This Halloween dessert is delicious, easy to make, and super cute, although scary when cut in half. These strawberry and chocolate fudge mice are great finger food for any Halloween Party!
Halloween is such an exciting holiday. It's so fun to dress up and check out all the cute and creative costumes and decor that people come up with.
Also, one of my favorite things about Halloween is the food. I love to see how a simple snack or dish can become so fun, scary, or even disgusting sometimes.
That's why I came up with this delicious, cute, and maybe creepy, strawberry and chocolate fudge mice. It's a Halloween dessert that is easy to make (no artistic talents required), cute while still whole, but kind of scary when you bite it and see the inside.
It is the perfect finger food, treat, or dessert for any Halloween party.
Ingredients
To make these little cute mice you'll need 5 basic ingredients:
- Strawberries
- Sweetened Condensed Milk
- Cocoa Powder
- Butter
- Chocolate bar (grated) or chocolate sprinkles
Then, you'll need the extras to make it look like a mouse, such as eyes, nose, and ears. For those I used:
- Peanuts (for the ears)
- Colored shaped sprinkles (for eyes and nose)
Substitutions
- Grated Chocolate: You could certainly substitute the grated chocolate (used to cover the mice) for chocolate sprinkles, but usually grated chocolate tastes a lot better.
- Peanuts: If you have problems with peanuts, feel free to change it for sliced almonds, pine nuts or sunflower kernels. They are a little different in shape, and don't have that crevice in the middle as peanuts do, but are good substitutes.
- Strawberry: If you don't have strawberries on hand, you could use grapes or no fruits at all, and just shape the fudge like a cone. Just keep in mind that if you don't use any fruit inside, you'll need to use more fudge, and will end up with fewer rats.
How to make the "fudge" (brigadeiro)
I don't know how to call this treat in English. In Portuguese we call it 'Brigadeiro' (bree-gah-day-ro). It's a very popular treat in Brazil. Trying to describe it, I would say it's a combination of fudge and chocolate caramel.
It's made out of sweetened condensed milk, cocoa powder, and butter, that you cook on the stovetop for a few minutes until it becomes thicker.
As you wait for it to cool down, it becomes thicker and pliable to a point where you can roll it, or just mold it to the desired shape.
It's really easy to make, but here are some tips to get it right every time:
- Sift the cocoa powder as you add it to the condensed milk. This way you won’t have little clumps of cocoa in the mixture;
- Use a heavy-bottomed pan, so it won't burn the brigadeiro that tends to stick to the bottom of the pan;
- Stir the mixture for the whole time, with a silicone or wooden spatula. This will prevent your brigadeiro from burning;
- After it starts simmering, keep stirring for about 3 minutes, or until you see that the mixture falls away easily from the bottom, as pan is tilted. Also, as you get some mixture with the spatula, you'll see that it doesn't run freely anymore, but infect, it falls more like blocks of mixture.
- As you turn off the heat, keep stirring it, until you transfer the mixture to a greased plate. This way it won't stick to the bottom of the pan, because of the heat held in it.
- Remember, it will thicken much more after it cools down. The fudge won't achieve a pliable consistency in the pan. Actually, It will look a little too soft, but it'll get to the right consistency after it's completely cool.
- The fudge/brigadeiro for these little rats need to be thick and stretchy when ready to mold, so it will hold the "mouse" shape.
Here is how to make it:
Tips on making the mice
Wash and dry really well each strawberry: If the strawberries are wet, it will be really hard to coat them, so make sure you dry them really well;
Don't cut off the calyx (cap) of the strawberry: When you cut the top of the strawberry, water starts to come out, even if you dry it. So make sure you don't cut the cap, just use your fingers to remove the leaves. (See picture below)
Work with wet hands: This fudge/brigadeiro is very sticky and will stick to your hands as you try to shape them. So keep a cup of water right next to you. Dip your finger in the water and spread it on the palm of your hands. Just a little bit though, as too much water can make it slippery and hard to shape. You can also use a tiny bit of butter instead of water if you prefer.
Call the kids to help: These little mice are easy and fun to make but can take some time (about 4 minutes each) if you're working on your own. So if you have kids or a kind partner, call them over and have some fun making these together.
Step-by-Step to make a strawberry chocolate mouse
Storing
Since these cuties have fresh strawberries inside, I suggest keeping them in the refrigerator. It will also help them to keep their shape.
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Halloween Dessert - Strawberry and Chocolate fudge mice
Ingredients
- 14 oz Sweetened condensed milk (1 can - 396 grams)
- 2 tablespoon Cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon salted butter
- 1 cup grated chocolate or chocolate sprinkles
- 20 Strawberries (more or less, depending on the size of the strawberries)
- Roasted peanuts (sliced almonds, sunflower kernels or pine nuts also work)
- Colored shaped sprinkles
Instructions
To make the Chocolate Fudge/Brigadeiro
- Grease a plate and set it aside.
- In a medium heavy-bottomed pan, add sweetened condensed milk and sift cocoa powder over it. Mix it with a spatula until well combined. (Heat should be off)
- Turn on the heat to medium, add butter, and start stirring the mixture constantly, making sure to scrape bottom and side of the pan, so the mixture won't stick to it and burn.
- Once mixture starts bubbling around the edges, lower the heat, and continue to stir constantly. You'll see that the mixture starts to thicken, like a thick brownie batter. You can turn off the heat when you scrape the bottom and you can easily see it, because the mixture is now moving slowly. Also, if you tilt the pan, the mixture should pull away from the bottom and side of the pan.
- Once you turn off the heat, transfer the fudge/brigadeiro immediately to the greased plate, and wait for it to cool. You can take it to the fridge to speed up the process. Waiting for it to cool will allow the fudge to achieve the right consistency to be shaped.
Making the mice
- Wash and dry (really well) all strawberries. Remove leaves with your finger. Don't cut the cap with a knife.
- Wet your hands with a little bit of water. Get enough fudge to be able to cover one strawberry. Open it on the palm of your hand. Place the strawberry inside and close the fudge around it. Roll it between the palms of your hands to shape it. (See photos in post).
- Roll Strawberry fudge on grated chocolate or sprinkles, until completely covered.
- Get a tiny amount of fudge and shape it as a tail with the palms of your hands. Stick it to the back of the strawberry.
- Open peanut in half, and stick them to the thinner part of the mouse's body, where the ears are supposed to be.
- Stick circle shaped sprinkles in the place of the eyes, and a little ball sprinkle on the tip of the strawberry fudge, as the nose.
- Keep it refrigerated until it's time to party.
Notes
All nutritional information above is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Nutritional content may vary according to brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, substitutions, optional ingredients, etc...
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