Vampire Poke Cake Recipes

VAMPIRE POKE CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. Make and bake cake mix as directed on box for 13x9-inch pan, using water, oil and egg whites. Cool in pan on cooling rack 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in small bowl, pour boiling water over gelatin; stir until gelatin is dissolved. Poke warm cake every inch with wooden skewer halfway into cake, twisting skewer back and forth. Pour gelatin over cake, allowing gelatin to fill in holes. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
• Frost cake with frosting. Drizzle red decorating gel over frosting. Store covered in refrigerator.

RED VELVET VAMPIRE CUPCAKES

Steps:

• For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
• Sift the flour, granulated sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. Whisk together the buttermilk, oil, sour cream, food coloring, vinegar, vanilla and egg in another large bowl.
• Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just incorporated. Divide the batter among the cupcake liners. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out with a few moist crumbs, 16 to 18 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the tin and cool completely on a wire rack.
• Microwave the chocolate and coconut oil together in a small microwave-safe bowl until mostly melted, about 1 minute. Stir, then microwave again until completely smooth, about 15 seconds more.
• Use a small sharp knife to cut out and remove a plug from the middle of each cupcake, making sure not to go all the way to the bottom and leaving a 1/4-inch border around the side (eat the plugs). Brush the holes with the melted chocolate and place in the freezer until the chocolate hardens, about 15 minutes.
• Whisk together the jam, 1 drop of red food coloring and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl until completely smooth. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the jam into each of the chocolate holes; set aside.
• For the cream cheese frosting: Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in the butter until smooth. Add the confectioners' sugar and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Scrape into a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip. Pipe on top of the cupcakes so the jam is covered.
• Poke 2 holes into the frosting on each cupcake using the end of a plastic straw to resemble vampire bites, making sure you hit the cupcake and not the jam-filled hole. Drizzle the remaining jam into the holes to resemble blood.

VAMPIRE CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Line muffin tins (you will need 18 cups total) with paper liners and set aside.
• Sift together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer. Add sugar and blend.
• Cut butter into 4 or 5 chunks and drop into the bowl with the flour mixture.Blend on low speed until mixture looks sandy and no large chunks of butter remain, 1-2 minutes.
• In a large measuring cup, combine eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and almond extracts.
• Beat lightly with a fork until combined.
• With the mixer on low, pour 1 cup of the buttermilk mixture into the bowl. Turn speed up to medium and beat for 1 1/2 minutes.
• Reduce speed back to low and pour in the rest of the buttermilk mixture. Continue to beat at low speed for an additional 30 seconds, until liquid is fully incorporated.
• Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for a few more seconds, if necessary.
• Divide evenly into prepared muffin tins, filling 18 cups as equally as possible.
• Bake for 16-20 minutes, until cupcakes are light golden and a toothpick inserted into their centers comes out clean. The cake should spring back when lightly pressed.
• Turn cupcakes out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
• Filling.
• Puree cherry pie filling - a syrupy mix of sugar and cherries, usually - in a food processor until fairly smooth. Very small pieces of cherries are ok.
• Take a cooled cupcake and, using a small pairing knife, cut a cone of cake (1-inch across by 1-inch deep) out of the top.
• Trim off the pointy end of the cone, leaving a flat circle of cake. Set aside and repeat this process for all the cupcakes.
• Take the cherry filling and spoon about tablespoon or so into each cupcake cavity, filling it almost to the top with filling.
• Top off with the flat circle of cake you just removed to seal the hole and hold the "blood" filling in place.
• Whisk sugar, egg whites, 1/3 cup water, light corn syrup, and cream of tartar in large metal bowl to blend.
• Set bowl over saucepan of barely simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl to touch simmering water).
• Using handheld electric mixer, beat on medium speed until mixture resembles soft marshmallow fluff, about 5-7 minutes.
• Increase mixer speed to high and beat until mixture is very smooth and thick, about 3 minutes longer.
• Remove bowl from over simmering water.
• Add vanilla extract and continue beating until marshmallow frosting is completely cool, about 5-7 minutes longer.
• Assembly.
• Using a butter knife or a small offset spatula, frost each cupcake with a layer of the cooled marshmallow frosting by placing a dollop of icing in the center of the cupcake (on top of the cut out circle of cake) and spreading from the center to the sides of the cupcake.
• Dip a wooden toothpick or skewer into some leftover cherry pie filling and poke two fang-holes, about 3/4 inch apart, in the frosting on one side of the cupcake.
• Dribble a little extra filling from the holes for effect.
• Repeat until all cupcakes are frosted and decorated. You will probably have frosting leftover for another batch if you are baking more.

PUDDING POKE CAKE

Steps:

• Prepare and bake cake mix according to package directions for one 9x13 inch cake. Remove cake from oven. Poke holes at once down through cake to pan with the round handle of a wooden spoon. Holes should be at 1 inch intervals.
• Combine the pudding mix with the confectioners' sugar and gradually stir in the milk. Beat with an electric mixer at low speed for not more than 1 minute. Do not over beat. Quickly, before pudding thickens, pour about 1/2 of the thin pudding evenly over the warm cake and into the holes. (This will make the stripes in the cake.) Allow the remaining pudding to thicken slightly then spoon over the top, and spread to frost the top of the cake. Chill for at least 1 hour before serving. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.