Brain Dip

This creepy Halloween dip is as tasty as it is fun! Red velvet cake batter dip is covered in cream cheese frosting and served with ladyfingers for dipping.

I don’t know what it is about this year, but I’ve been having a blast with Halloween.

Between my annual movie marathon to coming up with fun recipes to dressing up our dachshunds (yes, sadly, I’m one of “those” people), I simply can’t get enough of all the creepy festivities. I wish the build up for Halloween lasted longer than 30 days, but alas, it will soon be over.

So, naturally, I’m trying to make the absolute best of the spooky time we have.

And the newest addition to my Halloween craziness? Brain Dip!

What I love most about this dip is that not only is it perfect for a Halloween party, but it’s also a bit of a mystery.

Sure, it looks like a brain – but what’s in it? What’s it made of? Is it savory or sweet?

For the regular readers of this little blog, I’m sure you can probably already guess: it’s a delicious dessert dip.

The red center (as seen in the above video) is made with red velvet cake batter dip. It has a thicker consistency than the other dessert dips I’ve posted, but that was what made it such a perfect fit for this recipe.

The brain design on top was made with cream cheese frosting (already a popular pairing with red velvet). I highly recommend picking up this Wilton large round decorating tip and some large pastry bags. It will make life SO much easier.

And, finally, I opted to use ladyfinger cookies for dipping…  cause it just seemed to make sense? Ladyfingers are a mild cookie, so you don’t have to worry about the cookie + dip combo being “too” sweet.

Plus, using ladyfingers seemed to go along with the human body part theme of brain dip.

notes & tips for this Halloween dip recipe

• For this recipe, I highly recommend using a stand mixer or a hand mixer. It would be difficult to make by hand with a whisk.
• To get the brains to look extra gory and bloody (because c’mon, it’s Halloween, that’s how you want it to look!) I used this tutorial. The video will show you how to put streaks of red food coloring along the inside of the pastry bag before adding the cream cheese frosting, which makes the frosting have red accents when piped through.
• You can use any piping tip for this recipe, but if you’d like to use the same one I did, it’s this one: decorating Tip-A (big round tip).
• Keep in mind that this Halloween dip is very sweet between the red velvet cake dip and the cream cheese frosting. For dipping, I used ladyfinger cookies because of their mild flavor (plus, they look a little bit like bones!) You can certainly use a different type of cookie for dipping, but I’d recommend it be a mild cookie that isn’t very sweet on it’s own.
• Looking for more great Halloween ideas? There’s also Monster Halloween Truffles, Spider Apple Pops, Glow in the Dark Jello Shots, Polyjuice Potion, Black Magic Sangria, Eyeball Cookies, Zombie Brain Shot, Purple People Eater Cocktail, Killer Mini Halloween Cakes, Witch’s Brew, Witch Finger Pretzels, Witch Hat Cupcakes, Mummy Cupcakes, Dracula’s Bloody Red Velvet Milkshake, Hocus Pocus Popcorn Bags, Dark Chocolate Espresso Dracula Bark, Hocus Pocus Stencil Throw Pillow, Spiderweb Cake, and Hocus Pocus T-Shirt.

More fun dessert dips

Fluffy S’mores Dip

Funfetti Cake Batter Dip

Chocolate Fruit Dip

Peeps S’mores

Recipe Details

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RATING:

4.45 from 9 votes

Brain Dip

This creepy Halloween dip is as tasty as it is fun! Red velvet cake batter dip is covered in cream cheese frosting and served with ladyfingers for dipping.

Prep: 25 minutes

Calories: 833 kcal

Yields: 8 servings

Ingredients

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
• 3 oz cream cheese softened
• 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
• red food coloring

Red Velvet Cake Batter Dip

• 8 oz cream cheese softened
• 1/2 cup butter softened
• 1 1/2 cup dry red velvet cake mix
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp light brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• red food coloring (optional - only if you want a deeper red)
• ladyfinger cookies for dipping

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Using a stand mixer (or hand mixer + large bowl), add in cream cheese, butter, and vanilla extract. Beat on medium-high until smooth and fluffy, about 2-5 minutes.

2. Drop speed to medium and slowly add in powdered sugar, about a 1/2 cup at a time, until thoroughly mixed. If desired, add a small amount of food coloring to frosting so that it's pale pink in color.
3. If you'd like the brains to appear bloody, use this tutorial for how you can line an pastry bag with food coloring. Tip: I did not use a brush to apply the food coloring - I just used the edge of a butter knife.
   

4. Prepare your icing bag (with a large, round tip - I used ) and fill it with the prepared cream cheese frosting. Place the icing bag in the refrigerator for 30 minutes so the icing can firm up (this will help the frosting keep its shape better). If you refrigerate the icing for longer than 30 minutes, you may need to let the icing soften for 30 minutes before using. Tip: Test frosting on a plate before using.

For the Red Velvet Cake Batter Dip

1. While the icing chills, prepare the cake batter dip. Using a stand mixer (or a hand mixer + medium bowl), add in cream cheese and butter then beat on medium-high until smooth and fluffy, about 2-5 minutes.

2. Drop speed to medium and slowly add in the dry red velvet cake mix, powdered sugar, and brown sugar until thoroughly mixed. If you'd like the dip to be a deeper red, you can try adding a few drops of red food coloring (can go up to 1 tablespoon of food coloring total if needed).

3. Place red velvet cake batter dip in your chosen serving bowl and smooth the top into a dome (see above video for example). Dip can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator until ready to eat. If dip has been refrigerated, let dip thaw or at least 1 hour before serving.

Putting it all together

1. Pipe icing on top of red velvet cake batter dip in the design of a brain (see above video for reference).
2. Serve immediately with ladyfingers (or other cookie of your choice) for dipping.

Nutrition

833kcal | Fat: 39g | Saturated fat: 24g | Cholesterol: 103mg | Sodium: 910mg | Potassium: 114mg | Carbohydrates: 114g | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 75g | Protein: 6g | Vitamin A: 1235% | Calcium: 263% | Iron: 2.1%

I do my best to provide nutrition information, but please keep in mind that I'm not a certified nutritionist. Any nutritional information discussed or disclosed in this post should only be seen as my best amateur estimates of the correct values.

Made this recipe?

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Recipe shared by Chrisy

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