Death By Chocolate Cupcakes

Happy Halloween!

'Tis the season for spooky treats and lots of them! These cupcakes are the perfect combination of spooky and delicious!

If you've never worked with sugar before and are feeling nervous, don't be! You just have to take it slow and don't rush the process. It's easier than you think!

It's really interesting because when the sugar hardens, it really looks like glass. It even shatters the same way! My mind was completely blown!

Recipe notes: when you're done with the sugar, some may harden in the pan. Don't freak out and throw the pan away. Just let some hot water soak in the pan for about an hour! The sugar will dissolve in the water and it'll be super easy to clean!

I also choose to include using a box mix for the chocolate cupcakes, but you can find my classic recipe for chocolate cupcakes here. There's a few different portions of this dessert, so don't feel bad about taking a shortcut with box mix! Especially when it comes to the holidays, a box mix can be just as good in a pinch!

Ingredients:

1 box of chocolate cake mix (made to directions)

Frosting:

2 sticks of butter, room temperature

2 and ½ cups of powdered sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla

2 tablespoons of milk

1 pinch of salt

For the "blood":

½ cup of strawberry jam

2 tablespoons of chocolate syrup

For the "glass shards":

1 cup of sugar

⅓ cup of corn syrup

⅓ cup of water

1 splash of almond extract

To begin, make the cupcakes according to the box.

Set aside to cool.

To make the glass shards, place sugar, corn syrup, and water in a small pot on the stove. Place a candy thermometer on the side, making sure it's not touching the bottom of the pan.

Turn the heat to medium and stir occasionally. When the sugar mixture begins to boil, stir constantly until the mixture reaches 300 degrees.

Remove from heat, add in almond extract, and pour onto a silicone-lined baking sheet. Set aside to cool, about 10-15 minutes.

Once the sugar has cooled, use the back of a wooden spoon, to crack the sugar into shards. You want them to be all different sizes to really give a spooky effect.

To make the blood, mix jam and chocolate syrup together, then press through a fine-mesh sieve, or use a fine, small colander. I find it's easier for the jam to go through the sieve if you had the syrup first! You want all of the seeds and chunks to remain in the sieve!

To make the frosting, whip butter, powdered sugar, and salt together. Once light and fluffy, add milk and vanilla extract. Whip for another minute or two. Add to a piping bag with a star tip.

To assemble the cupcakes, pipe a large dollop of frosting onto the cupcakes. Take about two to three sugar shards and press them into the frosting. If they are especially big, you can press them down into the cupcake for extra stability.

Then drizzle some of the chocolate blood down the glass shards. Don't be afraid to get messy with this! If some blood oozes down the side of the cupcakes, don't stress! This is supposed to be a spooky, bloody mess!

These cupcakes are some of the spookiest, most delicious bloody cupcakes I've seen! I love how the strawberry chocolate blood sauce pairs perfectly with the moist chocolate cupcake! They're spooky and they're kooky and they're ready to be eaten!

-Holly Michelle