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Single broken glass cupcake with sugar shard and strawberry syrup blood on green plate.

Broken Glass Cupcakes

These bloody Broken Glass Cupcakes make a spooky Halloween centrepiece with shards of sugar glass and sticky “blood.” The soft pumpkin sponge and sweet buttercream taste every bit as wicked as they look.

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: International
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 15
Author: Manuela Zangara + Decoration inspired by Martha Stewart

Ingredients

Cupcakes

  • 210 g – 1⅔ cups plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 100 g – ½ cup sugar
  • ¾ tsp salt
  • 1¼ tsp pumpkin spice mix
  • 100 g – ½ cup vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 80 ml – ⅓ cup milk
  • 1 cup pumpkin purée

Caramel Glass and Blood

  • 100 g – ½ cup sugar
  • 50 ml – ¼ cup water
  • Strawberry syrup

Vanilla Buttercream

  • 125 g – ½ cup butter – softened
  • 225 g – scant 1 cup icing sugar – sifted
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Pumpkin Cupcakes

  1. Combine all the dry ingredients, and then add the rest of the ingredients.
  2. Stir just until combined, and then fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full.
  3. Bake them in a preheated oven at 200°C / 400°F for 16 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
    Mixing pumpkin cupcake batter and baking until golden in pink liners.

  4. Let them cool completely.

Caramel Glass

  1. Bring the granulated sugar and water to a boil in a small high-sided saucepan, stirring until the sugar dissolves.

  2. Reduce the heat to medium-high and cook until the mixture just starts to turn pale gold around the edges.
  3. Quickly remove from the heat (or the “glass” will look yellow) and immediately pour the caramel onto a rimmed baking sheet lined with baking paper.

  4. Working quickly, tilt the baking sheet to spread the caramel into a very thin layer. Let it cool and harden. Then break it into pieces.

    Homemade caramel sugar glass cooling on parchment paper for broken glass cupcakes.

Vanilla Buttercream

  1. Beat the softened butter with an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment for a few minutes. Then, incorporate the icing sugar and vanilla extract. Mix well.
    Butter and icing sugar for vanilla buttercream frosting in broken glass cupcakes recipe.

To Assemble

  1. Pipe the buttercream onto the cooled cupcakes, top them with a piece of “glass” each, and drizzle some strawberry syrup “blood” where the caramel has entered the cupcake.