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As the nights grow longer and a spine-tingling chill fills the air, it’s time to start preparing for everyone’s favourite spooky holiday. Halloween brings out the inner child in all of us, and it’s a great excuse to get creative, with costumes, decorations, and, of course, Halloween-themed food.
If you’re planning a Halloween event this year, our Halloween recipe ideas will make sure your party is a real scream. After the main event, treat your guests to one of these devilishly good Halloween desserts, with options to suit every taste, whether your theme is subtly spooky or downright grisly.
These days, no Halloween party is complete without a selection of creepy-but-cute cake pops. They couldn’t be easier to make, and with a few carefully-placed decorations, you can make them into a rogue’s gallery of ghosts, ghouls and creepy crawlies.
What are cake pops?
Cake pops are tiny cakes on sticks - a cross between a cake and a popsicle. They are usually made from cake crumbs mixed with frosting or chocolate, shaped into balls, squares, or any other shape you like, and decorated with melted chocolate, fondant, or candies. For a professional-looking finish, you can buy cake pop moulds and decorating pens from craft and baking supply stores
The great thing about cake pops is that they’re so easy to customise. You can keep them simple, or treat them like cake toppers, making them into fun characters or objects. There are tons of cake pop ideas online, from pops that look like other foods to popular TV and movie characters, and there is plenty of Halloween inspiration out there too. They’re an easy way to create a theme without having to decorate an entire celebration cake, and if you want something special to hand out to your neighbourhood trick-or-treaters, a spooky Halloween cake pop is just the thing.
Tips and tricks for making cake pops
Cake pops are pretty simple to make, but there are still a few tips and tricks to help make them the best they can be.
Plan your display
Try to visualise how you will display your cake pops before you make them. If the pops are going to be at the top of the stick, you will need something to hold them upright. For your Halloween pops, you could try poking the sticks into a slice of pumpkin, or standing them up in a small trick-or-treat candy bucket filled with candies or shredded paper to hold them in place. If you’re displaying them with the stick pointing upwards, make sure the bottom of the cake pop has a flat surface so it doesn’t fall over.
Bake from scratch
Many cake pop recipes recommend using cake mix, but if you have time, try using a basic white sponge cake recipe instead. Homemade cakes tend to yield a denser crumb than mixes, so your pops will hold together better.
Size matters
Avoid making your cake pops too large, as this makes them prone to overbalancing or falling off their sticks. If you don’t have cake pop moulds, try using a small cookie scoop instead.
Freeze your pops
Make sure you freeze your cake pops for at least an hour to stop them falling apart when you try to insert the sticks. If you have room in your freezer, place them on a baking sheet with plenty of space between each pop, so they don’t stick together. If you’re short on space, you can place them all together in a container with each pop wrapped in parchment paper.
Glue your stick in place
Before you push the stick into your cake pop, dip the end in some melted chocolate or candy melt. This should dry quickly when pushed inside the frozen cake pop, gluing the stick in place.
Now you know how to make them, it’s time to take a look at our favourite Halloween cake pop recipes. They’re cute, creepy and creative, and once you try them, it’s sure to be love at first bite.
The Eyeball
Is it just your imagination, or are they following you around the room? These grisly eyeball pops from BBC Good Food might look gory, but they taste of sweet madeira cake and chocolate. They’re simple to make, even by cake pop standards, and your kids will love helping you decorate them with gruesome red veins.
The Ghost
These adorable white chocolate ghost cake pops from Baking Mad are more friendly ghost than vengeful spirit, and the effect is easy to achieve, as long as you have a steady hand. If you find yourself being haunted by some of these little guys, then you’re in luck - with a freshly-baked sponge cake and yummy vanilla frosting, they taste spookily good.
The Mummy
These mummy cake pops from Creations by Kara come with a terrible curse - once you’ve tried one, you won’t be able to resist another. Underneath his peeling bandages, this mummy has a delicious chocolate centre that will soon have your guests under his sinister spell. With chocolate chip eyes peeking out from an almond bark wrapping, these cake pops are simple to decorate, and another great option for making with the kids.
Frankenstein’s Monster
Recreate Dr Frankenstein’s diabolical experiment in your own kitchen with these Frankenstein’s monster cake pops from Ideas for the Home by Kenarry. These monstrous creations are made with grisly green sponge cake and piped chocolate decoration for a classic Frankenstein’s monster look. The decoration does require a little more attention than some of the others, so very small children may need some guidance, but it’s still a fairly simple design.
The Spider
If you’ve ever worried about spiders crawling into your mouth at night, you might change your mind once you’ve tasted these chocolate flavoured spider cake pops from Wide Open Eats. These creepy crawly critters do require a little more assembly than the others, but with their fuzzy, sugar-coated bodies, spindly liquorice legs and big googly eyes, they’re more than worth the effort.
