Scare your little ones with realistic artwork on these easy Halloween dessert recipes. Fancy a surprise in the seemingly boring chocolate sandwich cookie you picked up, and boom, a pair of eyes stare back at you? If that does not get a giggle from your kids and the others, we also have a cobweb cake pops recipe as well, if eyes are not your thing. Get creative, pick some baking supplies, Cadbury chocolate, and food coloring, and get started!
1. Cobweb Cake Pops
(Makes 20 cake pops)
Ingredients
For the sponge
- 150 gm butter, divided
- 200 gm caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 200 gm self-rising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 30 gm Cadbury Cocoa Powder
For the cake pops
- 400 gm chocolate frosting
- 25 gm milk chocolate, melted, for securing the sticks
To decorate
- 200 gm Cadbury Bournville dark chocolate, melted
- 100 gm white chocolate, melted
- Cocoa powder for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C.
- While the oven heats, use an electric mixer at high speed to beat butter and sugar in a bowl. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat again.
- Sift flour, baking powder, and cocoa powder and fold into the egg bowl.
- Grease and line an 8-inch round cake tin with parchment and pour the batter into it. Smoothen with a spatula.
- Bake for 25 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool off.
- Once cool, crumble the cake into a big bowl. Add ¾ of the frosting to the bowl and mix. You should be able to form balls with the mixture that stays. Add more frosting if needed.
- Divide the cake-frosting mix into 20 equal parts and roll into balls.
- Arrange them on a tray as you make them. Dip the end of each stick for the cake pops into the melted chocolate, and push the sticks into each of the cake balls.
- Place the cake pops in the refrigerator for one to two hours to firm up. You can also leave them there overnight and finish them the next day.
- Melt the dark chocolate first, in a microwave-safe bowl, stirring at 30-second intervals.
- Dip each cake pop in the melted chocolate and turn them to coat completely. Let the excess drip off and arrange them into an upturned colander or box lid to keep them erect.
- Next, follow the same process to melt the white chocolate. Let it cool a bit, then take each cake pop and drizzle the white chocolate to create a 3D effect of cobwebs.
- Let them set at room temperature and sprinkle the cocoa powder over them while slightly sticky to get that depth effect. Serve the Cobweb Cake Pops right away.
2. Somethings’ Peeking Cookies
(Makes 12 sandwich cookies)
For the cookies:
- 2 x 500 gm packs of chocolate cake mix
- 4 eggs
- 115 gm unsalted butter, softened
For the filling:
- 225 gm cream cheese, softened
- 100 gm butter, softened
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 50 gm Cadbury cocoa powder
- 400 gm powdered sugar
For the Googly Eyes
- 60 gm white chocolate
- 1 tbsp milk chocolate
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Add butter, cake mix, and eggs to a bowl and beat on high speed using an electric whisk until smooth. Roll out 24 balls from this mixture and place on two baking sheets, no need to grease.
- Bake for 10 minutes and let the cookies stand on sheets for five minutes before putting them on a cooling rack.
- Add cream cheese and butter to a mixing bowl and beat using an electric whisk until combined. Pour the vanilla and mix.
- Then add cocoa first, then the sugar in three batches, mixing after each addition. After the third batch, increase the speed to high and beat until light and airy.
- Add the frosting between two completely cooled cookies and press down to sandwich.
- Arrange the cookies on a tray and set aside. Next, melt white chocolate and using a tiny spoon or knife drop on a parchment paper to make the 2D eyeballs. Let the chocolate harden for 5-10 minutes.
- Melt milk chocolate next and using a toothpick create pupils on the white chocolate circles.
- Attach the eyes to the cookies’ surface using frosting or push them in the frosting filling.