I absolutely adore vampire cupcakes for a vampire-themed Halloween party! Aren’t they cute? I mean…spooky? This is a different version of my Vampire Bite Cupcakes. That version has *regular* vanilla frosting whereas these have cream cheese frosting and a delightful whipped cream cheese “blood” filling.
This might seem like a lot of steps but it’s all very easy! When I’m entertaining, I often bake cupcakes the day before and store them in an air-tight container, then finish them the morning of the party.
I use a melon baller to scoop out the center of these cupcakes to make room for the bloody filling but don’t you dare waste the scooped out cake! I either throw the scraps in jars with whipped cream right then or freeze the scraps for use in trifles later.
Note: you’ll want to store these in the fridge since they have cream cheese. I like to bring them to room temperature before digging in.
Bloody Vampire Bite Cupcakes
For the cupcakes
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup dark cocoa powder (I use Hershey’s special dark)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup 1% milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Red food gel
Bloody Whipped Cream Cheese Filling, recipe follows
Cream Cheese Frosting, recipe follows
To bake the cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two muffin cup pans with cupcake liners and spray each with non-stick spray.
- Combine sugar, flour, dark cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large mixing bowl. Add eggs one at a time and mix until incorporated. Add milk, oil and vanilla all at once and beat on medium speed of mixer about two minutes. Stir in the boiling water. Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full.
- Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.
- Make the bloody cream cheese filling when cupcakes have completely cooled. Use a melon baller to scoop center out of cupcakes. Use a spoon to fill with whipped cream cheese filling. Don’t worry about being perfect because you’ll frost right over it.
- Make cream cheese frosting. For best effect, don’t pipe it on. Just smooth it on old-school style. Use a chop stick or something similar to poke two holes in each frosted cupcake for your bite. Carefully fill hole with red food gel, extending slightly down for a bloody fang look.
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 oz cream cheese, softened
Red food coloring
- Beat together sugar, whipping cream, and vanilla until soft peaks form.
- Cut cream cheese into cubes and slowly beat in. Don’t panic if it looks like cottage cheese at first; keep beating until smooth. Beat in red food coloring to tint desired shade of red.
Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz cream cheese, softened (full fat!)
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 tsp vanilla extract
- Combine cream cheese and butter until smooth. Slowly sift in powdered sugar and beat one cup at a time. Mix in vanilla.
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Read more about my Vampire Dinner here. Watch the episode:
Have a bloody good night,
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