Gluten Free Halloween Cupcakes

Double double, toil and trouble, chocolate cupcakes with frosting and bubbles make these as much fun to make as they are to eat.

I have to thank former contributor Serene from House of Yumm for this super simple Halloween cupcake recipe. Kids of all ages are going to get a kick out of these black cauldron cupcakes that look like they are bubbling over with witch’s brew!

This easy Halloween cupcake idea starts with your favorite chocolate cupcakes. A Devil’s Food chocolate cake mix works great, or use a homemade cupcake recipe. Then it’s all about the frosting and decorations to transform them into a fizzy green witch’s brew bubbling out of a cauldron. So fun and easy!

These Easy Halloween Cupcakes Look Like a Witch’s Brew

Here’s why you’ll love them…

• So easy to make and decorate. You don’t have to be a skilled baker or cake decorator. You can make the cupcakes from scratch, but a box mix works just fine. And the fluffy green whipped cream cheese frosting and sprinkle ‘bubbles’ make it look like a bubbly cauldron with almost no effort.
• Fun and tasty for everyone. It’s a fizzy green “potion” that any witch (or child, or adult!) would be happy to devour, especially when you serve them with this Halloween punch for kids! You can never go wrong with chocolate cupcakes, and the frosting is so fluffy and soft, it’s slightly unbelievable.
• Easily made gluten free. Just grab a gluten free mix or my easy Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes recipe as your starting point to turn these into gluten free Halloween cupcakes without any fuss.

What You’ll Need

• Chocolate cupcakes. You’ll need two dozen of your favorite. Keep reading for some suggestions for recipes, mixes, and more options.
• Cream cheese. Unlike other frosting recipes, you actually want it to be cold when you start making the frosting. The tangy flavor balances out the sweetness in the frosting.
• Powdered sugar. You can sift it to make sure you don’t have lumps.
• Vanilla extract. For that perfect flavor. I recommend pure extract versus artificial in this recipe.
• Heavy cream. To make it creamy and light.
• Gel food coloring. The bolder color of a gel food coloring will ensure you achieve the perfect witches’ brew slimy green color. I like to use Americolor Leaf Green Food Gel.
• Decorations. The bubbly effect is achieved by using a variety of sizes of sprinkles and decorations, from green gumballs to green sugar pearls, or even pick up a variety pack of green sprinkles and decorations. These are all labeled as gluten free at the time of writing, but if that is a concern for you, please check the updated package and manufacturer information. You can learn more in my article, Are Sprinkles Gluten Free?
• Other supplies. While not technically “ingredients” to complete the overall look of a black cauldron, be sure to use black cupcake liners. A piping bag with a Wilton 2A decorating tip is perfect to really load on that frosting and give it the bubbly look of a potion.

Tips for Success

• Cool the cupcakes. You want to make sure the cupcakes have cooled completely to room temperature before frosting them so that the frosting doesn’t melt and slide off the cupcakes.
• Keep things chilled. Since this is a whipped cream-based frosting, you actually want to start with cold cream cheese and a chilled bowl (pop it in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes before you get started.
• Be patient. Since the cream cheese is cold, you may need to work it with a spatula a bit to get it blending smoothly with the powdered sugar. And when you start to add the heavy cream, it may look like it’s separating at first. Just keep whipping and it’ll come together. But don’t overwhip!
• Use a shortcut. You can even use canned frosting if you are short on time and don’t want to make your own. I do recommend a “whipped” frosting to get that fluffy look. Popular brands like Pillsbury and Duncan Hines have whipped versions of their canned frostings.
• Don’t hold back. Pipe the frosting nice and high on the cupcakes to make it look like a potion is bubbling over. To create the bubbles, use a variety of sizes of sprinkles. The fun part of these Halloween cupcakes is that you can really add as many or as few ‘bubbles’ as you want! You can also pile more frosting on top of the decorations, then add a few more decorations to make them look even MORE bubbly!

Storing the Halloween Cupcakes

These Halloween cupcakes can be kept at room temperature for a day or two. For longer storage, place them in a container that can be covered but where they have enough room to avoid them hitting together or the top of the container so the frosting doesn’t get messed up. Then refrigerate them for 4 or 5 days.

Due to the types of decorations, I do not recommend freezing the decorated cupcakes.