  • 24 Candy eyes
  • 25 g White fondant
  • 100 g Dark chocolate

Instructions

  • Make the fondant fangs first so they can dry and harden. Roll out your white fondant on a smooth surface dusted with icing sugar, and cut strips about 1cm in width. Cut the strips up diagonally (sort of like bunting) to create the triangle shaped fangs. Leave out on some baking paper to dry
  • Pre-heat your oven to 160C Fan/180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 and line a cupcake tin with black paper cases
  • To make the cupcakes, mix together the butter and caster sugar until smooth
  • Add the eggs and milk, and whisk in
  • Add the self raising flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and whisk in
  • Add enough black food colouring to darken the batter, then fold in the chocolate chips
  • Divide the mixture between the cupcakes cases, and bake them for 20-25 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Put them on a rack to cool completely
  • To make the chocolate wings. Melt the milk chocolate in the microwave, make sure to use a microwave safe bowl. Heat the chocolate for 30 seconds, stir it, then heat in 10 second bursts, stirring in between
  • Pour into a piping bag and pipe wing shapes onto baking paper, aim for wide 'M' shapes, then leave to set
  • To make the buttercream, mix together the butter, cocoa powder and icing sugar with a spoon or electric hand whisk, when it starts to come together, add the milk and mix until smooth
  • Then add the black food colouring until you reach the desired shade
  • Pipe the buttercream onto each cupcake using a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle, then smooth out the top with a palette knife. Or spread on with a spoon
  • Stick the candy eyes and fondant fangs on top
  • Push the wings into each side of the buttercream
  • Store in an airtight container in a cool place, eat leftovers within 3 days

Notes

  • Make sure all your ingredients (particularly the butter and eggs) are at room temperature before you start baking.
  • I used a baking spread for the cupcakes and unsalted butter for the buttercream.
  • For the black buttercream I used a professional grade food colouring. These types of food colouring not only provide excellent colour results, but they are gel based so they do not make the buttercream sloppy. They are also easily available for purchase online. My favourite brands are Pro Gel and Sugarflair. Other good quality brands are Colour Mill and Americolor.
  • If you can't get hold of candy eyes, you can make the eyes out of fondant. Using a round fondant plunger, or a round piping nozzle, cut a circle out of white fondant, then cut a smaller circle out of black fondant, use a little water to stick them together.
  • If you can get hold of black candy melts, you could make the wings out of them so the colour of the bat is all black.
  • 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: 470kcal | Carbohydrates: 54g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 100mg | Sodium: 205mg | Potassium: 183mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 39g | Vitamin A: 746IU | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 2mg