Blood Red Velvet Cupcakes Recipe With Broken Glass Shards & Candy Blood May Win Halloween by Chef Gigi

Make these scary blood red velvet cupcakes with broken glass and candy blood for Halloween and you'll scare the wits out of everyone! They do take a little time, but they're pretty easy to make. 

What a fun way to spend the day with the family! Be sure to make enough to share. 

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Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 1/2 hours
Servings: Makes about 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• 2 cups flour, sifted
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 - 2 teaspoons natural red gel food coloring
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 medium eggs
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Candy Blood

• 1 - 2 tablespoons organic red gel food coloring
• 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon room temperature water (you may need to add more or less depending on the consistency you’d like)

Candy Glass

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup water

Vanilla Buttercream

• 1 pound cold butter, cut into chunks
• 5 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• milk or water, to thin consistency (optional)

Here's how to make it:

1. To make the cupcakes, mix the flour, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until soft and pale. Add in the gel paste until you achieve a gorgeous rich red shade, then add the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and cider vinegar. Combine the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix to combine. Fill cupcake tins lined with baking liners 2/3 full. Bake in a preheated 325-degree F oven for around 20 to 25 minutes until the tops spring back to your touch. Cool completely before frosting. While the cupcakes are in the oven, make the frosting, the candy blood and the broken sugar glass.
2. To make the vanilla buttercream, add half of the butter in a bowl. Cream the butter with an electric mixer. Gradually add powdered sugar and the remaining butter until you get a smooth, creamy texture. Add the vanilla and mix to a spreadable consistency. Add a dash of milk to thin, if needed.
3. To make the candy blood, in a small bowl mix together the red gel food coloring with the sugar, honey and water.
4. To make the candy glass, prepare a high-sided cookie sheet with a nonstick baking mat and spraying the sides of the pan with a nonstick cooking spray. Set aside. In a saucepan, add the sugar and water together and combine with a fork over high heat. Fit with a clean candy thermometer. Cook sugar and water mixture until it reaches 350 degrees F. (See important tip below.)
5. Remove the sugar mixture from the pan from the heat. Quickly pour onto a clean baking sheet. Spread the mix to the edges by tilting the sheet or tray. Allow to cool and harden, about 30 minutes to 1 hour. Don’t leave your candy glass for too long because sugar glass is hygroscopic, which means that it readily absorbs moisture from the atmosphere. Do not place it in the cooler. As soon as the mix has cooled and hardened quickly smash hit in the required jagged shards!
6. To assemble the cupcakes, frost with the buttercream, add broken glass and drizzle with red sugar blood. 

Pro Tip: Cooking sugar can be very temperamental. Be sure to gently rinse any visible clustering sugar crystals from the inside of the pan while cooking. Use a very clean pan with a very clean wet pastry brush. This will help the sugar from crystallizing. Once sugar is crystallized we cannot use it because it becomes clouded. Make sure to keep everything clean during this process.

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