Bloody Eyeball Cupcakes

If you want a great Halloween Party treat, make Eyeball Cupcakes.   These cupcakes are fairly easy but creepy.   You need cupcake wrappers, food coloring, a red gel pen, a piping bag, and two round tips, a 1A and a 10, 11, or 12.  For cupcake wrappers, the best to use are the basic white ones, but you could also use Halloween cupcake wrappers.   For food coloring you will need purple and green (you can use blue and brown as well, if you want to make more eye colors, but I personally think green and purple give a monster eye appearance) and black.  You will also need the  red liquid food coloring, and a red gel pen.  

Note: Red gel pens and liquid food coloring are found in the baking aisle at the super market, but the best food coloring for baking is found at Michael's or other baking/craft stores.  Wilton makes good color gels.  If your new to baking/cake decorating start with a basic Wilton pack.  

To give them the appearance that they are bloody inside, the best base for the eyeball cupcakes are a red velvet cake.   This way when you bight into the cake its a vivid red color, just like if you were to pull out an eyeball.   Also the Cream Cheese Icing that usually compliments a red velvet case is the perfect white icing for the eyeballs.   I like using Paula Deen's Red Velvet Cupcake and Cream Cheese Frosting recipes.    I doubled the recipe thats below when making the eyeballs for the party.

For Cupcakes:
2 1/2 C. All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 C. Sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp. red food coloring
1 tsp white distilled vinegar
1 tsp cocoa powder
1 1/2 C. vegetable oil
1 C. buttermilk, room temp
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with cupcake papers.  
• In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder.   
• In a large bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, & vanilla with a handheld electric mixer.  Add the sifted ingredients to the wet and mix until wet and thoroughly combined.  Note: because you want the "eyes" to appear bloody, you might want to use a little extra red food coloring, but don't overdo it, you don't want to ruin the taste.  I doubled the amount.
• Divide batter evenly among cupcake tins about 2/3 filled.  Bake in oven for about 20-22 mins, turning pans once, half way through.   Test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness.  Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

For Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 lb. cream cheese, softened
2 sticks butter, softened.
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioner's sugar

• In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth.   
• Add sugar and on low speed beat until incorporated.
• Increase speed to high and mix until light & fluffy. Garnish.

Once cupcakes have cooled, separate some of the frosting and ice the cupcakes lightly, this is your crumb coat.  Then refrigerate them.  While they are in the fridge separate more icing, dye some purple, some green and some black.  Black icing is difficult, you will need a lot of coloring to get it really black.  You can also use some black liquid coloring, it will bring the color out faster.  

After about a half hour, add another layer of cream cheese icing, making the layer of white thick.  Return to the refrigerator and let it set.   Using a piping back fixed with the 1A tip, pipe the purple icing onto the cupcakes, making a large round mount in the center of each cake.   Repeat on other cupcakes with the green (and/or blue and/or brown).   Fit another piping bag with a 10, 11, or 12 round tip.   Using that tip pipe a smaller black circle onto the center of the colored circle you just piped, making the black of the eyeball.  Using the gel pen pipe squiggly lines around the center, to make the red lines that appear in a blood-shot eyeball.  

Serve them on a tray or cupcake stand and watch as your guests enjoy your creepy Halloween cupcakes.

Source: www.foodnetwork.com