It’s spooky season and I’m back for some baking!
One thing I really wanted to do was make something that’s simple, but effective for this halloween season. These cupcakes would be perfect for any halloween party and as always, are gluten free.
I thought I could turn some mini doughnuts into eyeballs, and top them on top of a fluffy vanilla cupcake, filled with a delicious jammy bloody centre.
Rather than make a faff of the mini doughnuts, I decided to use the Isabels Baked Doughnut Mix. These can be baked or used in any doughnut maker. What I like about this mix, is that you can alter and use your own sweetener or egg replacer if you have other food intolerances. Not to mention they make fluffy tasty doughnuts.
I wish I could tell you where I got the mini doughnut tray from, but I have had mine for years. But I’m sure you can pick them up cheap somewhere online. By the way, the mix makes slightly more doughnuts than needed, so you can just make more eyeballs just as a treat!
To make my eyeballs really pop, I used these Cake Decor Edible Cake Pens to draw on some veins and made them look bloodshot. You can pick these up in the supermarket or online.
And for a proper halloween feel, I removed the centre of the cupcake and made a well with the buttercream so I could put a fair bit of jam inside, to make it seem bloody, and I think it works really well.
So let’s get started!
Gluten Free Spooky Eyeball Cupcakes
A fluffy vanilla cupcake filled with bloody jam, topped with buttercream and mini doughnut eyeballs.
Credit: thecoeliacsloth.com
Ingredients
For the Doughnut Eyeballs
- 1 pack of Isabels baked doughnut mix, and ingredients required to bake them from the back of the packet.
- 100g Icing sugar
- 2tbsp Milk
- Cake Decor Edible pens
- Green, black and blue fondant.
For the cupcakes
- 110g Margarine
- 110g Caster Sugar
- 110g Gluten free self raising flour
- 1tsp Xanthan Gum
- 2 Medium Free Range Eggs
- 1tsp Vanilla Extract
- Strawberry/Raspberry Jam
For the buttercream
- 110g Trex/Margarine
- 280g Icing sugar
- 1tsp Milk
- 1tsp Vanilla Extract
Credit: thecoeliacsloth.com
Ingredients
- 1 pack of Isabels baked doughnut mix, and ingredients required to bake them from the back of the packet.
- 100g Icing sugar
- 2tbsp Milk
- Cake Decor Edible pens
- Green, black and blue fondant.
- 110g Margarine
- 110g Caster Sugar
- 110g Gluten free self raising flour
- 1tsp Xanthan Gum
- 2 Medium Free Range Eggs
- 1tsp Vanilla Extract
- Strawberry/Raspberry Jam
- 110g Trex/Margarine
- 280g Icing sugar
- 1tsp Milk
- 1tsp Vanilla Extract
For the Doughnut Eyeballs
For the cupcakes
For the buttercream
Directions
To make the eyeball doughnuts:
- First, prepare the doughnut mix according to packet instructions.
- Grease the mini doughnut pan, and pour the doughnut batter into it.
- Bake the doughnuts again, according to package instructions.
- Leave to cool on a wire rack.
- Once cooled, mix together the icing sugar and milk, and pour over your mini doughnuts to cover them. Leave to dry compleletly.
- To make the iris of the eyeballs, cut out small circles of the blue and green coloured fondant icing (I used the wider end of my icing piping nozzle).
- Then make the pupils out of black fondant icing by pinching a small amount between your fingers.
- Put the pupils in the centre of each coloured circle/iris, and then gently place those in the centre of your iced mini doughnuts.
- Then, using the red edible pen, draw squiggles to make the eyeball look bloodshot.
To make the cupcakes:
- Preheat the oven to 180°c and line a cupcake tin with cupcake cases.
- Beat the margarine until soft. Then, gradually add the caster sugar, and beat until fluffy.
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time until well combined.
- Next, add in the vanilla extract, flour, baking powder and Xanthan gum, and mix well.
- Transfer the cupcake batter into some cupcake cases, and bake in a preheated oven for 12-15 minutes.
- Leave to cool, and then using your icing nozzle or a cupcake corer, remove the centre of your cupcake.
To make the buttercream icing:
- Beat your margarine until softened.
- Gradually add the icing sugar and mix until smooth. If your icing is stiff, add in some milk.
- Then mix in your vanilla extract.
- Transfer your buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle.
To decorate your cupcakes:
- Pipe the buttercream around the top of the cupcake, making sure to leave the centre out completely.
- Fill the hole in the centre with some of your jam.
- Top with your doughnut eyeballs.
So there you have it, if you try these, please let me know in the comments! I’m sure I’ll be back to make more spooky treats soon.
In the meantime, don’t forget to subscribe to my blog and catch me on my social media channels!
Thanks for reading,
Georgina x
The Coeliac Sloth 