Halloween Black Sesame Eyeball Cupcakes

Updated September 21, 2019 (Originally posted October 30, 2016)

Are you into the intricate and colorful Halloween desserts? I'm always impressed by the detail people put into their bloody brain cupcakes and skull-topped layered cakes but I just can't bring myself to eat desserts filled with food coloring. That said, I did have to whip out my gel food color for the white chocolate eyeballs to top these black sesame cupcakes.

These Halloween black sesame cupcakes are the perfect unique treat for an adult Halloween party! The base is a fluffy black sesame cupcake frosted with black sesame buttercream, and topped with my white chocolate eyeballs!

Black sesame and sweet potato are a classic combination in Japan. Sweet potato cakes and loafs are often topped with black sesame seeds, so I had to use the combination for my Halloween cupcakes, and it worked perfectly! Plus, it's naturally dark and eery! Yesss!

How to make Halloween black sesame cupcakes

In a bowl, combine the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Stir in the eggs, sour cream, canola oil, and black tahini. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir. Add the milk, stir until just combined, and fill up the cupcake liners.

Once the black sesame cupcakes come out of the oven, transfer them to a wire rack immediately and let them cool completely. You want them to be completely cool to ensure the delicious black sesame buttercream frosting doesn't melt off!

To make the black sesame frosting, beat the butter and black tahini. Add the powdered sugar and continue beating. All that's left to do is to put it in a piping bag and frost your black sesame cupcakes!

I frosted mine with a hole in the center like a doughnut because I wanted to fill it with my fake blood (aka red berry jam) before topping it with my sweet potato eyeball.

Is the "fake blood" necessary?

Nope! You can totally skip the jam. In fact, I would actually suggest skipping the jam. The berry flavor was too strong and overpowered the black sesame flavor! When I originally made these, I wanted the creepy bloody look without using food coloring (or keep it to a minimum, since I already used it for the eyeballs).

Here would be my suggestion: Combine black tahini with some honey (to taste) and use that to replace the jam before topping them with the eyeball.

You might be thinking, "Gee Ai, why not just remake the cupcakes using the black tahini paste so we can see how it would look?"

You see, I may have caused a bit of an accident with these cupcakes. After I made these, we each had a couple cupcakes, and that night, he turned around to look at me and poked his eye with a thick branch. We went to the emergency room where we were told that he tore his cornea (that's the scientific term for eyeball skin) and he'll need to get it stitched!

That's right, I jinxed my husband into getting a stitch on his eyeball! Just remembering what happened is making me slightly queasy.

But don't let what happened to us keep you from making these Halloween cupcakes! They're too good! Just make sure to stay away from anything that could hurt your eyeball! Either that or wear goggles for the day. That's probably the safest bet. Maybe add a helmet for good measure.

These Halloween eyeball cupcakes will be the perfect addition to your Halloween party table this year! They're fluffy, full of black sesame flavor, and so so delicious!

If you make these cupcakes, make sure you tag me #aimadeitforyou on Instagram!

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