Dexter Blood Slide Suckers: Eat At Your Own Risk!

The more real something is, the more scary.  Ghosts; not really.  Serial killers, biohazards, chemical warfare: Hell ya.  I'm freaked out just thinking about it.  

When I saw Martha Stewart's lollipops recipe, I thought it was a good idea but BORING! I tried to brainstorm more gruesome fillings but the lollipop idea was just as boring as before.  Then I started thinking of what’s really scary.  Serial killers! I immediately thought of Dexter and his blood slides.

For any of you who aren’t familiar with the show, Dexter is about a serial killer of the same name, who works by day as a forensic analyst for the Miami police department, and by night, cleansing the city of the evil criminals who slip through the cracks of our faulty judicial system.  Every serial killer has to keep his mementos and Dexter’s trophy case, consists of a box of slides, each containing one drop of blood from each victim.

For this years gruesome Halloween treat, I decided to create a trophy case of my own.  Here’s my recipe and directions for Dexter's blood slide suckers.  They're super simple to make and cheap!

Even if you don’t know about the show, blood slides are still gross.  You can tell people they are blood samples infected with Ebola!  Bio-hazards are super scary!

-Forkable Blog

Step 1 Ingredients and Recipe

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup light corn syrup
• 2 Tbs water
• red food dye
• bamboo skewer or tooth pic

Comments

[vulcan24]

XD My Mum loves Dexter and when I showed her this she basically had a heart attack because of its awesomeness! XD "OMGNOWAY!!"

[kathrynfarmer]

this is so cool, i did a little something different. i shattered the glass and then went crazy with red food dye. it looks like a crime scene. i made a hell of a mess though and my fingers are red.

[EcoJym]

I did the same thing! I got so frustrated trying to cut the lines; the candy kept shattering. It was inevitable then I'd end up with "shattered glass." I took it to a Halloween party and received rave reviews. It looked so real people had a tough time actually eating it!

Thanks so much! This is great!

[ViktorijaS]

amazing! thank you!

[klimb]

Perfect Dexter Blood Slide box - http://www.amazon.com/Showtime-Dexter-Trophy-Case-slides/dp/B004D45734

[klimb]

it might help to build a sort of mold for these by sinking skewers into warm candy to divide at least the longest sides while the candy cools.

[finfan7]

I love the idea but don't these taste bad as plain sugar, no flavour?

[tweetspie]

Since when does plain sugar taste bad?

[Javin007]

Man, I wish I'd seen this before our work's Halloween dessert contest. Seems like it wouldn't be too hard to make little cake "slide boxes" too.

[Stormed Wolf]

can i substitute the parchment paper for wax paper? or is there a specific reason for using the parchment paper?

[TheNerdyDuo]

Parchment paper is rated for very high temperatures. If you're pouring "hard ball" stage sugar on wax paper, that 250-260 degrees will melt the wax right out of the paper. And then not only will your slides be all full of wax and a funny texture, they'll also be cloudy.

[teenhysterics]

Would adding flavor tint the lollipops at all? I was thinking of making them lemon-flavored.... Any tips? Would they stay clear (assuming I filtered out most all of the pulp)?

[Forkable]

I think adding flavor is a great idea.  Not sure how it would work or if it would tint.  Just experiment and let us know your findings!

[teenhysterics]

So the lemon flavor I used made it taste like dentist lollipops--not ideal! I want to try them again this year with mint. And Ugifer's comment about adding it right before you pour is definitely a good idea.
Also, thanks for the instructable--they were awesome, and some guy from my dad's work remembered him talking about them last year and asked for the recipe. Definitely a memorable project!

[TheNerdyDuo]

Almond extract is colorless and would be unusual. Orange extract is generally colorless too. You can even buy colorless forms of vanilla extract, though they can run a bit pricey. You might try the Wilton aisle at your local craft store for some other color-free flavors. They make a whole bunch of candymaking stuff.

[Ugifer]

Mint essence is usually colourless. Add it right before you pour or it will boil out. Great idea by the way.

[teenhysterics]

Thanks for the tip! I wanna try making these again--I tried lemon last year, and they tasted like dentist lollipops. Euch. But I'll definitely go for mint next time.

[meichelbrenner]

I made these and followed the directions precisely. But when someone goes to touch these or eat them, they turn into a really hard-to-chew, taffy like sugar glob. What am I doing wrong?

[TheNerdyDuo]

It sounds like you've only gotten your sugar syrup to the "soft ball" stage. In order to make a snappy crisp candy (like this or peanut brittle), you need to heat the mixture all the way up to the "hard ball" stage. You could get yourself a candy thermometer, or you could keep a glass of water nearby to drop a little bit of the hot mixture into. With where your mixture was, that little drop would be like a little glob of taffy (i think it actually is taffy at that point, just not pulled yet) and the string that's stuck to your spoon would be like the string you get when you're using a hot glue gun, all stretchy and sticking to stuff. You know it's ready when the drop you pull out of the water is like a tiny hard candy and the strings on the spoon are brittle and (after you've let them cool a minute, be careful you don't burn your hands) snap off in your fingers. It will be a clean break and there will be no stretch in it after it's lost its heat.

[elliebike9]

Love Dexter
love you
Awsome creation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
very realistic

[anibioman]

these are so cool i happen to be a big fan of dexter (proof is in the pic).

[lkuziez9680]

looks very realistic :) !!

[platypuser]

all i can say is wow! :)

[mary candy]

I love DEXTER

[kdickerson_az]

Do you think it would work to score the hardened candy with a sharp knife and crack it along the line? It may be a good option for those of us without gas...

[cyndyg]

I am trying to cut my "slides" right now. I'm having trouble cutting them and I tried scoring them but it hasn't made a clean break for me. I'm gonna keep trying!

[a1periwinkle]

I purchase small flat mirrors from the dollar tree to use for etching. Usually a box at a time. These displays have a styrofoam bottom with slits. Looks just like what you are using.

[binaspencer7]

no i just tryed..lol.. did not work to well

[binaspencer7]

JUST AMAZING thank you so much for shareing, i am going to make some first thing in the morning also the box that you put them in where did you get that or did you make it?

[Forkable]

It was a box of science slides I got from the Science Surplus Store. I wish I had a wooden box like Dexter has in the show!

[krayonc]

I LOVE the Dexter series so I especially liked this instructable. Very cool!

[mafer]

Awesome, can it be done without the corn syrup,because I can't find it in my place.

[Forkable]

You could try melting sugar down, its worth experimenting.  I think it will be most successful and easy with corn syrup though.  Its pretty cheap and easy to find at any grocery store in the baking isle.

[whiskey_14]

this made my day!

[scoochmaroo]

Dang.  Impressive as always!

[Forkable]

Thanks Dude!  I love serving these up with a pile of latex gloves.  So disgustingly awesome!

[paltskan]

hey, these are awesome! i'm really impressed with your creativity! i just had one problem: mine did not fully harden. i put them in the freezer for a couple of hours and they got slightly harder but once i took them out and tried to cut them, they became soft again. any clue why this might be happening?

[frollard]

[frollard]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebbc6kUMJ54

case in point - I was making hard crack candy, and took out samples at various temperatures to see what they were like.

[frollard]

'sugar glass' is just hard candy.  The longer you cook it the less water is left.

the range is syrup, then soft taffy, hard taffy, then hard crack candy.

Fun enough:  The less water, the hotter it is willing to get (laws of thermodynamics), so with a thermometer you can decide exactly how hard you want it.

Essentially, to get it harder, cook it slightly longer.  Keep a close eye on it.  it will quickly go from clear to slightly golden to black.  Black is bad.