Who doesn’t like a smoky cheese ball?!!
I’ve been making cheese balls since I was a teenager living in Los Altos, California. For about 2 years, I worked in a cheese shop in the charming downtown of little Los Altos. I learned many things there, including watching how much you sample and eat the cheese. We were encouraged to test every kind of cheese. That was great for an education on the incredible world of cheese. But not on my waistline! One of their specialties was house-made cheese balls. The cream cheese and the shredded cheese were blended for around 15 minutes to get this smooth texture that I never have seen in a cheese ball before. It is a trick I still use today. Adding a bit of smoky to the mix makes this smoky cheese ball something special.
This being the Halloween season, I have been playing around with what you can serve at your next spooky party. Cheeseballs are round, right? So why not make them into eyes!!! For a while now, I was trying to figure out how to make them look like eyes. I finally had an idea, try using black sesame seeds as the pupal. It was all I needed, and now I have spooky cheeseballs I can be proud to serve at any Halloween party.
To make the eyeballs, all you need is some black sesame seeds and a piece of paper you cut out to make a little circle to use as a guide to sprinkle the seeds on. You could layer all the almonds in a fur pattern to give the balls an even more realistic effect. But rust rolling the ball in nuts, leaving an area for the eye works great. I got some dry ice and put a piece in a small bowl, added some warm water behind the eyeballs, and It was fun to get the serving tray all misty. If you can find some dry Ice, it is a cool effect. Though the mist doesn’t last long.
This recipe for smoky cheese ball is just slightly spicy with some Chipotle Tabasco that you can find in many grocery stores or on Amazon. I like how the Chipotle adds to the smokiness too. This recipe comes together really easy and most of the ingredients you already have. You can vary the cheeses if you like. In fact, it’s fun to try out different cheeses here. Just remember you want strongly flavored cheese for the flavor to come through. Mild cheddar will only make a bland cheeseball.
Happy Halloween everyone, I hope you have a spooky and yet safe one!
- 8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
- 6 oz good cheddar cheese grated
- 6 oz Comté or Gruyere, grated
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
- 1/8 teaspoon liquid smoke
- 2 teaspoons chipotle tabasco
- ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- 2 tablespoons Worchester sauce
- 2 green onions thinly sliced about ½ cup
- 1 cup lightly toasted sliced almonds if making eyeballs or pecans
- 3 tablespoons black sesame seeds if making the eyeballs
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In a food processor or mixer, using the paddle attachment, blend the cream cheese with the grated cheddar and Comté. Blend very well until the cheeses have become very smooth and homogeneous. This will take several minutes, if you are using a mixer it will take even longer (about 6-8 minutes)
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Add the remaining ingredients and blend well for a minute or two.
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Have 1 or (2 if making the eyeballs) pieces of plastic wrap spread out onto a counter
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Scoop out the mixture onto the center of the plastic wrap. If you are making the eyeballs divide the mixture evenly onto the center of 2 pieces. The mixture will be very soft.
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Pull up the plastic wrap to make a package sealing it in. It will be too soft to form a ball at this stage. Just make sure it is all sealed. Place it or them onto a plate or tray and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
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Take the wrapped shapes from the fridge and using your hands with the plastic still wrapped around the shapes, mold them into a ball. It may take a bit, and the mixture will moving around. You can unwrap the balls and rewrap them as needed but keep the plastic between you and the mixture to be neater.
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Let the balls chill until set again for a few minutes before covering them in nuts. The balls can be frozen for 6 months at this point before covering them in nuts.
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If you are just making a cheeseball roll the ball in the nuts using a bowl or plate, pressing the ball into the nuts to cover the ball entirely in the chopped nuts.
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To make the eyeballs.
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Press the sliced almonds in an overlapping pattern leaving a round section for the eye. Using a piece of paper and some scissors, cut out of a circle smaller than the eye-opening, place the piece of paper over the eye area and sprinkle the black sesame seeds to make the pupal of the eye. Repeat with the second eye.
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Serve with your favorite crackers.
If you have access to some dry ice, I put a glass behind the eyeballs with some warm water and a piece of dry ice to make some mist.
