Black Forest Zombie Brain Cupcakes

Nothing says gratuitous/delicious gore like chomping into a black forest zombie brain cupcake! When you take that first bite, the cherry “blood” inside fills your mouth! I love the way the dark chocolate pairs with the sweetness from the cherries.

I know there is a 5 part, “from scratch” way to make these, but I would rather make them the fast way and have more time to work on Halloween costumes! This is the cheater version of the black forest cupcake, with a spooky spin on the frosting. This is very easy to do with the kiddos!

Ingredients
1 box dark chocolate cake mix
Eggs, oil, water (for cake)
1 large can cherry pie filling
1 can prepared white colored frosting (I used cream cheese flavored, actually)
red & black food coloring

Instructions
1. Bake dark chocolate cupcakes per the instructions on the box. Allow to cool.

2. Using a paring knife, cut a cone shape out of the top of the cupcake.

3. Fill hole with approx. one tablespoon of pie filling.

4. Trim the end of the cone, replace top of cupcake.

5. Put the frosting in a bowl, and tint it with a few drops of the red food coloring. I also added a few drops of black, to get the hint of gray for the “gray matter”.

6. Scoop the frosting into a sandwich bag (or use a piping bag if you are fancy-pants) and snip the corner off. Use the frosting plan I have provided to get the “brainy” look.