Superhero Party Ideas – Batman Chocolate Cupcakes!

I don’t know if it’s a boy thing or just a kid thing, but my little guys are OBSESSED with superheroes. Dexter is especially taken with them. He has a ton of little costumes, a few homemade capes and a love for all things comic book. At least once a week he says, “Mommy. I want to have a super hero party.” I keep brushing him off because there’s not really been any occasion for a party, but lately I’ve been thinking about having one “just because.”

These cupcakes are an experiment. Getting ideas on how to make cool food on the cheap is hard, but these little cakes are super simple. You could use a box mix if you really wanted and just decorate them the same, but I figured if I’m going to go through the effort of HAVING a party, I may as well try making them from scratch.

I think you’ll agree these are pretty spectacular!

Here’s what you’ll need.

Cupcake Recipe: 

2 C flour
2/3 C baking cocoa
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 C milk
1/2 C half & half
1/2 C vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners. I used black, but you could use yellow or blue. I’ve even seen Batman themed liners if you REALLY want to get into it.

In a large mixing bowl, add all of the ingredients. Mix on low for 30 seconds and then on high for about 2 minutes.

Using an ice cream scoop for uniformity, fill the paper-lined cupcake tins 3/4 full. Bake for about 20 – 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow them to cool in the pan for about 5 – 10 minutes and then remove to a wire rack to completely cool down.

Next up is the frosting. Again, you can use premade stuff, but it’s so much better when you make your own! I use my basic vanilla frosting recipe and add blue gel coloring.

Frosting Recipe:

4 C powdered sugar
1 C unsalted butter, soft
4 TBSP heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla
Blue gel food coloring

In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the vanilla and heavy whipping cream and beat it all together until well combined. Add several drops of blue gel food coloring and stir to blend.

Scoop the frosting into a pastry bag with a frosting tip at the end. Twist the open end of the pastry bag to push the frosting to the tip and then frost the cupcake.

*Hint: a plastic baggie works if you don’t have a pastry bag. Just add the frosting and cut off a corner.

Add the decoration of your choice to the top of the frosted cupcake. For mine, I just drew the design using royal icing (you can find the recipe and instructions for use on this post), waited for it to harden and set it atop the frosting. You can use plastic toys or other such things if you’d like, but I worry about kids eating things they’re not supposed to.

Et voila! Incredible edible Batman Cupcakes sure to please any superhero enthusiast!