My gluten free monster cupcakes with ‘gory’ centres

Halloween is fast approaching and to celebrate, I wanted to make some gluten free monster cupcakes that are a little bit cute, and a little bit ghoulish!

Don’t be deceived by their fuzzy appearance – bite into these little cuties to reveal a ‘gory’ jam centre among vibrant green sponge. 

These gluten free monster cupcakes would be perfect on a Halloween party platter, and are a great activity to bake with kids too.

A child-friendly Halloween bake

When it comes to gluten free baking recipes for kids, I think Halloween recipes have to be a little fun.

There’s no point making anything to gory or disgusting-looking, otherwise kids might not want to eat them.

I made these gluten free monster cupcakes in the hope that they’ll surprise and delight both little and big kids.

They certainly went down a treat with my favourite small people!

The effect of these gluten free monster cupcakes may look impressive but really they’re very simple to make.

Food colouring makes my simple lemon cupcakes ghoulish enough, and the icing is a simple buttercream.

I managed to pick up some ‘edible eyes’ on the advice of My Gluten Free Guide, who used them to make these awesome Ghoulish Cookie Cupcakes.

You can buy them in Sainsbury’s with the cake decorating stuff, or failing that make your own using ready-roll icing. 

A child-friendly gluten free Halloween recipe

These gluten free monster cupcakes are the kind of recipe that are great fun to make with kids.

You don’t need any real piping skills – I just used a large star piping nozzle to create the ‘fur’ but you could easily mix this up to make a medley of different monsters!

For the jam centre you can use whichever jam you like. I used my homemade strawberry jam recipe as I had leftovers from my scone baking, but anything red-coloured would be perfect.

You could of course use lemon or lime curd if you wanted a quirky, alien-looking centre too. Feel free to also mix and match the colourings as well.

I went for a pinky-purple ‘fur’ frosting and a clashing green for the sponge. You could however divide the frosting or cake batter into portions to make a variety of different colours. 

Whatever you choose to do, I love the fact this recipe is so adaptable and fun for everyone to make.

And if you wanted some friends for your little monsters, you could also make my original gluten free Halloween cupcakes I made last year as well!

What equipment will you need to make my Monster cupcakes?

Don’t worry – you only require the very basics! To make these gluten free monster cupcakes you’ll need:

• A 12-hole cupcake tin like this one
• A large mixing bowl – I have the pink version of this Mason Cash bowl and I’m in love with it!
• An electric mixer. You could use a wooden spoon but this makes life a lot easier! This is the one I use! It’s basic, affordable and does the trick!
• Some cupcake cases. I used basic white ones from Tesco but I also LOVE these rainbow ones for a party special occasion!

The ingredients are all store-cupboard essentials, do you don’t have to worry about buying anything fancy.

I use a supermarket-own vanilla extract for the flavouring, and I usually use the gluten free self-raising flour from either FREEE or Sainsbury’s.

These are both available readily in the supermarket and means you don’t have to buy any complicated or expensive ingredients.

I’ve heard really good things about Lidl’s gluten free flour too but haven’t tried this yet!

Gluten free monster cupcakes recipe

Ahh, ok, they’re just so cute I’ll have to be quiet and let you make them now.

I really hope you love these gluten free monster cupcakes as much as I do. Make sure you let me know if you give them a try – I love seeing all your bakes.

If you make this recipe and love it, please do let me know by tagging me on my Instagram or using #theglutenfreeblogger. I love seeing your bakes!

And please do leave a review to let others know you loved it too! It would mean the world to me. 

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Yield: 12 cakes

Gluten free monster cupcakes

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Frosting Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

These cute little gluten free monster cupcakes house a surprising secret centre of 'gory' jam and vibrant green sponge!

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Ingredients

For the sponge:

• 110 g unsalted butter, (softened)
• 110 g caster sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 110 g gluten free self raising flour
• 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 tsp lemon essence
• Green gel food colouring

For the frosting:

• 200 g unsalted butter, (at room temperature)
• 400 g icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp milk
• Gel food colouring , (I used pink and purple mixed equally)

Extras:

• 12 pairs of edible eyes
• 12 tsp strawberry jam

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180'C and fill a 12-hole cupcake tray with 12 cases. Set aside.
2. Using an electric whisk, beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat again until combined. Add the flour, xanthan gum and lemon essence and beat again until fully combined.
3. Add the food colouring (to make as vibrant as you like) and mix well. Then evenly spoon the mixture between the 12 cupcake cases and bake for 15-17 minutes, until risen and golden on top. Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack.
4. Make the frosting by beating the butter, icing sugar, milk, vanilla extract and food colouring until smooth. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag ready to decorate.

To assemble:

1. First, cut a small well from the top of each cupcake with a sharp knife. Add 1 tsp of jam into each well then replace the 'plug' of sponge you cut out (you make need to trim a tiny bit off the bottom of each to make it fit flush-ish).
2. Use a star nozzle on the piping bag to carefully pipe 'fur' onto the cakes. Then place two edible eyeballs on each cupcake. Leave to set for 10-15 minutes before eating.

Notes

Will keep in an airtight container for around 3 days.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12

Serving Size:

1 cake
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 415Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 87mgSodium: 128mgCarbohydrates: 54gFiber: 0gSugar: 45gProtein: 2g

Need some more gluten free Halloween inspiration?

If you want to have a go at some of the other gluten free Halloween recipes on the blog, why not give some of these a try?

• My spooky gluten free swiss roll recipe
• Gluten free Halloween cupcakes
• Spooky Jack o’ Lantern stuffed peppers

If you do make this recipe please let me know! I’d love to see your photos using #theglutenfreeblogger, share them in my Facebook group or tag me on Instagram. 

And if you have any recipe suggestions, please let me know in the comments what you’d like to see next! Oh – and don’t forget to sign up for my e-newsletter where you’ll know about all my latest posts and competitions first!

Like this recipe? Make sure you pin these recipe cards below for later!