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drizzling edible blood over vanilla cupcakes
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5 from 6 votes

Bloody Vanilla Cupcakes with Edible "Blood"

Moist vanilla cupcakes, smooth vanilla buttercream, and the homemade fake blood really sets the spooky mood!
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time50 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: halloween cupcakes, halloween dessert
Servings: 16 cupcakes
Calories: 479kcal

Ingredients

Cupcakes

  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 3 Tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup full fat sour cream

Vanilla frosting

  • 1 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 5-6 Tbsp heavy whipping cream adding more if needed to achieve desired consistency

Edible "blood"

  • 2 Tbsp cold water
  • 2 Tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 cup light corn syrup
  • 1/2 Tbsp red gel food coloring
  • 1 drop blue gel food coloring optional - to get a darker "blood red" color
  • 16 (10 ml each) plastic syringes found on amazon

Instructions

Make the cupcakes

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 muffin tins with 16 paper liners.
  • Add flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium mixing bowl and whisk to combine well. Set aside.
  • Add butter and sugar to a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), and beat on medium speed until creamed together and light in color. This usually takes 2-3 minutes.
  • Beat in eggs, vanilla and sour cream, until smooth.
  • Add dry ingredients and beat until just combined and no flour streaks remain.
  • Scoop batter into prepared muffins tins, filling the paper liners about 2/3 of the way full.
  • Bake 17-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcakes comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
  • Let cool in the pan for 3-5 minutes, then transfer cupcakes to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Make the edible "blood"

  • In a small bowl, add cold water and cornstarch and whisk until smooth and combined.
  • Add corn syrup and food coloring to a small saucepan, then stir in the cornstarch and water mixture. Heat over medium heat, whisking or stirring until well combined.
  • Bring mixture to a simmer, then cook for 1 minute, whisking constantly.
  • Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.
  • Using latex or nitrile gloves (the blood can stain hands, surfaces, clothes etc, due to the food dye) fill plastic syringes and set aside on a paper towel lined paper plate.

Make the frosting

  • In a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), add butter and beat on medium speed until butter is lighter in color, just a minute or two.
  • Beat in vanilla extract and salt, then the powdered sugar. Use a slightly lower speed at first when adding the powdered sugar, so it doesn't get everywhere. Once it's combined, increase speed back to medium.
  • Beat in heavy cream, starting with 5 Tbsp, until well combined. If frosting is too thick, add more cream.

Put them all together

  • Transfer frosting to a piping bag fitted with a decorating tip (whichever one you want), and pipe onto cooled cupcakes.
  • Get a syringe with edible blood and drizzle a bit of the blood onto a cupcake. Then insert the syringe into the cupcake, squirting a little inside so it's semi-filled. Repeat with remaining cupcakes and syringes.
  • Leftover "blood" should be refrigerated and will last up to 1 month.

Nutrition

Calories: 479kcal | Carbohydrates: 71g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 81mg | Sodium: 126mg | Potassium: 85mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 59g | Vitamin A: 702IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 45mg | Iron: 1mg