Big Brain Cupcakes Recipes

Steps:

• One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and mix until smooth.
• Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to wire racks, and let cool. Cupcakes will keep, covered, for up to 3 days.
• Swiss Meringue Buttercream: Place sugar and egg whites in the heat-proof bowl of an electric mixer. Set bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, and whisk until sugar has dissolved and egg whites are hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. Test by rubbing the mixture between your fingers; it should feel completely smooth.
• Transfer bowl to mixer stand. Using the whisk attachment, beat on high speed until mixture has cooled completely and formed stiff and glossy peaks, about 10 minutes.
• Add the butter, one piece at a time, and beat until incorporated after each addition. Don't worry if the buttercream appears curdled after all the butter has been added; it will become smooth again with continued beating. Add vanilla, and beat just until combined.
• Switch to the paddle attachment, and beat on the lowest speed to eliminate any air pockets, about 5 minutes. If using buttercream within several hours, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and set aside at room temperature in a cool environment. Or transfer to an airtight container, and store in the refrigerator, up to 3 days. Before using, bring buttercream to room temperature, and beat on the lowest speed with the paddle attachment until smooth, about 5 minutes.
• To decorate, use a medium round tip (such as Ateco #12) to pipe a mound of buttercream in the center of cupcake, then outline and pipe a brain design over it.

Steps:

• For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar for about 2 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in the egg white, scraping the sides of the bowl as you go. Add the vanilla and beat on medium-high speed for about 1 minute.
• In a separate medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix the flour mixture and the milk into the egg mixture in three parts¿flour-milk-flour, taking care to scrape down the sides as you go, and incorporating each addition well. Mix until smooth.
• Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups using an ice-cream scoop--the batter should come about three-quarters of the way up the sides. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 15 to 16 minutes.
• Let the cupcakes cool in the pans on a wire rack for 10 to 15 minutes. Then remove from the pan to the rack to cool completely.
• For the filling and decoration: Use a cupcake corer to hollow out the center of the cupcakes, saving the tops; then fill with a couple tablespoons of candy goo. Slice the top off of the plug you removed from the cupcake and place back in the hole to seal in the filling. Use a couple of drops of red food coloring and the smallest amount of yellow and black to color your frosting. Frost the tops of cupcakes with a thin layer of buttercream. Place the remaining buttercream into a pastry bag fitting with a medium round tip. Pipe squiggles around the top of the cupcakes, creating two hemispheres of the brain. Thin the red piping gel with a teaspoon of water and use a spoon to drizzle over top of the brain to get into crevices.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine all the ingredients. Whip the mixture on low speed for a while. When the sugar is incorporated, turn the mixer speed up and whip until the buttercream is smooth and looks right to you. If it's too cold, persuade it with a blowtorch if you have one. If it's too wet, add a bit more powdered sugar. If it's too stiff, add a bit more butter. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl once or twice to make sure everything is combined.
• Use immediately, or store in an airtight container at room temperature for 24 hours or in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Rewhip cold buttercream before using it.

Steps:

• 1. Line cupcake tins with the liners. Fill the cupcake liners two-thirds full with the batter and bake the cupcakes as directed in the recipe .
• 2. Mix a drop of red and black food coloring into the frosting to make it a pinkish gray brain color.
• 3. Using the pastry bag, pipe the frosting in a squiggly pile on half of each cupcake top (brains have two hemispheres, you know). Now pipe the frosting in a squiggly pile on the other half of the cupcake top.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). If using a metal giant cupcake pan, thoroughly grease all sides and dust with flour, tapping to remove any excess. If using a silicone cake pan, there is no need to grease.
• Combine sugar and butter in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add in flour alternately with beaten eggs, a little at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla extract. Divide the mixture between the top and bottom giant cupcake pans.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Cool in the pan, then turn out to cool completely on a wire rack. Once cool, frost and decorate as desired with your favorite frosting.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Place mini paper baking cup in each of 72 mini muffin cups. Make cake mix as directed on box for cupcakes, using water, oil and eggs. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Gently press 1 chocolate chunk into center of each muffin cup.
• Bake 11 to 12 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pans to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• Frost cupcakes with vanilla frosting. Top each with 1 walnut half. Using red gel, pipe along edges of walnut halves to look like brains. Store cupcakes loosely covered at room temperature.