Halloween is almost here and it's one of my favorite holidays. I was slacking on putting up my decorations; so I made up for lost time this weekend. Every year when the kids were little we had a huge Halloween party including spooky treats and games. One of the games we liked to play was called "Fear Factor Eating Contest".
I've spent the last couple of days Spookifying (is that a word?) the place. I think the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. I'm a Halloween decorations junkie; I've lost count of how many bins of decorations there are in our rafters. I'm only putting out my favorites and the rest have to go, or at least that is what I'm telling myself once again.
What, doesn't everyone have a zombie that takes his head off lying around?
Or miscellaneous body parts?
Okay, well Skelly really isn't all that spooky, but my daughter won't let me part with him.
Oh yes, back to the "Fear Factor Eating contest"; there were no real bug shakes or the like. Just tasty treats made to look scary. Of course these things are eaten in the dark, to add to the scare factor. One of the favorites was "Bloody Eyeballs"; sounds wretched, but in reality it was a luscious cream puff with a crunchy exterior and smooshy interior. Eaten in the dark, they really grossed the kids out.
Spiced Cream Puffs w Cinnamon Whip Cream - AKA Bloody Eyeballs
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tbsp. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup water
1/4 tsp. salt
4 large eggs, beaten
Mix together flour, sugar, cinnamon, and cloves and set aside.
In small saucepan add butter, water and salt and cook on low till melted, then bring to a boil and remove from heat. Add flour mixture and stir till combined, place back on heat and stir till dried out just a bit, it will leave a film on the bottom of the pan, only takes about a minute.
Transfer the dough to a mixer. Beat on medium speed for about 1 minute to cool. Add eggs, a couple tablespoons at a time. Mixture should be shiny and sticking to the sides of the bowl.
You will need a large piping bag and a silpat or parchment paper. Fill the bag with the dough and pipe 1" circles onto the mat, I got 24. Stick the tip of the bag on the mat and just squeeze, don't lift up and if you have tips stick up, you can use a wet knife to knock them down if you want.
Bake in 400 degree F oven for 10 minutes, then reduce to 350 degrees F and bake for 25 minutes more, until nice and dry and crisp.
Cinnamon Whip Cream
1 cup heavy whipping cream
4 tbsp. granulated sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
Combine all in a mixer bowl and beat until stiff. Place in piping bag with a small tip.
Set aside in fridge.
To decorate the eyeballs, melt 1 bag of white candy melts from craft store in microwave or over double boiler, dip cream puffs in and set on rack to dry. When dry use, food color pens or glossy icing pens to decorate and fill with whip cream from bottom, prior to serving.
I threw this one in because I have Hazel eyes that turn freakishly green like this when they are bloodshot; I thought how ironic!
Enjoy,
Gina
