Guest Recipe Gluten Free Vanilla & Raspberry Halloween Cupcakes

"You may have already guessed that we are all crazy about baking here at Delicious Alchemy HQ, and our latest recruit is no exception. Take a look at these Spooktacular Vanilla and Raspberry Eyeball Gluten and Dairy Free Cupcakes that she has crafted for Halloween.  They're terrifyingly easy to make.  

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes

• 1 x 400g Delicious Alchemy Gluten Free Vanilla Sponge Cake Mix
• 180g of soft unsalted butter or dairy free alternative
• 3 large eggs
• 20ml water
• Seedless raspberry jam (12 teaspoons)

• 110g soft unsalted butter or dairy free alternative
• 500g icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 60ml milk or dairy free alternative

• Red, black and green icing pens

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C for fan-assisted ovens
2. Line a 12 hole cupcake tin with paper cases
3. Put the cake mix, soft butter (or dairy free alternative), eggs and water into a bowl
4. Beat together with an electric whisk for 15 seconds then stop, scrape down the bowl and mix for a further 10 seconds
5. Divide three quarters of the batter between the 12 cupcake cases, filling three-quarters full and leave the other quarter of the mix for later
6. Bake for 18-20 minutes until risen and lightly golden in colour, then leave to cool in the tin for 3 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack and leaving to cool completely
7. Once cool, make a pocket in the top of the cupcake by cutting a small piece of sponge out of it
8. Spoon a teaspoon of jam into each cupcake pocket and replace the top of the cake

1. Divide the remaining quarter cake batter between 12 cake pop moulds and bake for 10-12 minutes until risen and lightly golden in colour
   1. a) If you don’t have a cake pop mould, use step 4 of our Gluten Free cake pop recipe, leaving out the cherries
2. Leave to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack and leaving to cool completely
3. Once the cake pops have cooled, place them in the freezer for 15 minutes before you’re ready to ice them – this will make them easier to ice

1. Beat together the butter (or dairy free alternative), milk (or dairy free alternative) and half the icing sugar in a large mixing bowl until smooth
2. Gradually add the remainder of the icing sugar and beat again until smooth and creamy
3. Leave one quarter of the icing to one side as this will be used to ice the cake pops
4. Ice the cupcakes with the remaining buttercream – use a piping bag if you have one!

1. Take the remaining quarter of the icing mixture and microwave for 15 seconds until runny
2. Using a cake pop stick or similar, gently dip each cake pop one by one into the melted icing completely covering the sponge, then pull each one out and place in a cake pop holder or upside-down polystyrene cup to cool and set
3. Once set, use your red, green and black icing pens to add detail to each eyeball. Start with a black circle and draw a green circle around it. Use your red icing pen to draw zig zags to create a bloodshot effect!
4. Gently pull from the cake pop stick and place on top of the cupcake icing

Ta-dah! Guaranteed to delight your guests this Gluten Free Halloween. What are you baking this Halloween? Share your creepy creations with us on Facebook, Twitteror Instagram!"