Bloody Eyeball Cake Bites

In addition to helping organize a fundraiser in October, my family is hosting a Halloweenie Roast.  I wanted to create some fun Halloween themed treats to share with our guests at both of these events.  I found these great eyeball treat toppers.  I have both small and large candy eyes but decided to use the small ones for this recipe.  I thought it'd be awesome to use these on cookies, cupcakes or cake pops.  The cake pops really interested me because it would be like eating an eyeball on a stick.  Gross!

Well, my first attempt at making cake pops was a complete disaster. The sticks would not stay in place and I didn't like how the candy melts tasted.  I decided to give it another go without the sticks and a different icing.  I know my boys will definitely love these because the cake part is strawberry muffin mix which has bits of red inside to mimic blood.  Disgusting but fun, right?  The cream cheese frosting makes them even better!                      

I used the Martha White strawberry muffin mix which made 1 1/2 dozen cake pops.  All you have to do is add milk. 

Directions for Baking

• I baked my little cakes in the Baby Cakes Cake Pop Maker for 3-4 minutes which worked much better than the NordicWare Cake Pop Pan I used in my first attempt at cake pops.  I sprayed each reservoir with oil before adding 1 tablespoon of batter.  Do not overfill!  The cakes come out perfectly and don't stick to the pan.  
• Allow cake pops to cool completely before coating in icing.

Directions for Decorating

You have many options for decorating your bloody eyeball cakes depending on what you like.  I'm not a big frosting person so I prefer something light versus heavy.  I like the flavor of cream cheese icing with the strawberry cake.

I attempted to make a quick pour fondant from a recipe I found online but it never thickened so I tossed it.  I substituted a ready-made cream cheese icing in the tub instead.  I heated it up in the microwave for about 15 seconds to melt it.  You could also add a tablespoon of meringue powder to give it a glossy, hard finish.  The icing is light in flavor and white which makes it look eyeball-ish.  Perfect for our creepy Halloween treat!!

Using a fork or preferably the tool which comes with Baby Cakes maker to hold cake underneath, drop cake pop into melted icing or use spoon to covering it completely.  

Allow icing to drip off.  Place on wax paper or cooling rack to allow icing to set.  

After icing glaze sets, use a #3 Wilton icing tip to add a small circle of red frosting and place candy eyeball onto red icing.  

Add squiggly lines of red icing extending from red circle to mimic veins.  Sprinkle with red sugar before white icing sets or after adding red icing if desired. 

Happy Halloween!