Celebrate Halloween with these moist black velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and raspberry jam.
It's the most wonderful time of the yeeeeeaaaaar! And no, it's not Christmas (obv). It's the dawn of Halloween aka the best holiday ever.
I don't know what it is about Halloween, but I adore all the pumpkins and costumes and hot apple cider. Plus Halloween parties and trick-or-treating. It's so much fun!
To celebrate, I've made some really amazing black velvet cupcakes I need to share asap.
I've been trying to come up with something good for Halloween for a few weeks now, and I am so happy that these black velvet cupcakes came out of it.
It's a delicious and simple dessert to make, but makes a seriously spooky impact while remaining relatively kid-friendly. My daughter's favorite part is adding her own bloody drizzle and pretending she is a vampire baker.
To make these black velvet cupcakes, I just used my favorite red velvet cupcake recipe and swapped it out for black gel food coloring. I am not the biggest fan of food coloring, but I always make an exception for Halloween.
My favorite brand if Americolor because you can get a really vibrant color without using a lot of the gel which is perfect for getting a true black color instead of something more dark grey.
I also used a touch of red in the raspberry jam to make the color really pop and look bloody. Again, you don't need anything more than a drop to get this color.
Since these black velvet cupcakes are, well, black, it also means I can up the cocoa a little more which I love. I always find that red velvet cupcakes usually never have enough cocoa in them.
How to Store Your Black Velvet Cupcakes
Keep your cupcakes in an airtight container for up to three days. For the best results, keep them in the refrigerator or any cool, dry area.
You can freeze un-frosted black velvet cupcakes in an airtight container for up to a month. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
So what are your plans for Halloween? Are you dressing up? Having a party or trick or treating? If you are looking for more spooky recipes, try these Mexican chocolate cupcakes, spiderweb cupcakes, and bloody white cake!
Black Velvet Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cupa all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
- ⅓ cup vegetable or canola oil
- ¾ cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon black food color (may need more depending on the brand.
- ½ cup buttermilk room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoons distilled white vinegar
- ¾ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ cup raspberry jam
- 1 drop red food coloring
- 2 tablespoons water
Cream Cheese Frosting
- ½ cup 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
- 8 oz cream cheese room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix together the flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder, and salt together. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer, beat together the butter, oil, and sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after adding each egg.
- Beat in the vanilla and the black food color. Add more black food color as needed. The mixture should look mostly very dark grey. The color will deepen and intensify during baking.
- Add ⅓ of the flour mixture, then half of the buttermilk. Add another ⅓ of the flour, then the remaining buttermilk followed by the last ⅓ of the flour. Mix until just combined.
- Quickly, but carefully, mix together the vinegar and baking soda. The mixture will bubble up a lot.
- Pour the baking soda mixture into your batter and stir in well for 10 seconds.
- Evenly divide the batter among the cupcake liners.
- Bake the cupcakes for 15 - 18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs sticking to it when inserted in the middle.
- Let the cupcakes rest in the tin for five minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Cut out a hole in the middle of the cupcakes using a sharp knife. Fill in the cupcakes with raspberry jam, you should still have plenty leftover.
- Beat the butter and cream cheese for the frosting and add in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth and creamy. You can add a tablespoon of heavy cream if your frosting seems too thick.
- Pipe the frosting over the cupcakes.
- Mix the remaining raspberry jam with a drop of red food coloring and a tablespoon of water. Drizzle over the cupcakes.
Aaniyah says
Hi,
Can I use something else instead of the buttermilk (I wasn’t able to find any at my grocery). Also, can I use regular white vinegar? Thanks!
Amanda Powell says
Regular vinegar should work, and if you have it available, you can make your own buttermilk by adding a couple of drops to milk and letting it sit for about 5 minutes!
Aaniyah says
Diy buttermilk: vinegar + milk and I let it sit for 5 min?
Amanda Powell says
Yes! It’ll start looking curdled, but that’s how it should look. You can also use plain yogurt (not Greek) thinned out with just a touch of milk
Aaniyah says
Perfect, thanks a lot! 😉
Amelia says
Hi!
Just want to know how many cupcakes the batter will make.
Thanks for this recipe! Excited to see how they come out.
Amanda Powell says
A dozen!! I hope you enjoy!
Demeter | Beaming Baker says
These cupcakes are so much fun!! Love how amazing they came out. Can't wait to see all the Halloween treats you have in store for us this year!
Heather @ Sugar Dish Me says
LOOOVE this recipe! So perfect for Halloween but I bet these are amazing anytime!
Liz says
These are spectacular! I'll add them to my Halloween Project Post! xo