Best Red Velvet Brains Cupcakes Recipes

RED VELVET VAMPIRE CUPCAKES

Steps:

• For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
• Sift the flour, granulated sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. Whisk together the buttermilk, oil, sour cream, food coloring, vinegar, vanilla and egg in another large bowl.
• Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just incorporated. Divide the batter among the cupcake liners. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out with a few moist crumbs, 16 to 18 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the tin and cool completely on a wire rack.
• Microwave the chocolate and coconut oil together in a small microwave-safe bowl until mostly melted, about 1 minute. Stir, then microwave again until completely smooth, about 15 seconds more.
• Use a small sharp knife to cut out and remove a plug from the middle of each cupcake, making sure not to go all the way to the bottom and leaving a 1/4-inch border around the side (eat the plugs). Brush the holes with the melted chocolate and place in the freezer until the chocolate hardens, about 15 minutes.
• Whisk together the jam, 1 drop of red food coloring and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl until completely smooth. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the jam into each of the chocolate holes; set aside.
• For the cream cheese frosting: Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in the butter until smooth. Add the confectioners' sugar and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Scrape into a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip. Pipe on top of the cupcakes so the jam is covered.
• Poke 2 holes into the frosting on each cupcake using the end of a plastic straw to resemble vampire bites, making sure you hit the cupcake and not the jam-filled hole. Drizzle the remaining jam into the holes to resemble blood.

RED VELVET CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.
• Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in sour cream, milk, food color and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until just blended. Do not overbeat. Spoon batter into 30 paper-lined muffin cups, filling each cup 2/3 full.
• Bake 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cupcake comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack 5 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely. Frost with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting.
• Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting: Beat cream cheese, softened, butter, sour cream and McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract in large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth.

RED VELVET CUPCAKES WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan). Line a standard 12 hole muffin tin with cupcake liners.
• Sift Dry ingredients together into a bowl.
• Cream butter: Put the butter in a separate bowl and beat on speed 2 for 1 minute with an electric mixer or stand mixer (paddle attachment).
• Cream sugar: Add sugar then beat for a further 2 minutes, same speed, until the butter is very pale yellow, almost white.
• Beat in eggs: Add the eggs one at a time beating for 30 seconds on speed 1 after each addition.
• Add remaining Wet ingredients: Add oil, buttermilk, vanilla and red food colouring then beat on Speed 1 until incorporated and the batter is smooth.
• Beat in flour: Sprinkle the Dry ingredients across the surface and mix on Speed 1 for just 20 seconds. Scrape down sides of the bowl, then mix again for 10 seconds. The batter should now be smooth - few small lumps is ok. Do not keep beating - overworks batter = cupcakes not as soft!
• Fill pan: Divide the batter between the 12 cupcake liners - it should fill 3/4 of the way, but it depends on the size of the cupcake liners you use.
• Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the middle cupcake comes out clean.
• Cool: Immediately remove cupcakes onto a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting with cream cheese frosting.
• Cream butter: Place butter in a bowl and beat for 1 minute until it's smooth and starts to become paler in colour - speed 6 on stand mixer, speed 9 for electric beater.
• Cream cream cheese: Add cream cheese then beat for a further 1 minute on the same speed until smooth.
• Add icing sugar: Add icing sugar in 4 batches, beating in between until incorporated, starting on speed 1 so you don't get a dust storm in your face!
• Beat until fluffy: Add vanilla and salt, then beat for 2 minutes until fluffy - speed 6 with stand mixer, speed 9 with electric beater. It should be creamy but still hold its shape in a peak (see video). If it's too sloppy, place in fridge for 30 minutes, then beat again.
• Pipe: Transfer into piping bag with desired piping tip. Pipe onto cupcakes - makes enough to generously frost 12 cupcakes as pictured in post.

RED VELVET CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a 12-count muffin pan with cupcake liners. This recipe makes 14 cupcakes, so you will have 2 cupcakes to bake in a 2nd batch.
• With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat 2 egg whites on high speed in a medium bowl until soft peaks form, about 2-3 minutes. See photo at the bottom of this post for a visual. Set aside.
• Sift the flour and cornstarch together to make sure it is evenly combined. Whisk this, along with baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
• Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high speed until smooth and creamy - about 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat on high speed for 2 minutes until creamed together fairly well. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the oil and beat on high for 2 minutes. The butter may look "piece-y" and not completely combine with the oil. This is normal and ok.
• Add 2 egg yolks and the vanilla. Beat on medium-high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Beat in the vinegar and the food coloring- until you reach your desired color. I use 2 Tablespoons. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, and mixing each addition just until incorporated. Do not overmix. Fold whipped egg whites into cupcake batter with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. The batter will be silky and slightly thick. (If there are still pieces of butter - and there were in 1 test batch for me - again, this is ok. They will melt inside as the cupcakes bake. Making them even more buttery.)
• Spoon batter into cupcake liners filling 1/2 - 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 20-21 minutes or until the tops of the cupcakes spring back when gently touched and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Don't overbake; your cupcakes will dry out. Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
• Prepare cream cheese frosting. Frost cooled cupcakes immediately before serving. I used a Wilton #12 tip; I don't recommend a star tip. This frosting is a little too thin.

MOIST RED VELVET CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 12 cup muffin pans or line with 20 paper baking cups.
• In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs, buttermilk, red food coloring and vanilla. Stir in the baking soda and vinegar. Combine the flour, cocoa powder and salt; stir into the batter just until blended. Spoon the batter into the prepared cups, dividing evenly.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the tops spring back when lightly pressed, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in the pan set over a wire rack. When cool, arrange the cupcakes on a serving platter and frost with desired frosting.

BRAIN CUPCAKES

Steps:

• 1. Line cupcake tins with the liners. Fill the cupcake liners two-thirds full with the batter and bake the cupcakes as directed in the recipe .
• 2. Mix a drop of red and black food coloring into the frosting to make it a pinkish gray brain color.
• 3. Using the pastry bag, pipe the frosting in a squiggly pile on half of each cupcake top (brains have two hemispheres, you know). Now pipe the frosting in a squiggly pile on the other half of the cupcake top.

RED VELVET CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 muffin pans with paper liners.
• In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. In another large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar and vanilla.
• Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined and a smooth batter is formed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• Scoop batter into muffin cups until they are about three-fourths of the way full, making sure not to overfill. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 18 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the oven. Let cool completely.
• As cupcakes cool, prepare the cream cheese frosting: In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using a large bowl and a handheld electric mixer, mix the cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and butter on low speed until incorporated. Increase the speed to high, and mix until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula halfway through.
• Reduce mixer speed to low. Add the vanilla, increase the speed to high and mix briefly, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until fluffy.
• Once cupcakes are cool, frost, using a pastry bag with a large tip, or an offset spatula.