Halloween is a really fun time of year. Between the cheesy scares, the endless horror movie marathons, and the creative costume, there is no lack of fun and excitement. But don't limit the imagination to pranks, costumes, and decorations. Do up Halloween, food-wise. We're talking more than just setting out a bowl of candy and a dish of candy corns. Get spooky, campy, and fun with food. Red velvet was all the rage a few years ago but fizzled out and went the way of brown butter and bacon. Halloween is the opportune time for it to make a comeback on your treat table. A little red food coloring goes a long way in making these cupcakes look scary.
Ingredients
For cupcakes:
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 1/2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
3 Tbsp. red liquid food coloring
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. distilled white vinegar
For icing:
4 ounces butter, room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Special tools: chopsticks or skinny dowel, additional red liquid food coloring
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. In the bowl of a mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, turn the mixer to medium and beat until combined, scraping the bowl when necessary. In another bowl, mix cocoa, vanilla and red food coloring to form a paste. Add to butter mixture and mixture until completely combined, with no visible streaks. Reduce speed to low and add half the milk. Once combined, add in half the flour. Repeat until the flour and milk has been completely added and the mixture is smooth. Add in salt, baking soda and vinegar and beat until combined. Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake tins, filling 3/4 to the top. Bake for 20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely before icing.
To make the icing, combine butter and cream cheese in a mixer until well-combined. Add in powdered sugar and beat until completely mixed. Add a splash of cream or milk if the icing appears too thick. To decorate, ice cupcakes with a tip of your choosing (I used a star tip). Use a chopstick or dowel and pike holes through the icing and into the cake. Turn the stick a bit to widen the hole in the icing. Take the red food coloring and drop one or two drops into the hole. The food dye will seep its way down the icing to resemble vampire bites.
Serves 12
--Kim Cooper--
