Eyeball Cupcakes
Sour cream, rhubarb and berry cupcakes
Makes 12 cupcakes
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150g/5 ozs butter
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1 cup caster or superfine sugar
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2 eggs
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1 cup / 250grams light sour cream
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1 cup cake flour*
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1 teaspoon baking powder
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2 heaped tablespoons rhubarb or strawberry jam (chunky strawberry is good=blood clots!) I used an Anathoth rhubarb and red berry jam
For decoration
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White fondant
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Chocolate fondant
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A small amount of blue fondant
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Edible red ink pen
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Rhubarb or strawberry jam
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A few drops of red food colouring
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You will also need a little water and a small paintbrush
Buyer's tip: You can make cake flour by placing 2 tablespoons of cornflour in a measuring cup and filling up to the 1 cup level with plain all purpose flour.
Step 1 - Preheat oven to 170C/340F and line a cupcake tin with liners. Beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time combining well after each addition. In another bowl mix the baking powder and flour together until well combined.
Step 2 - In alternate lots add the sour cream and flour until mixed together. Add the jam and swirl through so that you get streaks of "blood" and clots. I know it's gruesome but hey you're making an eyeball cupcake so don't give me that look ;) Using a mechanical ice cream scoop or two spoons scoop the thick batter into the prepared tin.
Step 3 - Bake for 20-25 minutes until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool in the tin.
Step 4 - To make eyeballs: just pinch of a round of white fondant and roll it into a ball and pulling a little at one end to make the tapering connecting tendon. Roll out the blue fondant very thinly and using the large end of a piping tip, cut out a blue circle. Affix this to the end of the eyeball to make the iris using a little water applied with the paintbrush. Roll out a small amount of the brown fondant thinly and cut a smaller disc out and affix this to the blue fondant with water to make the pupil. Roll out some balls of brown fondant and shape into a sausage form and use your fingers to shape into an eyebrow-they are surprisingly easy to make. Use a small knife to draw eyebrow hair patterns in the eyebrows.
Step 5 - Take the cooled cupcake and stick your thumb into the centre to make a depression. Brush the cupcakes with a little jam (I used white chocolate ganache as I had some handy but that's an extra item to make) and roll out the white fondant to cut out rounds that will fit on top of the cupcakes. Affix these using the stickiness of the jam making sure to press down the centre.
Step 6 - Add a few drops of red food colouring to 2-3 tablespoons of jam and mix together. Fill the centre with the red jam. Affix the eyeball to the side of the cupcake as shown using a little water and the paintbrush and affix the eyebrow above it. You're now ready to scare the pants off anyone that plays any tricks on you ;)