I love vampires.  I love Buffy, and True Blood and Twilight and many, many more.  If vampires are real, can one seriously come and bite me?  I promise not to kill any nice people, only bad ones.  I’ll be the best baking vampire ever.  I swear.

 

Going off of my love of vampires, I decided to make a cupcake inspired by the name of this blog.  These cupcakes are filled with coagulant rich blood that oozes out when you take a bite. 

Ok, so maybe it’s actually a puree of raspberries and beets.

It’s definitely delicious.  I used beets to get the color I was looking for.  Don’t be scared off by them, stewed with raspberries and sugar, you won’t even know they are there.  Then again if you like beets, you can up the amount so the flavor comes through.  Either way this puree is soooooo good, and it makes so much more then you need.  I have two jars of it in my fridge now.  I might just eat it with a spoon.

 

The cake itself is also wonderful. 

I just used my basic cupcake base and added a little bit of lemon zest and juice.  The end result is a fluffy, moist cake with just a hint of lemon.  It’s good.  Really, really good.  

 

I topped these off with cream cheese frosting.  You just can’t go wrong with it.  I finished them by drizzling a bit more puree on top, to look like blood, or two puncture wounds.  You can pretty much do whatever you like.  While I made large cupcakes this time, I do think this recipe is more suited to mini cupcakes.  I think the puree to cake to frosting ratio would be perfect for a mini cupcake.  So have a Buffy marathon and whip up a batch of these.  You won’t be sorry.  They are to die for.

 

Vampire Bites 

Makes 24 regular or 48 mini cupcakes

 

            Ingredients 

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour          

2 cups cake flour

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups whole milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 sticks plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

2 1/4 cups sugar

6 eggs

zest of 2 lemons

juice of 1 lemon

 

          Directions

 

1.     Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 12-cup muffin tins with baking cups.

2.     Whisk together flours, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.  Stir milk and vanilla in another small bowl.  Zest and juice lemons in milk mixture.   Beat butter in mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, approximately 3 minutes.  Add sugar slowly while mixing.  Beat until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Beat in eggs 1 at a time, mixing after each addition.  Scrape bowl and beat until smooth.

3.     Reduce speed and slowly add 1/3 of flour mixture.  Alternate adding milk mixture and flour mixture until all ingredients added.   

4.     Divide batter among muffin tins.  Using a small cookie scoop is the easiest way to do this, filling each cup with two large scoops (one scoop if doing mini cupcakes).  Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes (about 14 minutes for mini cupcakes).  Cool completely.  Fill center with raspberry beet puree using a squeeze bottle.  Frost with cream cheese frosting once raspberry center has set for a few minutes.

5.  Drizzle cupcakes with more puree, spatter for a blood like effect.

 

Raspberry Beet Puree

            Ingredients

12 ounces of frozen raspberries

1/2 cup sugar

2 beets, peeled and chopped

 

            Directions

1.  Combine all ingredients in medium saucepan over medium heat.  Stew until beets have softened, about 30-45 minutes.

2.  Transfer hot mixture to blender.  Leaving the center insert off, but cover the hole with a kitchen towel.  Blend until smooth.

 

Cream Cheese Frosting 

 

            Ingredients

8 ounces cream cheese

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

 

            Directions

1.  Beat cream cheese in a mixer on medium speed with paddle attachment until smooth.  Add butter and beat until light and fluffy.

2.  Reduce speed to low.  Add vanilla.  Slowly add sugar.  Beat until Smooth.