Ready for a gory Halloween treat? Make these bloody fondant brain cupcakes!

Bloody Fondant Brain Cupcakes. A fun Halloween dessert to make with the kids...bwahahahaha!

In keeping with my Walking Dead Terminus cannibal theme, I’m sharing a How to Make Bloody Fondant Brain Cupcakes. Sure, I could have used frosting to mimic brains, but I really wanted to try making marshmallow fondant. So…bloody fondant brain cupcakes were born!

Bloody Fondant Brain Cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients

1 box red velvet cake mix for the cupcakes or substitute with your own cupcake recipe.

Marshmallow Fondant Ingredients

The marshmallow fondant needs to be refrigerated for a minimum of 12 hours to firm up. I refrigerated mine for 24 hours.

1 bag of marshmallows
2 – 4 T. water
8 cups powdered sugar (more may be needed)
oil or shortening
red food gel

These ingredients are for the Wilton Marshmallow Fondant Recipe. This is one of the easiest marshmallow fondant recipes on the web and there is a how-to video in the recipe card below ⇓.

Tips for making marshmallow fondant:

Make sure to grease up your hands AND counters really well – this stuff is super sticky! I didn’t initially use enough grease and the fondant stuck to everything!
Have extra powdered sugar as the humidity in your area can affect the moisture level in the fondant.
Adding food coloring adds moisture, so have extra powdered sugar on hand. Also, wear food safe gloves if you don’t want food color on your hands.
Fondant should be refrigerated for at least 12 hours to make it easier to work with.
Unused fondant can be wrapped and kept in the refrigerator for up to a month. Place in the freezer if storing longer. Reheat in the microwave with a few drops of water if it is too hard.

Once the fondant and cupcakes are made, move on to the fun part…creating the brains!

Bloody Fondant Brain Cupcakes

Bloody Fondant Brain Cupcake Supplies

round cookie cutter or cup that is the same size as the tops of the cupcake
rolling pin
silpat or non-stick surface to work on
red food coloring gel
red icing gel (thinned out strawberry jam could be used)
optional – food safe gloves
optional – candy butcher knives

How to Make Bloody Fondant Brain Cupcakes

Step 1. Follow marshmallow fondant recipe a day ahead of cupcake assembly. Optional – Add food coloring to the marshmallow fondant to make it slightly pink. Leave it out if you don’t want to add it.

Step 2. Roll out the fondant to about 1/8″ thick on a greased surface. Use a round cookie cutter or cup to cut out circles to cover the top of the cupcakes. Place the fondant circles on top of each cupcake.

Step 3. Squeeze a small portion of red icing gel onto each circle. Spread it on to lightly coat it. This will help the ‘brain’ fondant pieces stick to it. Strawberry jam can be used too.

Step 4. Take small pieces of fondant and roll out to thin 1/8″ logs and place a strip down the center of each cupcake to divide it into two brain sections.

Step 5. Add the remaining folled fondant in squiggly lines onto each side of the ‘brain’.

Step 6. Spread more red icing gel onto the ‘brain’. Use a fine brush or light spread with your finger. The red icing gel gives the tops a sleek wet look. Optional – add a candy butcher knife and red icing gel around the knife.

Note: you can add red food coloring to the red icing gel for a deep red color.

Completed Bloody Fondant Brain Cupcakes

Here are the finished bloody fondant brain cupcakes. The top one has no red coloring on the fondant, the bottom left has some coloring (this is my favorite), and the bottom right has the most coloring.

bloody fondant brain and finger cupcakes

I even had enough fondant to make a few bloody cut fingers too! On a side note, I did have to leave some of the cupcakes plain because my youngest teenage son refused to eat the bloody brain cupcakes or the finger cupcakes. He said it was so gross looking, which means I did a pretty good job 🙂

Marshmallow Fondant

Name: Marshmallow Fondant
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 1 d 20 min
Yield: 1
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 1 bag (16 oz.) of mini marshmallows; 2 – 4 T. water; 8 cups powdered sugar (more may be needed), sifted; oil or shortening; Optional - food gel coloring

Yield: 1 block of fondant

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Additional Time: 1 day

Total Time: 1 day 20 minutes

How to make marshmallow fondant. Use to decorate cakes, cupcakes, or other desserts. I used it to create fun Halloween Bloody Fondant Brain Cupcakes.

Ingredients

1 bag (16 oz.) of mini marshmallows
2 – 4 T. water
8 cups powdered sugar (more may be needed), sifted
oil or shortening
Optional - food gel coloring

Instructions

Place marshmallows and 2 T. of water in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 30 seconds and mix. Continue microwaving in 30 seconds increments until marshmallows are melted.
Place about 3/4 of the powdered sugar into the marshmallows and fold into it.
Add 1/4 cup shortening or oil to a bowl. You will need this to help grease your hands and work surface and to prevent marshmallow fondant from sticking. Dump out fondant onto your work surface and knead. Continue to knead, adding powdered sugar to the fondant. If the fondant is too dry, add 1/2 T. of water at a time. Continue to knead and add powdered sugar until you get a manageable fondant ball (see video at 2:56 for consistency)
If adding color, add a few drops now and knead into fondant. Fondant can be divided to make several colors if needed.
Roll fondant into blocks or balls. Apply a very thin layer of shortening/oil on the outside of the fondant. Wrap with plastic wrap and place in an airtight bag, squeezing out any air. Place in the fridge and let rest for at least 24 hours.

Notes

For my bloody fondant brain cupcakes, I used red food gel.

TIPS

Make sure to grease up your hands AND counters really well – this stuff is super sticky! I didn’t initially use enough grease and the fondant stuck to everything!
Have extra powdered sugar as the humidity in your area can affect the moisture level in the fondant.
Adding food coloring adds moisture, so have extra powdered sugar on hand. Also, wear food safe gloves if you don’t want food color on your hands.
Fondant should be refrigerated for at least 12 hours to make it easier to work with.
Unused fondant can be wrapped and kept in the refrigerator for up to a month. Place in the freezer if storing longer. Reheat in the microwave with a few drops of water if it is too hard.

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