Witches have a different grocery shopping list than us commoners. I imagine lizard’s eyeballs must be a pantry staple for brewing up a cauldron of potion. This year, I decided to be a witch for a day and stock my kitchen accordingly. There is one little problem though. I am deathly afraid of lizards and cannot even bear to look at those creatures. Extracting a whole jar of eyeballs would be next to impossible.
Thankfully, I am reasonably resourceful and I know that a wannabe doesn’t always need the real thing to look credible. A jar of fake eyeballs can be had with just a bit of rolling and dipping. If you are from Ohio, you are probably familiar with the classic buckeye candies. The combination of peanut butter and chocolate is delicious without a doubt but I love to play around using different flavours. I experimented with a pink and brown version previously using Nutella for a Valentine’s Day treat. But now is not the time for cute. Lizard’s eyeballs call for speculoo spread, speculoo cookies, pumpkin seeds, and white chocolate.
I started with the classic recipe from BAKED Explorations. I simply replaced peanut butter with speculoo spread and graham cracker crumbs with speculoo cookie crumbs. I pressed a pumpkin seed into each ball of candy before dipping with white chocolate. There is nothing tricky about making these candies and every bite is a treat. Sure they are sweet but even a witch needs to cheat on her diet every once in a while. It’s Halloween! The one time of year we all rejoice in stuffing our faces with candies, candies, and more candies!
This witch-wannabe dressed up for the occasion obviously but this year I am too distracted by Frankenstorm to shop for a new outfit. I pulled various pieces from my closet including a Le Chateau mini top hat, ruffled Betsey Johnson velvet capelet, buckled white shirt, flouncy H&M tulle skirt, Joe Fresh thigh high socks, and beloved Fluevog wedge heels.
I am not the only one who needs to dress up. My apothecary jar received a small makeover once I draped a necklace around the neck of the jar. There is no reason a jar of lizard’s eyeballs cannot look glamorous, right?
If you would like a taste of lizard’s eyeballs without going through the trouble of making your own (my batch yielded 65! More than enough to share), why don’t you join us at Well Preserved’s October Home Ec event at The Avro tonight? All who brave the storm will be sweetly rewarded! If you want more Halloween dessert ideas, here are a few I made before. Let's get baking before the big day arrives!
Update: Boo to severe weather. I will be shivering under my blanket (not a fan of storms) instead of sharing sweets with fellow home cooks tonight. I want my teddy bear. What, you've never seen a witch hugging a teddy bear before?
