Little Monster Cake Balls - September 2011

I was invited to participate as a guest blogger in a Halloween Event on Doodles and Doilies, but up to that point I had never made any Halloween goodies.  So, I decided to make these Little Monster cake balls for the event [and for us to eat later :)].

These are just made using the basic cake ball recipe, then decorated various ways.  To make the actual cake ball I just followed the recipe found on Bakerella's website [yay, Bakerella :) ], which you can find here.  (You'll also find instructions and tips on coating them with the chocolate.)

For these cake balls I actually used some extra cake and icing I had leftover from making a cake for my brother-in-law's birthday (see post Take Me Out to the Ball Game...).  To decorate them I used candy corn and pumpkins from the Brach's Autumn Mix, candy eyeballs from Wilton (so cute), chocolate almond bark (or you could use candy melts), and buttercream icing tinted various colors with food coloring.  I used toothpicks to make the mouths on my monsters.

yum...

After you get your cake and icing all smushed up to a good consistency you'll want to roll and shape the cake balls.  Think about if you want all the monsters to be the same size or if you want some to be different sizes or a special shape.  (After you shape them you'll want to put them in the fridge for a few hours or you can speed things up by putting them in the freezer.)

Here are the different shaped cake balls that I made before they were decorated.

Now that they're ready you can let your imagination go and have fun decorating your monsters!

For the chocolate covered monsters you can either have everything ready (candy corn, eyes, etc) to try to adhere to your monster before the chocolate sets or you can use a little of the melted chocolate to stick everything onto the hardened chocolate.  This time I did the latter, with a few exceptions.  For the monster with brown feet I put the candy corn in before it was dipped in the chocolate, and for the one with the yellow feet I stuck them in immediately after dipping it in the chocolate before it had a chance to harden.  The tall, gloppy, chocolate monster didn't get dipped, but instead I dripped the chocolate over it to give it... well... a drippy look.  :)  After I got the things stuck on I used a grass tip to pipe on any hair or fur.

Here is one of my family's favorites as it was made that had the chocolate covering on it.

Now if I were going to make these again I would add the mouths after I dipped them just before the chocolate was set instead of later in the decorating process, but if you forget or decide you want to add one later you shouldn't have a problem.

For the monsters covered in buttercream icing I used my grass tip again to get that furry look.  When I started covering these monsters I picked the cake ball up and piped my icing around the bottom in a couple of rows first, then I set it down on the parchment paper to finish piping the rest of the fur on it.  The only exceptions to that were the monsters with the long fur that goes all the way down.  That was piped on from top to bottom in long strands.   You'll want to try to have your eyes and other decorations ready to put on before your icing sets so they stick, but also so it doesn't crack or crumble your icing when you push them into it.  Most of the candy corn I used whole, but for some monsters I experimented with cutting it depending on the look I wanted.  Make sure you let your icing set well before you pick up or move your monsters (you may even want to put them in the fridge to help it set some).  I found using a thin spatula to get under the monster and lift it up helped minimize damage from finger indentations, etc.

Here is one of my family's favorites as it was made that was covered using the buttercream icing.  I used a toothpick to shape the mouth before I put the teeth on.  The teeth, by the way, are tips of candy corn cut in half.  :)

My son nicknamed this one Tricker-Treater Pumpkin Eater!  :)

I would imagine these would work as cake pops too (I've not yet made any cake pops).  You may just have to watch the size some since these tend to be a bit heavy, you'd want to make sure they stay on the stick.  (You can also find instructions for cake pops on Bakerella's site here.)

All kinds of happy little monsters!  :)  Is that a one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater?... I think it would be the one getting eaten though.  :)

The top one above kind of reminded us of a turkey, the kids called the middle one Yoda, and then there's my nod to a cute two headed monster I used to watch on Sesame Street.  :)

If you're like me, you may find it helpful to sketch out some monsters before you start to get an idea of what you want them to look like and to know what you'll need to make them.  It's by no means necessary though, some people work better being spontaneous.  :)

To make our little pumpkin patch I used some crumbled cookies for dirt and some of the pumpkins from the Brach's mix.  It made a great place for our monsters to hang out.  :)

Some artificial fall leaves give it a nice touch too.

I had a lot of fun making these little monsters and thought they turned out really cute!  We all had a good time eating them up too!  :)

(I created my animated name at this site.)

 

 

Parties I've linked this post to:

Creative Bloggers' Party and Hop - Homemaker on a Dime

Made by You Monday - Skip to My Lou

Just Something I Whipped Up - The Girl Creative

Tuesday To Do - The Blackberry Vine

Whatever Goes Wednesday - Someday Crafts

What I Whipped Up Wednesday - Sugar and Dots

Strut Your Stuff - Somewhat Simple

Sweet Treats & Swanky Stuff Thursday - Something Swanky

Kitchen Fun and Crafty Friday - Kitchen Fun with My Three Sons

For the Kids Friday - Sun Scholars

Show Me What You Got - Our Delightful Home

Halloween Categorically Crafting - Someday Crafts