Zombie cupcakes

So I finally got around to making the zombie cupcakes I saw on Flickr. 

xsomnis did an excellent job with both the photos and directions.

Craft Store Supplies:

Brain Candy Mold

Wilton chocolate candy melts in white, brown, blue and pick

Wilton "red" and "burgundy" icing/food dye

Grocery Store:

Hershey's Carmel Topping

Duncan Hines Red Velvet cake mix - 24 cupcakes/box

        (need 2 eggs, 1/3 cup veg oil, water for mixing)

Duncan Hines Cream Cheese Frosting

Muffin Tin Liners

All the supplies laid out  - ended up only making one batch though

1st layer of brain chocolate.


I don't have a double boiler but pyrex rocks and works just as well over a pot of water. Be careful not to scorch chocolate as it gets all grainy and loses form.


Mix pink + white melts for brain highlight color.




Highlight color all dabbed around the brains.





Note: each mold makes 9 brainz so you'll need 3 batches to cover all the cupcakes and you'll have 3 brains left over unless you don't fill the last mold.

Brain grey color - 20 pink, 12 blue, 4 brown


Mine looks much more grey than xsomnis did but I liked it so stuck with same ratio, maybe microwaving alters color?

Finished zombie brain molds heading to the fridge for cooling.


Excess brain matter breaks off pretty easily if it's thin so my sloppy filling wasn't an issue.

Fresh Brainz! 

Hardened chocolate zombie brains ready for blood.

Mix 1/2 teaspoon red dye with 1/3 cup of carmel sauce, adjust color with a small amount of burgundy. It's very difficult to lighten color later except by adding a lot more carmel.


Be careful the dye will stain and the blood easily gets everywhere if you don't clean it off your hands completely.

I found it worked best to smear some blood on top of the brains first, then flip brain over and spoon it on the flat side before flipping it back over on the cupcake. 




This smeared the blood more naturally than drizzling it directly onto the cupcake and plopping the brain on top.

And the final results!


A total hit at the Halloween party but better looking and more fun to make than eat.


I will opt for a homemade mix next year as box cake mix was too dry despite being the "deluxe moist"


The texture and look of the carmel sauce was perfect but just too sweet for my taste, so I will have try to find a substitute. Otherwise, I may try something completely different, such these.