Velveteen Vampire- Red Velvet Cupcake

Well here it is... Just a couple hours left of Halloween night and I am finally posting my last Ominous October cami's cupcake!

"Velveteen Vampire"... Now I may be slightly just a little biased, but these are my absolute favorite from Ominous October cami's cupcakes! I wanted to save the best for last... but then I ended up having to make them tonight! On Halloween!

So... since I didn't have a lot of time tonight... and since my personal favorite red velvet cupcake that I've ever had comes from this... yes, I made this batch of velveteens from a... wait for it... Box Mix... GHASP!!! (oh no she didn't!) yes... I did...

Now, I don't know what it is... or why this particular red velvet mix is my weakness (seriously I love them)... and I have yet to find a homemade red velvet recipe that tastes like these!

It's the Duncann Hines red velvet 

and I LOVE IT!

Now before you go boycotting my blog forever (for those of you that actually read it... cough cough).. I DO know how to make a pretty dang good homemade red velvet... But for some reason, my store bought heart tends to flitter on back to these good ole duncann hines bites of ruby red goodness... mmmm..

My favorite red velvet recipe that I have right now (yes... and I mean not from a box kind of recipe). is adapted  from Dollhouse Bake Shoppe These make pretty dang good red velvets (for me though, they are a little TOO fluffy- if that's even possible! Please don't shun me for saying that-- I already know I'm crazy!)

Want to see the recipe? here it is!

This is one for a very small batch- about 8 regular or 24 minis...

Ingredients

3/4 c plus 1 1/2 Tbs cake flour

1/2 c. reg. white sugar

2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3 Tbs unsalted butter, room temp

2 Tbs plus 1 tsp vegetable oil

1/3 c. buttermilk

1 large egg, room temp

2 tsp red food coloring 

1//2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp apple cider vinegar (I learned this trick from DC cupcakes!- watch it on Netflix- it cracks me up!)

  

Directions

(now forgive me if I skip a few things that are self explanatory--- I'm dreading writing these directions because they take a while and I'm waiting to watch Modern Family... but here goes! If you need extra help the dollhouse bake shoppe--link above-- put pictures with her directions so it's super easy to follow).

1. Sift dry ingredients together- make sure there are no lumps

2. In electric mixer beat oil and butter until it resembles moist looking crumbs 

3. In a glass measuring bowl whisk together buttermilk, eggs, and food coloring. 

4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients (alternating) in small increments and beat until smooth. Scrape sides of bowl throughout.

5.  (Science experiment time!!-- you ready for this... duh nuh nuh!) In a small bowl combine the vinegar and baking soda ... It's going to FIZZ! (woohoo you did it right!)

6. Gently fold the science experiment into the mixed batter.  

7. Distribute to muffin tins (do this IMMEDIATELY! So you don't loose the fluffiness that came from the science experiment part of the recipe!) 

8. Bake @ 350 for 16-20 min for bigs and 8-10 min for minis. Then cool on wire rack.

Whew!

Now I know after all this learning you are getting hungry.. so here's another picture and more about what makes "Velveteen Vampire" by cami's cupcakes special!

  For these cupcakes (you can't really see it in the picture though)... I took a little bit of the batter and put black food color in it... Then when I was filling the muffin tins I put a little bit of the black batter in with the red and swirled it around with a toothpick... 

That made for a super fun effect! and I thought make them look more Vampire-y! 

For the "blood" I mixed red food coloring, powdered sugar, and water (kind of like a sugar cookie icing) and drizzled some on.

To finish these bad boys off I sprinkled some fun red sugar sprinkles!

Oh and did I mention... the vampire teeth GLOW! (yup... that's what's up fools!)

 OOOH! Spooky right!!! 

I hope you enjoyed this super creepy treat today! and cami's cupcakes Ominous October...

I know I did! 

Stay spooky! 

Boo!

Cami 

 

Brain Cupcakes in a Jar

Are you ready for THIS! 

Ominous October Part 3!!

 

October has been CRAZIER than I thought!

with all this craziness... my Ominous October cami's cupcakes often got put on the back burner.... but I've got a couple more coming your way- on this HALLOWEEN NIGHT!

AHHHHHHHH!!!! I love this one!

"BRAIN FOOD"

These cupcakes were so fun!

I got the idea, and the printables for the jars from Living Locurto   (go ahead, click on this link!)

I had such a fun time baking cupcakes and sticking them in jars! 

However...they weren't the most delicious cupcakes I ever made... 

I made a vanilla cake and dyed it pink, then regular buttercream frosting and strawberry jam

Here is the recipe for the vanilla cupcakes I made:

It's based off a recipe from Annie's Eats... which I believe she adapted from The Joy of Baking... 

Here goes!

Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients:

½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

zest of 1 lemon (optional).... (I didn't use this... and I wish I had!!)

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

¼ cup milk

1-1 ½ recipes easy vanilla buttercream frosting

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners.  Set pan aside.

With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then, add the eggs one at a time and scrape the bowl-- beat well after each egg you add. Beat in vanilla and lemon zest.

In a different bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt. Then, with the mixer at low speed add flour and milk (alternating in small increments--start with flour mixture). Scrape the bowl. 

Fill muffin cups. Bake 18-20 min. Let cool on wire rack.  

**These were not my favorite vanilla cupcakes -- They were kind of thick, and didn't have the best vanilla flavor... One thing that I think would have helped is to use the lemon zest! I think the flavor of the lemon would make the whole cupcake feel lighter and help accentuate the vanilla flavor.... 

** Also the jam made the cake kinda soggy... so make sure to eat them right away!

 I only had 2 small jars to make the cupcakes in a jar... and a lot of extra batter... so I made separate BRAIN CUPCAKES!

Here's a pic of them! Aren't they cute!!! I really like them!

 

I got a variety of comments on these cupcakes! From "those look disgusting!" to "gross" and to "awesome"! I think they are AWESOME! 

I used more strawberry jam on these little Brainies to make it look like blood... and I piped the frosting by just cutting a piping bag to the size hole I wanted and squiggled it around a bit...

My frosting ended up a little thick though... so with a dense cupcake and thick frosting they didn't taste too great... so if you are going to make them be sure to make your frosting a little thinner!

I know you probably love these little geniuses as much as I do... so here's another picture of both together!!

 So next Halloween... I dare you... eat some brains...

Love,
Cami

Pumpkin Cupcake

 

It's time to grab your owl and strap yourself to your broom...

WHOOOO is ready for Ominous October part TWOOOOO??

 

You won't need to carve this pumpkin this Halloween Season...

Cami's Cupcakes: "Punkin Patch"

Pumpkin Spice Cupcake

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting 

These cute cupcakes make a deliciously sweet Halloween treat! 

Update!!! 10/31/12

Here it is! The recipe for Ominous October Part 2 cupcakes: "Punkin Patch"!

I adapted it from Daydream Kitchen

Ingredients

3/4 c. butter, room temp

2 1/2 c. sugar

3 eggs

1 can (15oz!!!) solid-pack pumpkin

2 1/3 c. all-purpose flour

1 Tbs pumkin pie spice (I added more)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 c. buttermilk

Directions

1. In electric mixer cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs (one at a time) and beat after each addition. Add pumpkin.

2. In a separate bowl whisk flour, spices, baking pwdr, and salt. Then add to the electric mixer. Alternate with buttermilk in small increments. Beat after each add in.

3. Fill muffin cups. Bake at 350 for 20-25 min. Cool on wire racks. 

I had to try to make these 2 TIMES before they worked! So here's what went down... I learned to ALWAYS ALWAYS read how many oz. are in a can, even if you think you totally know what's up... My mom always used the big cans of pumpkin... so I thought that's how they always came, and some how-- in my head-- I thought the big can was 15 Oz! It's SO NOT!!! So the first time.. my cupcakes ended up more like mushy hockey- pucks...

The second time... after I finally figured out the pumpkin measurements (oh my word cami!) They turned out a lot better! But I ended up adding more of the spices, because they still didn't have a lot of flavor... 

If I was to make them again, I would add even more spices... because once they baked I could still hardly taste the pumpkin pie spices-- so just a tip :)

The frosting was most Def. the BEST part of these cupcakes!

I loved having the cinnamon in it!- Delish!

Here's how to make it... It's adapted from the same site as the cupcakes...

Ingredients

1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, room temp

1/2 c. butter, room temp

4 c. pwd. sugar

1tsp. vanilla extract

2 tsp. cinnamon

Directions
Beat the cream cheese and butter together until fluffy. Then add the powdered sugar in small increments (use less pwd sugar if you want it thinner, and more if you want to pipe it). Then add the vanilla extract and the cinnamon. 

Then try to not eat it all before you get it on the cupcakes! 


I think these cupcakes would be great for around Thanksgiving season too! (idea idea!!) Which is fast approaching... Maybe with a whipped cream frosting?? Like Punkin Pie?? (keep an eye out for that one! ;)



Here's to you and pumpkins!
Cami

Halloween Vanilla Cupcake

 

Welcome to Cami's Cupcakes "Ominous October"... where all the spooky meets all the supernatural all October long... 

Are you ready for this ghoulishly-creepy, hair-raising fun?

I sure am...

So here is

 part one...

 Halloween Vanilla... aka "web of lies"

Classic Vanilla Cupcake with Vanilla Buttercream 

Colored any Halloween color for a sneaky "lie"

and topped with a white chocolate web

to reveal what's truly inside...

Stay tuned for next week... just wait and see... 

what creepy crawly Halloween Treat will next be on the screen... 

Muahahahahahahaha! ...cough... cough....