This lovely grotesque appetizer has been a hit at my Halloween party for several years now.

It's tasty, and disgusting all at the same time!
It's also quite easy to make, and will make a great impression on your Halloween guests... if you can just get them to take that first bite!

Hope you enjoy!
Dot

I have no idea where to give original credit to.. My friend Erika came up with it originally for our party, but I believe she was inspired by ideas seen in a magazine, and I've modified it since.

If you want more ideas for creepy halloween food, you can check out my blog at www.dabbled.org

Step 1: Ingredients / Materials

Tools:
Face Mold (You can find the ones used to make masks at an art supply store)*
Wide straw (McDonald's ones work well)

Ingredients:
Cheese ball mixture - may need a double recipe, depending on the size of your mold. **
Thin Sliced Prosciutto (3 oz should be plenty)
Several Olives (At least 2 colors. Get a variety big ones with pits, black & green, and already pitted if you want to play around with what works best. See Step 3 for details)

Crackers for serving

*If you can't find a mold, you could try this with a hard plastic halloween mask--just line with plastic wrap to cover the eyeholes. But a mold will work better.
**Use any cheese ball recipe that features cream cheese and will hold it's shape. If you don't have a favorite, try something like this:

2 8 oz pkgs cream cheese, softened
2-3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
3 Tbl mayonnaise
1 Tbl horseradish (or cajun seasoning to taste)

Photos:
Proscuitto CC Licensed by mulaohu
Olives CC Licensed by Prakhar
Face Form from Dick Blick

Step 2: Prepare the Face

Prepare your cheeseball mixture according to directions. You'll want to ensure you have enough to fill your mold, so either line the mold with plastic wrap and prefill, then remove from mold, or just measure the volume of your mold and confirm. If you don't have quite enough, just add extra shredded cheese/cream cheese. Set aside cheeseball mixture in refrigerator.

Line the inside of your face mold with plastic wrap for ease of removal (I've skipped this step before).

Shred your prosciutto into small (1-3 inch) pieces. Although large pieces will look really nice, they are much harder to cut through and eat.

Now carefully begin placing your prosciutto in your mold, covering the entire interior with 2 layers. Overlap the edges a bit too.

Scoop the cheeseball mixture carefully into your mold, pressing down (particularly in the nose and other indentations) to make sure it is filled completely.

Refrigerate.

Step 3: Prepare the Eyes

There are several ways to do the eyeballs.

Early years I simply added sliced green olives with pimento (see the 3rd picture on the blue plate).

Now I use the technique from the Evil Mad Scientists for preparing the eyeball look, which I think looks even better.

You'll need 2 colors of olive, one for the iris, one for the pupil.
Basically, slice off the side of your "iris" color olive, to make a circular iris.
Then take your straw and punch a hole in the center of the iris.

(Or, if using a pitless olive, you can slice it in half so that you have one end with the pit hole and one end without. On the end without the hole, punch a new hole with your straw. This will make a more protruding eye.)

Slice off the side of your pupil color olive. Punch a hole in that piece with your straw. Then insert that circle (pupil) into your iris!

Next time, I'm planning to incorporate the white part of the eye as well, giving a more 'pop-eyed' look.
To do this I am using a modification of my Mozzarella Eye Appetizer (see picture 2), by slicing a mozzarella ball in half, and placing the iris and pupil on top.

Step 4: Put It All Together!

Let you face mold chill for several hours to set.

Then, fold any stray pieces of prosciutto onto the cheese mixture, and unmold onto a plat. I think a silver platter gives a nice effect!. Touch up any issues with the prosciutto, and place your eyes into the indentations where the eyes should go.

Surround with crackers, add a spreader, and enjoy!

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and have a yummy halloween!

dot

Step 5: 2009 Version

Note the eyeballs. As I mentioned I added the mozzarella behind the olives this year. Nice touch I think.

And check out the version that jfearnside posted in the comments section! Great job on the eye lids.