I’ve never been into the scary, the gory or the unnerving, so Halloween has never been my favorite holiday. But I can do dressing up and I can definitely do the massive sugar rush.
For our office decorating competition, my team went all out with an insane asylum theme and I brought in these broken glass cupcakes. They’re actually kind of a breeze to throw together (compared to the cake I just made, anyway) and I really liked the look of the sort of subtle creepiness instead of fingers or eyeballs or whatever sticking out of cupcakes. Gross.
For the cupcakes, I doubled this 1-bowl chocolate cake recipe and added an egg for more sturdiness since I was also filling the cupcakes with jam to give an oozing effect when you bite into them. These cupcakes are quite moist and prone to sticking to the knife when you cut into them, but you’ll be covering them up with frosting even if the tops end up looking ugly after you fill them.
I overfilled some of the cupcakes and ended up with only 10 cupcakes, but you should be able to get 12 out of that recipe by filling the cupcake liners only halfway, which should yield nice domes for frosting.
For the frosting, I used a basic cream cheese frosting since I wanted one that would pipe reliably well, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the taste of this one. Use your favorite white frosting so that the “blood” shows up well.
For the broken glass, I followed the directions here, but used only 1/4 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons of water to make the amount of broken glass pictured. I think that would be plenty for 12 cupcakes given that it’s mainly for aesthetics–it tends to get stuck in your teeth so no need to go overboard with it.
For the blood, I thinned a sour cherry jam I had on hand with some water and drizzled it on top. A seedless raspberry or any red-colored jam would work well.
I also made some vegan pumpkin cupcakes that I wasn’t crazy about, so I used the rest of the cream cheese frosting to turn them into cake balls.
I dipped them at 7:30 a.m. this morning so perfection was not the name of the game. Plus, our theme was an insane asylum after all so if there was ever an occasion for messy cake balls, I think today was the day.
What are you doing for Halloween?
(In case you were curious: we won the decorating contest!)
Nancy @ gottagetbaked
I’ve been totally ignoring my blog and all blog related things so I totally missed this kick ass Halloween post! These broken glass cupcakes are seriously cool. I can’t wait to make that faux broken glass next year. Maybe also make some severed appendages too to increase the gore factor. I love Halloween so much. Until next year!
Two Red Bowls
Oh my gosh, these are gorgeous! Which is funny, since they’re supposed to be gory. I think this is about the highest level of gore I can handle, too (however squeamish you are I bet I’m worse!) Love them — the Halloween baking train came and left without me this year but I’m definitely going to keep these in mind for next time!
erika
Yay! Glad to hear it. Although idk–if we had a squeam-off someday, you’d find I’m pretty darn squeamish…
Kristi @ My San Francisco Kitchen
Happy belated Halloween! These cupcakes are SO COOL!!
laurasmess
It’s been way too long since I caught up on your amazing creations Erika! Wow. Seriously, these are some of the best Halloween creations I’ve ever seen. A little creepy, but as you say, much more appetising than biting into a gel-filled eyeball or witch finger! Love the broken glass effect and the jammy ‘blood’. So cool. Congrats on winning the contest, woooop de do! (oh, and aren’t cake balls an amazing saviour for not-so-perfect cakes?! I love them. Makes everything taste way yummier!) xx
erika
Haha thanks Laura. And yes, cake balls are seriously such a life-saver! I don’t know what I would have done otherwise!
Lilly Sue
These cupcakes look awesome and festive! I like the idea of oozing jam! Yum! I hope you had a great Halloween!
erika
Thanks Lilly Sue–you too!
Kayle (The Cooking Actress)
WHOA! Girl! I am so impressed! These look incredible!!
erika
Thanks lady 😉
Kelly
Love how fun and festive these cupcakes are! Hehe, I agree, I am not a fan of eating fingers or eyeballs either. I would definitely have no problem eating one of these though! Love the broken glass , it looks awesome! Hope you had a great Halloween Erika!
Shikha @ Shikha la mode
LOVE THIS! I agree, whenever they have cupcakes with like worms and eyeballs it’s so gross. This is so much better. And your costume was so rad! Miss you in Austin 🙁
erika
Thaanks girlie.
Irina @ wandercrush
These are great! Just the right combination of pretty and freaky. You got more festive than I did… every Halloween I resolve to have epic plans a month in advance, only to wake up on the day and realise I’ve got nothing. Next time I should just resolve to bake something instead—surely that will be much more successful.
erika
Haha sounds like the story of my life. I agree–I think baking makes almost any occasion more exciting! 😉
Kaylie @ Skinny Muffin
GIRL. WHY ARE YOU SO TALENTED?? Better yet. HOW (!!!) ARE YOU SO TALENTED??! This is professional. This is the real deal. This makes me jealous, but in a good and proud way. Proud that I am your friend. That I am friends with a professional blogger.
Was it hard to make the “glass?” Even looking at how you do it looks complicated. I just learned about “candies and confections” in my class and it’s crazy. Do you watch Alton Brown? He does a really cool video on caramel and candies and it’s SO fancy but not really. Just, looks fancy. But actually probably really fancy.
THE POINT is this is awesome and you’re awesome and I love these cupcakes.
erika
Thank you so much Kaylie!! You’re too sweet *blushhh*
It’s really not hard to make the glass. Literally you dump sugar and water in a pot, stir it and let it come to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium high and–this is the hardest part–watch it until it starts to turn golden. Then you take it off the heat, pour it onto a cookie sheet and kind of tilt it around so you have a thin layer, let it dry, then crack it up!
Annoyingly, there’s a very tiny window that will yield clear glass and I managed to miss it all three times I tried to make this. If you overcook the sugar water, you’ll end up with slightly caramel-colored glass (because you’re on your way to making caramel) like above. And if you undercook it (take it off while it’s still completely clear), it won’t harden properly. So, this is making it sound more complicated than it really is. Basically, boil sugar + water until it turns golden ish. Pour, let harden. Easy! (ish.)
Kammie @ Sensual Appeal
The broken glass is so so creative! I love it. Happy Halloween!
erika
Thanks Kammie 🙂
vic@cakebook
love this broken glass – so dangerous!! 🙂
erika
Thanks Vic 🙂
janet @ the taste space
Wow! They turned out great, Erika! Way to go!!
I was bummed that I would not be able to bike to work this morning but luckily found a small break in the rain to ride over without getting too drenched. 😉
erika
Thanks Janet! Oh good–yeah the rain was crazy this morning! I was so glad it lightened up by my commute home!
The Vegan 8
I love these Erika!!! They look crazily beautiful! I would not be freaked out about eating these at all! While I like the creepy fingers, eyeballs etc..they are neat to look at, but I’m not too jazzed about eating something that looks like spiders! These look awesome and so real!! Great job! I can see why you won!
erika
Haha thanks Brandi! <3
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I love the broken glass! What a great idea for a beautifully scary cupcake. And subtle works. It needs to look like something I actually want to eat 🙂 Eyeballs? No.
erika
Susan–EXACTLY. I do NOT want to be eating stuff that looks like fingers, no matter how good it tastes. Ewww. And thanks! 🙂