Eye-Candy Cakes

I wanted to create a Halloween recipe that was so easy, that anyone could whip them up in less than an hour. Who has the time to fiddle around with multi step Halloween recipes, or shop for complicated ingredients. So these Eye CAndy Cakes are just that...Candy topped cake. Pick up a few bags of Eyeball Gummy Candy and a box of Red velvet Cake mix, pull out the chocolate syrup from the back of the fridge and you're good to go. It's ideal for a crowd of kids and gory enough for the most macabre adult dinner party. Happy Halloween!

                                   🎃🎃🎃 5 days until Halloween🎃🎃🎃

Eye-Candy Cakes

Makes 24

1 box red velvet cake mix
24 gummy eyeballs (I used only red iris eyeballs)

Blood Syrup
1/2 cup Chocolate syrup
1 tsp red food coloring

Bloody Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
1 T milk
2 tsp Blood Syrup(above)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare cake according to box instructions. Spray mini bundt cake pan with cooking spray and portion cake batter and fill half way. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes then invert and cool on a rack. While the cakes cool, prepare the Bloody Chocolate Syrup and Bloody Icing in separate bowls.

Top each cake with a red gummy eyeball candy. Drizzle around the eyeball with Bloody Icing and then drip Blood Syrup over the eyeball and allow it to drip down the cake. Add more icing or Syrup until you get the right look.

Other Halloween Ideas to try:

Jack-o-lantern Cupcakes

My Bloody Valentine

Candy Corn Sugar Cookies

My Bloody Valentine (Red Velvet Cake with Berry Sauce)

Valentine's day is not my favorite holiday. Honestly, it's an awful holiday. It puts ridiculous pressure on couples, new and old. And don't get me started on the number it works on all the single gals. I remember depressingly quiet and lonely Valentine's days when I was young and single. It's ironic that what was once a dreaded day to endure long ago, sounds like the perfect Valentine's Day to me today. What I'd give for a quiet evening alone...All kidding aside, what better way to improve a dreaded holiday, than by channeling my favorite holiday...Halloween! 

I redefined all the hearts and chocolates of Valentine's day with this cadaver quality dessert! Sure it looks like a bloody, gory mess but it is actually a  decadent heart-shaped red velvet cake. Dense and moist like a large cake pop with chocolate buttercream frosting mixed in and drizzled with a deep scarlet berry sauce! Scary enough to chase the faint of heart away. If he doesn't run, you've found yourself a keeper! Happy Valentine's Day.

My Bloody Valentine Cake

(Red Velvet Cake with Berry Sauce)
Serves 4

1 box Red Velvet Cake mix
3 T chocolate frosting*
1 heart-shaped Jello Mold 
a smidge of purple gel food coloring

Bake cake according to package directions. Cool completely. In a large bowl, crumble cake and add about 3 Tbsp chocolate frosting and mix until incorporated.

*I made my own Chocolate Buttercream (recipe below), but feel free to use ready made frosting if desired.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
2 T cocoa powder
1-2 T whipping cream 
Cream butter, sugar and cocoa with a hand mixer. Add whipping cream and whip until smooth. 

Place 1 cup of prepared cake/frosting mixture in a separate bowl and add a small amount of purple food coloring to darken the cake slightly. The darker cake mix will be used to make the veins of the heart. 

Using you hands roll small thin tubes of cake mix and place in the contour of the veins of the jello mold. Refrigerate veins for about 30 minutes to harden a bit before topping with more cake mixture.

Remove from refrigerator and fill mold with the lighter cake mixture and then finish the top with the remaining darker cake mix. Refrigerate overnight or until firm. 
To remove from the mold, place a plate over the mold and gently squeeze the mold until the cake releases. Now prepare the berry sauce.


Mixed Berry Sauce
1 cup frozen mixed berries (strawberry, blackberry, raspberry, blueberry)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water

Add all ingredients to a small sauce pan and heat until bubbling. Smash berries with a potato masher. Set aside. If you want smooth sauce (blood look only) with no berries, strain it and discard the fruit. If you want it chunky, do not strain the sauce. Here's a picture of the cake with the strained sauce where the top picture is chunky style.  Enjoy!

Other recipes to try:

Black Magic Spellcakes

Valentine Peppermints

Red Velvet Brownies with Cookie Crumble Frosting

Red Velvet Brownies with Cookie Crumble Frosting

I sat here yesterday morning writing the blog for Ham and Cheddar Scones while, I anxiously planned what I was going to cook on my day off. (Who am I kidding...like I get a day off. It was more like a day without obligations until 2pm while the kids were at school.) I'll take it though!
So yesterday of all days, as I quietly complained (via blog post) that it hadn't been cool enough here in California for me to cook all my favorite fall comfort foods, the weather, acting as the "complainer" police dished out 93 degree heat. It was a real scorcher! The weather basically said, "Take that you complainer! You live in California!" 
So you might ask, since I was feeling so anxious about cooking in hot weather...what did I cook? Or, dare I say...bake? 
I baked these insanely delicious and beautiful Red Velvet Brownies with a Chocolate Cookie Crumble Frosting. Yep, I did it! The heat inspired me to light a fire for the taste buds and I don't regret a thing! 93 degrees..take that!! These are out of the park delicious! The chocolate crumble frosting being a big departure from the traditional cream cheese frosting on red velvet, but it goes together perfectly. The bright red brownie tasting almost like caramel with its moist buttery batter topped with chocolate and cookies...Yum! Enjoy!

I might add, I think I skipped fall and Thanksgiving altogether and went right into winter and on to celebrate Christmas! Hmmm...I think these might be perfect for a cookie exchange? Merry 'early' Christmas!

Red Velvet Brownies with Cookie Crumble Frosting (brownie recipe from Smells Like Home) 


3 T cocoa powder, unsweetened
2 T (1 oz.) red food coloring
2 t vanilla extract, divided
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp.
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 t salt

Topping
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
10 Chocolate-filled sandwich cookies (Oreos), crumbled

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 8"x 8" pan. (Note: I opted to line my pan with parchment paper instead, after my first failed attempt to get these little buggers out of the pan. Parchment worked like a charm.)



In a small bowl add cocoa, food coloring and 1 tsp vanilla extract and mix until it forms a smooth paste with no lumps. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat with a hand mixer or a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition, then add the remaining vanilla extract.

Add the cocoa mixture and mix on medium until well blended. Slowly add the flour and salt and mix on medium speed, until just combined. Do not overmix. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides to ensure all flour is incorporated. 


Pour batter into prepared pans and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle.

While the brownies are cooking, place ~10 chocolate sandwich cookies into a food processor and blend until they are roughly crumbled. Set aside. 










 Remove brownies from the oven and sprinkle the semi-sweet chocolate chips on top of the hot brownies, place back in the oven for 2 minutes and then remove pan from oven. While still hot, smooth out the melted chips with a spoon to coat the top of the brownies. Sprinkle crumbled cookies on top of melted chocolate chips. Let cool completely on a wire rack, approximately 60 minutes. 

 

Place in the refrigerator ~30 minutes to firm up the chocolate before cutting. Cut and serve. Enjoy!