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These creepy Brain Cupcakes in a Jar treats make the perfect Halloween party food! Great dessert recipe idea for a zombie or Halloween party. Get how-to recipe instructions, plus free printables for brain cupcakes in a mason jar.

These creepy Brain Cupcakes in a Jar treats make the perfect Halloween party food! Great dessert recipe idea for a zombie or Halloween party. Free printable jar labels for Halloween Gifts.

Brain Cupcakes in a Jar are Spooktacular!

This fun recipe for brain cupcakes in a mason jar make the perfect dessert for a zombie or Halloween party. Everyone will go crazy over these creepy brain cupcakes in a jar treats!

We all know that spooky Halloween treats always make fun party food and gifts! I’m so happy to show you this fun Halloween food idea that I collaborated on with the talented Kristan Roland. We hope to creep you out in a fun way by these Brains in a Jar Cake. Enjoy!

These creepy Brain Cupcakes in a Jar treats make the perfect Halloween party food! Great dessert recipe idea for a zombie or Halloween party. Free printable jar labels for Halloween Gifts.

Brain Cupcakes in a Jar originally published October 18, 2011

Brain Cupcakes in a Jar

Brain Cupcakes in a Jar are the perfect Halloween party food! It’s almost Halloween, so…  surprise! We made you Brains in a Jar!!  Isn’t that just what you’ve been wanting? Obviously these are not real brains (much to the disappointment of our sons), but they’re close enough and are the perfect combination of creepy and gross.

Watch me make them by clicking play on the video below… so creepy and fun!

These fun brain cupcakes can be put together ahead of time, and would be great for a Zombie party, a Halloween party dessert table or class party. Or you can do what I do and take one to your child’s teacher and say, “here’s a Brain in a Jar…and I look forward to my kid getting A’s on his work for the rest of the year…”  and give a giant awkward *WINK*.

Halloween-Food-Brains-in-a-Jar-Cake-Recipe

Anyway… These Brain Cupcakes are seriously easy to put together and will wow your party guests. Or at least make them say “wow!”

Halloween Brain Cupcakes in a jar recipe

 

How to Make Brain Cupcakes in a Jar

You’ll need these items for your Brains in a Jar!

    •  Small jars — I buy a box of half pint canning jars, but you can buy bigger ones if that’s what suits your fancy.
    •  Seedless Raspberry Jam — Because blood doesn’t have seeds in it, mmmkay?
    •  Pink cake — I used strawberry but you could color white batter if you prefer.  I baked mine in a large jelly roll pan so it would be thin, but you could bake it in 9 x 13 or do cupcakes and cut them in half.
    •  Frosting — You can buy ready made frosting or we have a great recipe for homemade frosting below. Just add a few drops of pink and a tiny drop of black to get that pinky grey color.
    •  Piping bag fitted with a #5 round tip  (You can buy these at Michaels, Walmart or here on Amazon for about $1.)

Once your cake is cooled, cut a circle of cake the size of your jar.  I used a round biscuit cutter, but you could also use another jar or a small glass.

Spoon some raspberry jam over the cake, covering the surface and making sure it reaches the edges of the jar.

Put some frosting in your piping bag.  Hold the bag at a 90 degree angle and squiggle the frosting along the edges of the jar.  It doesn’t have to be perfect, just squeeze and make a zig zag motion along the inside of the glass.

These creepy Brain Cupcakes in a Jar treats make the perfect Halloween party food! Great dessert recipe idea for a zombie or Halloween party.

It should look like this. With a smaller glass or cutter, cut a piece of cake small enough to rest in the center of the “brain frosting”.  Place the piece of cake in the middle.

Brains in a Jar Cupcakes! Fun Food Halloween Party Recipe with Free Printables. LivingLocurto.com

See?  That way you don’t go hurting your hand trying to pipe frosting all in the center.   Holding the piping bag at a 90 degree angle again, loosely squeeze frosting all over the top of the cake.  Just let it squiggle all over.

These creepy Brain Cupcakes in a Jar treats make the perfect Halloween party food! Great dessert recipe idea for a zombie or Halloween party.

It should look like a gross brain in a jar.

These creepy Brain Cupcakes in a Jar treats make the perfect Halloween party food! Great dessert recipe idea for a zombie or Halloween party.

Isn’t that totally disgusting?   But it tastes good, I promise.  I even tried a few one for quality control.   All that is left to do is attach the cute free printable tags that Amy designed!!

Brains in a Jar Cupcakes! Fun Food Halloween Party Recipe with Free Printables. LivingLocurto.com

How easy and cool is that?  We practically did all the work for you!!

 

Download the FREE Halloween Brain Cupcakes Jar Labels

Brains in a Jar Cupcakes! Fun Food Halloween Party Recipe with Free Printables. LivingLocurto.com

Download the Free Party Printable Tags here:

>>  Halloween Brains in Jar Labels & Tags <<

©2018 LivingLocurto.com – For personal use only.

 

We hope you are disgusted by these in a good way.  Enjoy your Halloween!!

Halloween Recipe- Brains in Jar Cake | Free Party Printables | LivingLocurto.com
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5 from 8 votes

Brain Cupcakes in a Jar Recipe

These creepy Brain Cupcakes in a Jar treats make the perfect Halloween party food! Great dessert recipe idea for a zombie or Halloween party.
Prep Time25 minutes
Active Time20 minutes
0 minutes
Total Time45 minutes
Yield: 14
Author: Amy Locurto

Ingredients

CAKE

  • 1 box Strawberry Cake Mix
  • 1 cup water
  • ¼ cup Vegetable Oil
  • 3 Large Eggs
  • 1 cup Seedless Raspberry Jam

FROSTING

  • 1 stick Butter room temperature
  • 8 oz. Cream Cheese room temperature
  • 2 ½ cups Powdered Sugar sifted
  • Black Food Coloring Gel
  • Pink Food Coloring

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Fill muffin tins with cupcake liners.
  • In a mixer blend cake mix, water, oil and eggs for a few minutes.
  • Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full of cake batter.
  • Bake 19-23 minutes. When a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, your cake is done. Cool 10-15 minutes.
  • Make frosting by whipping butter, cream cheese and powdered sugar until fluffy.
  • Add one drop of black food coloring and 1-2 drops of pink food coloring. Keep adding drops until you get a yucky grayish pink color of brains.
  • Assemble your brains in a jar cake by placing a cupcake inside of a half pint mason jar.
  • A a large spoonful of raspberry jam over the cake, covering the surface and making sure it reaches the edges of the jar.
  • Put some frosting in a piping bag with a #5 round tip Hold the bag at a 90 degree angle and squiggle the frosting along the edges of the jar. It doesn't have to be perfect, just squeeze and make a zig zag motion along the inside of the glass.
  • Cut small pieces of another cupcake and place in the center of the "brain frosting".
  • Holding the piping bag at a 90 degree angle again, loosely squeeze frosting all over the top of the cake.
  • Place lid on the jar and add the Brains in a Jar Printable Tags and serve.
Plan To Make This?Please share if you do. Mention @LivingLocurto or tag #LivingLocurto on Instagram. We'd love to see!

Recipe Video

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cake, cupcakes, dessert, halloween
Calories: 394kcal

Nutrition

Calories: 394kcal | Carbohydrates: 56g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 70mg | Sodium: 332mg | Potassium: 46mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 43g | Vitamin A: 470IU | Calcium: 82mg | Iron: 1mg

 

Kristan

Kristan is a fun mom from rural Arkansas with an amazing talent for creating cute recipes along with humorous stories. Find her on Confessions of a Cookbook Queen, Twitter & Facebook.

 


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215 Comments

  5. Do these store well in the fridge for a day or should you finish them just before you serve?

  6. Do these store well in the fridge for a day or should you finish them just before you serve?

  8. Hi! Please help! I’m in the middle of making these but finding that the icing keeps sliding down the sides of the jar. What am I doing wrong?

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  20. I have made Halloween preserves for many years and sold them in grundy mason jars with cool labels: "eye of newt", "creepy spiders" , " vial of lost souls"… and the most popular "Abby normal" brains… a real hit.

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  39. Just found this and it will be PERFECT for my daughters Monster High Birthday party. I am making foods that each Monster High Dolls loves and Brains is on the list. thanks so much!

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  44. Love this! Adding it to my collection of gory/zombie foods. My daughter is going to love this on our next zombie movie night. Also posted on my site =)

  46. Hi! I am a brain tumor survivor who is a miracle. I should not be here but I am. Thanks be to GOD! I used this idea to bring a treat into my Neurosurgeon’s office today when I was having my latest MRI results interpreted. He loved it@ Every time I go into his office for a check up, I try to bring some ‘brain’ treat, so this was a hit. Thanks for sharing! I also posted it on my blog : http://www.bussjessica.blogspot.com

    Thank you again.
    Blessings!

  47. The perfect party favor for my 7 year old’s Plant vs Zombie’s birthday party. Thanks for sharing!

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  72. I made these for a Halloween party(ies) I attended last evening. I used strawberry cake mix, strawberry jelly, and strawberry frosting (with a couple drops of blue food coloring added). I would not recommend going with a “strawberry” theme…all my hard work and they weren’t touched because they were “too sugary” and “too sweet.” I came home with almost all of them. Looked marvy though.

  73. Hey! I was hoping it would be alright if I featured this on an article on Halloween DIY projects on my site, geeksinsheepsclothing.com? I’d like to use a few pictures for the article, and I’ll be sure to link back to this page. c:

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  86. Love this and I am going to try and do it myself for my son’s teachers. I have a question to ask, do you warm up the jam so it is a little thinner? Thank you!

  87. I love this idea! I just printed the tags. I am going to make this for the school cake walk on Friday! Hahahaha! I hope everyone has a sense of humor and Halloween spirit : )

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  121. Hi, I LOVE this idea! I want to whip some up for my students and really freak them out! But I live in Australia and I cannot find seedless jam 🙁 Do you have any ideas of a substitute? Also, most of the jams here are very…jelly like. Is that ok? Because yours looks so…well…bloody :p Thanks!

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  148. @Debby,
    Everyone has their opinion. No offense taken:-)

    These were made in total fun. My boys love anything yucky and realize you don’t really eat body parts. If you read through the comments here, a person with brain cancer is excited about this treat and taking them to her cancer support group. She said they will all love them and laughter is the best medicine. So it’s not just for kids.

  150. I love this idea 🙂 Do you print these labels out on a certain type of paper or label paper? Thanks Jaimee

  152. Disgusted – yes. In a good way – no. Sorry. I may be a Grotesqueness Grinch but I don’t see the humor? joy? fun? in pretending to eat body parts. And I do find it a bit disturbing that people encourage children to partake.
    I hope you don’t mind dissenting viewpoints.

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  170. These are sooo cool. I had the jars and was wondering what to make for my friends, that would gross them out! This is perfect! Thanks

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  173. Totally freaking awesome, Amy! I’ve actually baked cake right in the mason jars – it works fantasically well. I found the idea on Pinterest (of course) and made them with 6 different colored batters for a rainbow effect. Could totally work for this as well.

  177. OMG! I found my daughter’s classroom treats this year! These are incredible!!! Love, love, love them and I’m sure her classmates are going to go gah-gah over them! Thank You for yet another awesome cupcake recipe! You Rock Kristan!

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  194. Kristen these are so cool yet creepy at the same time. You must be the coolest mom around 🙂

  198. what a fun cool idea…my brain tumor support group is getting these on Friday..I will add a gumball to the top inside the frosting….humor is the best medicine. LOVE IT>

  199. FRICK! My MUST-BAKE-LIST just got longer – LOL! These are HILARIOUS! I think I’m going to make some in push-pop containers and use them as our “You’ve been BOOED!” treats 😉 Thanks for such a fun idea!

  205. These are great! I can’t wait to make some and include them in a Halloween gift basket for my nephews! The boys will absolutely LOVE these! And I think I’ll have a great time making them- especially with the free printable tags. Thank you so much for posting!!! 🙂

  208. These are just tooo cute. I love this going to go get canning jars today. TFS this idea.

  211. How creative~! Definitely have to try this for Halloween~ Thank you for the free printables~ =D

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5 from 8 votes (3 ratings without comment)