Glowy Noms: Black Light Cupcakes

Here’s a recipe that learns you how to make cupcakes that glow under black light. That’s right, GLOWING CUPCAKES. Because apparently regular cupcakes just aren’t exciting enough anymore. The trick? Tonic water, Jell-O, and a little patience. Nothing says party like a bunch of desserts that look completely normal until somebody turns on the black light.

Why Do Cupcakes Glow Under Black Light?

The original recipe comes from Recipe Snobs, where blogger Cammy Lee shared her Ghoulishly Glowing Cupcakes back in 2011. The secret ingredient is tonic water, which contains quinine, a substance that fluoresces when exposed to ultraviolet light. Basically, the cupcakes don’t glow all by themselves in the dark. You need a black light to make the magic happen. Still, that’s a pretty neat trick for something you’re about to shove into your face.

How to Make Glowing Cupcakes

And here’s where things get interesting. The recipe uses tonic water in the frosting itself, but for the colored cupcakes, the trick involves dipping the iced cupcakes into a Jell-O and tonic water mixture. First, the frosted cupcakes go into the freezer so the icing can firm up. Then the frosting gets dipped into the cooled gelatin mixture, with several dips and brief trips back to the freezer to build up the coating. According to the original recipe, white frosting glows the brightest, while darker colors produce a weaker effect. So if your cupcakes aren’t looking radioactive enough, your frosting color might be the problem.

These glowing treats would go pretty well with the Black Light Cocktail we posted a few months back. Which, by the way, some of you REALLY came out of the woodwork to say some prettyyyy mean things about in the comments. But don’t worry, I forgive you all. You were probably just having a bad day. I know you guys didn’t mean it! If you did, then… well, clearly I’ve been deluding myself all this time.

Where to Find the Original Glowing Cupcakes Recipe

Anyway, enough about me and my shattered self-esteem. If you’d like to take a stab at making these cupcakes, you can find the original recipe HERE. It includes the frosting, gelatin coating, and instructions for getting that spooky glow just right. If you’d like to take a stab at me, well, to be honest, I’M NOT SURPRISED. You already made it pretty clear how you feel. I HAVE FEELINGS TOO, YOU KNOW!