Brain Cupcakes
These Zombie Brain Cupcakes are the perfect way to gross out your friends this Halloween. They look just like human brains, fit for a zombie to eat! But don’t worry, they’re still delicious cupcakes. Follow this easy decorating tutorial to make them yourself.
Halloween is a favorite holiday here in these parts. But it can also be a stressful time with getting costumes, buying candy for Trick-or-Treaters, school parties, decorating the home, visiting haunted houses, and everything else that goes along with the holiday.
In all honesty, baking treats isn’t top of my priority list, and if I can get away with shortcuts, I’m sure going to take them. That’s why I absolutely LOVE this fun decorating hack that turns store-bought pre-made cupcakes into these Zombie Brain Cupcakes. In just a few minutes, I have some totally fun, gross-out treats that thrill the kids and look like I spent a ton of time on them.
You can make these really neat and pretty, or you can choose to make them a bit “bloodier” and more disgusting. Just know your audience. And while I have used red for the brains, you could also choose to use a green if you want, which would give them more of a “zombie-fied” look. Then you could add the “blood” to add an extra creepy vibe.
Get creative!
I’ll also mention quickly that if you have the time and inclination, you are OBVIOUSLY welcome to bake your own cupcakes and/or make your own buttercream for this recipe. We have plenty of recipes on this site to help you out there if you are so inclined. But for the purposes of this tutorial, I will only go into the decorating.
Ingredients
- 24 prebaked cupcakes
- 3 cups vanilla buttercream
- Red gel Food coloring tube or 2 tbsp corn syrup mixed with red gel food coloring
Instructions
Add the vanilla buttercream into a piping bag with a tip 5 or 14 and a coupler. Make two lines across the center of the cupcake. Make sure to lift the piping bag over the cupcakes to allow the icing to fall, which helps to keep the shape.
On either side of the two straight lines, make a tight zigzag line. Then make a second beside it.
The difference between piping tips
For a cleaner final presentation, use a bottle of red gel sparkle food coloring. It has a tighter consistency and will stay where it is put on the cupcakes. However, if you want your cupcakes to look more gruesome, mix 2 tbsp on corn syrup with 2 drops of red gel coloring for a looser consistency more like blood.
Pipe the red along the ridges of the buttercream or drizzle it on for that bloody look.
If you are using gel straight from the tube, you’ll need 3 – 4 tubes to decorate all 24 cupcakes. Making the “bloody” cupcakes allows the gel to go further, so you won’t need nearly as many. Personally I am a fan of the bloodier look.
And depending on what tip you use to pipe the buttercream, the brain itself has a very different look to it, as you can see from the final photos.
This is just such a fun little decorating project that is really very easy to do and adds so much to your Halloween party vibe. You can really go for it here. Like I said, you can make the buttercream pinker or green to really simulate a different kind of brain matter if you want.
Go crazy and add your own spin to these.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Don’t forget to like, comment and share. Tell me if you try it, and let me know how it turned out.
Brain Cupcakes
These Zombie Brain Cupcakes are the perfect way to gross out your friends this Halloween. They look just like human brains, fit for a zombie to eat! But don't worry, they're still delicious cupcakes. Follow this easy decorating tutorial to make them yourself.
Ingredients
- 24 prebaked cupcakes
- 3 cups vanilla buttercream
- Red gel Food coloring tube or 2 tbsp corn syrup
Instructions
- Add vanilla buttercream into a piping bag with Tip 5 or 14 with a coupler
- Make two lines of icing across the middle of the cupcake.
- Make sure you lift the piping bag over the cupcakes and allow the icing to fall (this helps keep the shape)
- Make a tight zigzag line on either side of the two straight lines
- Make a second tight zigzag line
- For a cleaner final presentation use a bottle of red gel sparkle food coloring
- For the more gruesome presentation mix 2 tbsp corn syrup with 2 drops red gel food coloring.
- Pipe the red along the ridges of the buttercream
Notes
- Using corn syrup will cause the “blood” to run.
- If using the gel color from the tube, you will need about 3-4 of them
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 24 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving:Calories: 378Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 17mgSodium: 265mgCarbohydrates: 45gFiber: 2gSugar: 35gProtein: 3g
This nutrition information is automatically calculated and may not be entirely accurate. Please do your own research if you are overly concerned about specific macros.
Katie Reed is a passionate writer and mother of four vivacious boys from Salt Lake City, Utah. Drawing from her own journey through TTC, pregnancy, and the joys of raising children, she offers a wealth of insight into the world of motherhood. Beyond her heartfelt tales, Katie delights her readers with family-friendly recipes, engaging crafts, and a curated library of printables for both kids and adults. When she’s not penning her experiences, you’ll find her crafting memories with her husband and sons—Dexter, Daniel, Chester, and Wilder.
