Halloween Party Food: Cake Ball "Eyeballs" Recipe

Kids' favorite party treat — cake balls — get a monstrous makeover for your Halloween get-together. Just the right size for small hands, these sweet treats are sure to get two thumbs up from your favorite trick-or-treaters.
Halloween Cake Eyeballs

Halloween Cake Eyeballs

Photography by Buff Strickland

Photography by Buff Strickland

Makes 12 cake balls

Ingredients

1 box red velvet cake mix (plus ingredients on back of box)
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
12 oz. white chocolate, cut into 1" pieces (or candy coating)
red edible marker
12 blue candy-coated wafers
12 dark brown mini M&M candies

Instructions

1. Bake red velvet cake according to package directions. Turn out of pan and let cool on a wire rack, then, using fingers, crumble into a large bowl. Use a fork to break apart any large pieces of cake; you want it to be a fine texture.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add powdered sugar, half a cup at a time, until combined, then add vanilla and beat until smooth.

3. Fold half the cream cheese frosting into the cake crumbles, then add frosting a little at a time just until the cake crumbles come together. Set aside remaining frosting for decorating.

4. Scoop into 1 1/2-inch balls and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat with remaining cake, then refrigerate cake balls for 2 hours.

5. Melt the chocolate over a double boiler. (If using candy coating, follow melting instructions on package.) Remove a few cake balls from the refrigerator at a time — they're easier to handle if cold. Use 2 forks to dip each cake ball into melted chocolate, allowing any excess to drip off. Pass the cake ball back and forth between 2 forks to coat completely, then place back on wax paper and let sit for 5 minutes.

6. When all the cake balls are dry, use a tiny dab of frosting to adhere one blue candy wafer to the center of each ball. Add another tiny dab of frosting to center of each wafer, then adhere dark brown M&M to look like a pupil.

7. Using a red edible marker, draw tiny wavy lines to make the eyeballs look bloodshot.

Halloween Cake Eyeballs

Halloween Cake "Eyeballs"

Cake balls go spooky with simple decor that screams, "We are watching you." They are made of red velvet cake mix, cream cheese, and white chocolate.

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