Cheeky Chocolate Bats
Ingredients
- 125g (4½oz) cake crumbs
- 1 x 25g sachet Dr. Oetker Fine Dark Cocoa Powder
- 40g (1½oz) icing sugar
- 50 g (2oz) unsalted butter, melted
- 1tsp Dr. Oetker American Peppermint Extract
- 225g (8oz) Dr. Oetker Fine Cooks’ 72% Extra Dark Chocolate
- To Decorate: Dr. Oetker White Designer Icing; Dr. Oetker Bright Writing Icing (Red)
Halloween is almost here again! If you’re like us, you’ll be determined to have some (spooky) fun in the kitchen – and that’s where this cheeky Halloween recipe comes in!
Makes: 9 bats
Preparation time: 2hr
How to make chocolate bats Halloween recipe:
The body:
- Line a plate and a large board with baking parchment.
- Put the cake crumbs in a mixing bowl. Sift the Cocoa Powder and icing sugar on top. Mix in the melted butter and Peppermint Extract until well combined.
- Using a cake pop baller or your hands, form the mixture into 9 x 4 cm (1¾ in) diameter balls and put on the lined plate. Cover and chill for 30 minutes until firm.
The wings:
- Meanwhile, make the bat wings. Break 150 g (5½ oz) of the chocolate into pieces and put into a heatproof bowl. Place over a saucepan of barely simmering water to melt.
- Remove from the water and leave to cool for 10 minutes.
- Using a bat-shaped cookie cutter or template, trace 9 sets of wings spaced a little apart on sheets of baking parchment. Each wing needs to be about 7 cm (2¾ in) by 4 cm (1¾ inch). Put the parchment, trace side down, on a large board.
- Spoon about one third of the melted chocolate into a small piping bag without a nozzle. Snip a little of the bag away at the end and begin piping round each wing shape to give an outline in melted chocolate. Leave for a few minutes to set before going back and filling in the centres with more melted chocolate to make them solid. Leave in a cool place to set.
- Once the wings have set, pipe on the wing detail and leave aside until ready to assemble.
The ears:
- Place a small sheet of baking parchment on another board and pipe the outline of 9 pairs of ears. Once set, fill in the centre with melted chocolate. Leave in a cool place to set.
To decorate:
- Break up the remaining chocolate into pieces and place in a small heatproof bowl.
- Melt as above, then mix with the melted chocolate left over from making the wings and ears — you may need to re-melt this.
- Working on one cake ball at a time, drop it into the chocolate and gently turn it over using a fork to coat completely.
- Carefully lift out the ball on the prongs of the fork and gently tap the fork several times on the side of the bowl to remove excess chocolate and give a smooth finish.
- Put the ball on the lined board. Whilst the chocolate ball is still wet, carefully peel off a pair of wings and ears and gently press into the sides and top of the chocolate cake ball — to avoid getting fingerprints on the chocolate, you may prefer to wear thin latex gloves for this.
- Repeat this process to cover and decorate the remaining cake balls, then put the chocolate bats in a cool place to set. Keep any remaining melted chocolate for the final decoration.
- Once the bats are set, pipe on the whites of the eyes using Designer Icing and a big smiley Halloween mouth using red Writing Icing.
- Re-melt the leftover chocolate as necessary, and either pipe or brush on small amounts for eyeballs and noses. Leave for a few minutes to set and then the bats are ready to serve and enjoy!
These tasty treats will go down a storm at your next Halloween party!
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