If you enjoyed last week's vegan Devil's food chocolate cake recipe I think you're going to love these spooky vegan Halloween cupcakes.

These vegan chocolate cupcakes are made using Dutch-processed cocoa powder for a deep chocolate flavor and dark color (fitting if you're planning on making these for the spooky season!). The dark chocolate flavor contrasts so well with the tart blackberry filling.

chocolate skull cupcakes.Pin
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📖 Recipe Overview

  • Intensely chocolatey 
  • Tender and moist
  • Easy to make
  • Eggless and dairy-free
  • Perfect for spooky season

🧾 Ingredients Needed

Here's everything you need to make these spooky cupcakes from scratch:

ingredients for vegan Halloween cupcakes.Pin

Ingredient Notes

  • Dutch-processed cocoa powder: This is cocoa powder that has been alkalized and is not to be confused with regular cocoa powder or raw cacao powder. Dutch-process cocoa powder is made with cocoa beans that have been washed in an alkaline solution of potassium carbonate. Sallys Baking Addiction has written an entire post about their differences if you'd like to learn more about the science behind it. Raw cacao powder or regular cocoa powder will yield different results in this recipe.
  • Baking soda: This is the leavening agent for these vegan cupcakes. Usually, baking soda needs an acidic ingredient to activate it. This is where the muscovado sugar and vegan buttermilk come in.
  • Coffee: Coffee intensifies that chocolate flavor, even more, I pretty much always use it when baking with chocolate.
  • Soya milk: Mixed together with apple cider vinegar, this creates your vegan buttermilk substitute. 
  • Caster sugar and muscovado sugar: Muscovado sugar brings acidity to this recipe which reacts with the baking soda. 
  • Apple puree: Or unsweetened apple sauce
  • Olive oil: I love using olive oil in vegan chocolate cupcakes but you can also use an alternative neutral-tasting oil such as rapeseed or sunflower.
  • Blackberries: You can go with fresh or frozen, depending on what's available to you. A great way to pick up on what's left of them this season!
  • Vanilla extract: This acts as a flavor enhancer and sweetness enhancer.

You'll also need vegan block butter, aquafaba for the vegan Swiss meringue buttercream frosting.

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🥣 How To Make Halloween Cupcakes

Step 1: Decorative Chocolate Skulls

If you're topping the cupcakes with chocolate skulls, prep these first. Melt the chocolate over a double boiler (bain-marie). Pour the chocolate into the skull molds and refrigerate until set - you may need to repeat this process several times depending on the number of skull molds you have to hand.

Step 2: Chocolate Cupcakes

To make the vegan "buttermilk" add the soya milk and apple cider vinegar to a small bowl, stir, and allow to sit for 10 minutes.

Add the coffee, apple puree, olive oil, and vanilla extract to the vegan buttermilk mixture, stir, and set aside. Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, caster sugar, and muscovado sugar to a separate bowl and whisk to make sure everything is evenly mixed. 

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk together until combined - do not over-mix. Distribute the batter amongst the cupcake liners and bake for 22-25 minutes. Check they are done by piercing them with a toothpick or a knife, the knife should come out clean.

Step 3: Blackberry Coulis Filling

Add the blackberries, caster sugar, and water to a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook for 12 minutes, stirring often until the mixture is thick. Cool to room temperature and then store in the fridge until ready to use. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the coulis for making the frosting.

Use a cupcake corer (or apple corer) to cut out centers in the cooled cupcakes, reserve the pieces that you remove. 

vegan chocolate cupcakes with centres removed for filling.Pin

Fill each cupcake with blackberry coulis and place the reserved cuts back on top of each one (if you weren't already tempted to eat them as is that is!)

Step 4: Frost the Cupcakes

Make a batch of vegan Swiss meringue buttercream. Next, split the buttercream into 2 parts. Add 2 tbsp of the cooled blackberry coulis to one half and blend until combined. Add the 4 tbsp of cocoa powder to the other half and mix until combined as well. You can also go entirely with one flavor or the other depending on your preference.

Transfer both buttercreams to a piping bag fitted with an open star nozzle. Alternate between blackberry and chocolate buttercream when filling the bag to give a swirl effect. Pipe the buttercream on top of each cupcake, top with chocolate skulls and fresh blackberries.

vegan chocolate cupcakes with blackberry buttercream.Pin

💀 Variations

  • Vegan chocolate cupcakes: Keep these cupcakes plain and simple by skipping the blackberry coulis. You can fill them with some vegan chocolate ganache to make triple chocolate cupcakes!
  • Chocolate raspberry cupcakes: Swap out the blackberries for raspberries or other berries of your choice. 

💬 FAQs

How should vegan cupcakes be served? How should they be stored?

These cupcakes are best served at room temperature. If you're keeping them for more than a couple of days, refrigerate them in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

I recommend taking them out of the fridge for at least 2-3 hours to bring them to room temperature before serving. Especially if you’re topping them with vegan buttercream which stiffens up when chilled.

What mold do you use for the chocolate skull topper?

I use this silicone skull mold, and these cupcake liners.

vegan halloween chocolate cupcakes.Pin

🧁 More Vegan Cupcakes

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📖 Recipe

Vegan Halloween Cupcakes

4.82 from 43 votes
PREP TIME: 1 hour
COOK TIME: 22 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 1 hour 22 minutes
Servings: 12
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Description

Delicious fluffy dark chocolate vegan Halloween cupcakes with a homemade blackberry coulis filling and eggless Swiss meringue buttercream frosting. Topped with chocolate skulls, these spooky vegan cupcakes are perfect for Halloween.

Ingredients

Cupcakes

  • 1 cup (236.59 ml) soy milk
  • 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon) apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon) instant coffee granules, mixed with 2 tbsp boiling water
  • cup (41 g) apple puree
  • cup (78 ml) olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) vanilla extract
  • 1 cup (125 g) plain flour
  • ½ cup (43 g) Dutch processed cocoa powder
  • ¾ teaspoon (¾ teaspoon) baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon (¼ teaspoon) sea salt
  • ¾ cup (150 g) caster sugar, (superfine)
  • ¼ cup (55 g) light muscovado sugar

Filling

  • 12.3 oz (350 g) blackberries
  • ¼ cup (50 g) caster sugar
  • ¼ cup (60 ml) water

Frosting

Garnish

  • 10.6 oz (300 g) dark chocolate
  • ½ cup (72 g) fresh blackberries

Instructions

Ahead of time

  • If you're topping the cupcakes with chocolate skulls, prep these first. Melt the chocolate over a double boiler (bain-marie). Pour the chocolate into the skull molds and refrigerate until set - you may need to repeat this process several times depending on the number of skull molds you have to hand.

Cupcakes

  • Preheat your oven to 180°C (356°F). Line a 12-hole cupcake tin with 12 cupcake liners.
  • To make the vegan "buttermilk" add the soy milk and apple cider vinegar to a small bowl, stir and allow to sit for 10 minutes.
  • Add the coffee, apple puree, olive oil, and vanilla extract to the vegan buttermilk mixture, stir and set aside. Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, caster sugar, and muscovado sugar to a separate bowl and whisk to make sure everything is evenly mixed. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk together until combined - do not over-mix.
  • Distribute the batter amongst the cupcake liners and bake for 22-25 minutes. Check they are done by piercing them with a toothpick or a knife, the knife should come out clean.
  • Allow the cupcakes to cool for about 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool further for 30-40 minutes.

Blackberry coulis

  • Add the blackberries, caster sugar, and water to a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook for 12 minutes, stirring often until the mixture is thick. Cool to room temperature and then store in the fridge until ready to use. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the coulis for making the frosting.
  • Use a cupcake corer (or apple corer) to cut out centers in the cooled cupcakes, reserve the pieces that you remove. Fill each cupcake with blackberry coulis and place the reserved cuts back on top of each one.

Frosting

  • Make a batch of vegan Swiss meringue buttercream.
  • Split the buttercream into 2 parts. Add 2 tbsp of the cooled blackberry coulis to one half and blend until combined. Add the 4 tbsp of cocoa powder to the other half and blend until combined as well.
  • Transfer the buttercreams to a piping bag fitted with an open star nozzle. Alternate between blackberry and chocolate buttercream when filling the bag to give a swirl effect.
  • Pipe the buttercream on top of each cupcake, top with chocolate skulls and fresh blackberries.

Storage

  • These cupcakes are best served at room temperature. If you're keeping them for more than a couple of days, refrigerate them in an airtight container for up to 5 days. I recommend taking them out of the fridge for at least 2-3 hours to bring them to room temperature before serving. Especially if you’re topping them with vegan buttercream which stiffens up when chilled.

Notes

  • Nutritional information is based on filled cupcakes without frosting.

 

 

Nutrition

Calories: 361kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 135mg | Potassium: 373mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 30g | Vitamin A: 151IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 68mg | Iron: 5mg
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4.82 from 43 votes (42 ratings without comment)

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15 Comments

  1. I made these last year and overall it went well except for the Swiss buttercream meringue - I followed the directions but it took hours of troubleshooting since the aquafaba was just stirring and not going into stiff peaks. I think what fixed it was I heated it a bit warmer- how warm did you get the aquafaba mixture before using the mixer? My last question is in regards to the flour- should I use “all purpose” flour (USA) or cake flour? I can’t remember what I used last year when I made it. It turned out delicious!
    Thank you!
    Julia

  2. These are gorgeous! I’m wondering what you sprinkled on the top with the skulls? So pretty. I hope to make these for a bake sale this weekend.

    1. Hi Malissa,

      Thank you so much! I sprinkled some freeze-dried blueberries on top. Hop0e all goes well for your bake sale x

  3. Hi Christina !

    I’ve tried making these but they seem to take forever to bake at 365f. I left them in for 45-50 min and they were still mushy on the inside. Do you you know why that is ? ( they tasted great though)

    Thank you so much
    Jessica

    1. Hi Jessica,

      The correct temperature for these is 180°C (356°F). It sounds like either the measurements may have been off or it could be an issue with the oven. Did you measure in grams or cups (grams are always more accurate)? Also, does your oven have a thermometer in it? I add one to mine as I know all ovens bake differently and don't always hold the temperature that they're set to!

      I hope this helps, and I'm glad they still tasted great though!

  4. Hi! I’m excited to try to bake these! For the instant coffee/water ingredient, what would the equivalent volume of regular brewed coffee be? Also for the chocolate in the garnish section, that is the same chocolate amount for the skull garnish, correct?
    Thanks!
    -julia

    1. Hi Julia,

      You can use a 30ml espresso shot in place of the instant coffee, or make it super strong coffee in the same volume. The chocolate amount is for the skulls, hope you enjoy making and eating these!

    1. Hi Christine,

      Dr Oetker Fine Dark Cocoa powder and Green&Blacks are Dutched. If in doubt, you can check the ingredients to see if they contain alkalising agents such as potassium carbonates.

  5. Can’t wait to have a go at making these… although any ideas on what I could sub the oil for? I know it might change it a little bit but I just hate cooking with oil!

    1. Hi Penelope,

      Excited for you to give them a go! The oil is needed in this recipe, otherwise the cupcakes will be super dry.

      1. Hello!
        I just had a question about the skull molds. The ones you linked are 1.9 inches high, but the ones you're using on the cupcakes look much smaller (2 inches is huge for a cupcake topper). Are the ones linked the ones you used? Thanks!