Zombie Head Cheese

I made you something for Halloween. You can serve it a party. Or maybe make it as a snack for your viewing party of The Walking Dead.

Zombie Head Cheese

These are both made of soft cheese spread on a plastic skull. Easy. Creepy. Delicious. That is, if you can get people to dig in.

Version 1

Zombie Head Cheese

You know that old trick of unwrapping a block of cream cheese and topping it with soy sauce and some sesame seeds? Yum right? I added some food coloring and a life sized plastic skull and called it Halloween worthy.

(This is version #1, a slightly easier version is just below.)

Zombie Head Cheese

First get a life sized plastic skull (wash it really well), some soy sauce, one 12 ounce tub of cream cheese spread and some food coloring. Tint the cream cheese to a fleshy color, I used about 15 drops of red and 10 drops of yellow here.

I found a plastic skull like this one at a local party supplies store, but I really wish I’d managed to find a plastic skull where the top of the head is removable. Something really frightening could be made with that. Spinach dip brains anybody?

Zombie Head Cheese

Then add just one drop of blue food coloring and stir only a few times until the blue appears streaky. Less is more here, it will further streak as you spread it. Now, frost your skull like a cake. Start with the tricky bits around the face first. If you can’t hold the crown of the head to stabilize the skull it makes it much more complicated. Try to keep the teeth clean.

Zombie Head Cheese

A detail of the blue-streaked cream cheese.

Zombie Head Cheese

I used a small flexible spatula to spread this. There is no need to be tidy here, the messier the grossier. Grosser? Grossest? You know what I mean.

You can also stick a few rectangles of parchment paper surrounding the head so you can be a bit messy while frosting and then pull them out after you are done, a trick I learned about frosting cakes. If you can putting the head on a smaller plate on top of a larger plate will be useful to catch the fake blood, and it will be easy to artfully arrange the crackers. Saltines are the traditional cracker for this but these more artisanal crackers I found looked like creepy bandages and still have that bland and salty taste you want. You can frost your head a few hours early and refrigerate. It’s amusing to sit nearby and observe as unsuspecting people open the fridge.

Zombie Head Cheese

Cocktail onions create nice dead eyes.

Zombie Head Cheese

Just before serving mix a bit of soy sauce with some drops of red food coloring and drizzle it over the head so that is streams down. I used a pipette but if you don’t have one handy a small measuring cup with a pour spout or a carefully wielded spoon will work just as well. If you can get the soy sauce to pool around the onion eyes, it looks extra creepy that way. Also sprinkle on some bugs, I mean, toasted sesame seeds.

Zombie Head Cheese

It’s even scarier after it’s been eaten. Yikes.

Version #2

Zombie Head Cheese

This is version #2, it’s slightly less involved. You just need spreadable cheese, cocktail onions and a plastic skull. Let’s face it, just about any pink or orange tinted spreadable cheese will look suitably disgusting.

Zombie Head Cheese

I used this cheese that has reddish port wine streaks in it. I didn’t manage to capture the reddish colors in these pictures as well as I hoped but I promise it was pretty gross looking.

Zombie Head Cheese

I’m smitten. What should I name it?

(See also: The Outtakes wherein I attempt to carve a tongue from Spam and am entirely too successful.)

· comments [63] · 10-26-2011 · categories:food · halloween ·

63 responses so far ↓

1 Frightening Foods (and Drinks) for Your Halloween Bash | Dilettante Deconstructed // Oct 3, 2013 at 2:32 pm

[…] Zombie Head Cheese […]
2 lisa // Oct 13, 2013 at 9:00 am

just wrap skull in saran wrap or foil after washing ;]
3 4 Strange (and Spooky) Halloween Treats - Artistic Sensations // Oct 15, 2013 at 6:01 am

[…] chip and dip tray. A plastic skull from a party supplies store makes the perfect base for this creepy canapÃ©. Wash it well, then prepare to transform it into an awesome […]
4 Zombies im Netz :: Zombies im Glas und auf dem Teller - Zombie-Essen Halloween-Rezepte - nicht nur für Zombies :: Zombies im Netz // Oct 28, 2013 at 3:39 am

[…] Die zweite Seite mit einigen hervorragenden Superrezepten für Halloween ist das englischsprachige Blog Not Martha, alle Rezepte sind illustriert mit wundervoll grusligen Fotos! Was darf’s denn dieses Jahr zu Halloween sein? Vielleicht eine fiese Fleischhand? Oder ein Spinnenkuchen? Ah, natürlich, du bist bestimmt verrückt nach dem Zombie-Kopf aus Käse! […]
5 HSSPA » Halloween: History and How to Celebrate in Cambridge // Oct 29, 2013 at 4:03 am

[…] can include Rotten Devilled Eggs or Zombie Head Cheese. For your main, try Squid Ink Risotto, Spooky Spiced Shrimp or Bat Wings. For something sweet, […]
6 A Tale of Two Cities (Revisited) | CollTales // Oct 31, 2013 at 2:59 am

[…] can’t have some holiday-appropriate munchies for dinner either. What about a Meat Hand? Or a Cheese Head? We can’t think of better conversation piece for your and your tipsy friends, when the kids […]
7 Top 10 Spooky Halloween Dips And Appetizers - Top Inspired // Oct 31, 2013 at 8:29 am

[…] DIY project, recipe and photo credit to notmartha.org […]
8 Spookalicious Halloween Treats | Webicurean // Oct 31, 2013 at 1:09 pm

[…] Zombie Head Cheese Halloween Deviled Spider Eggs Halloween Ghost Flatbread Witch Hats Pizza Pumpkin Patch Spicy Cheeseball Jack O’Lantern Stuffed Peppers Pizza Pumpkins Mummy Calzone Mummy Hot Dogs Avocado-Wasabi Spider Eggs […]
9 Amanda // Nov 2, 2013 at 8:26 am

I did this with a fruit dip, food coloring and cock roaches and colored the eye sockets . It was amazing everyone wanted to make one like it.
10 Fall is here! (And so is Halloween!) | Food, Family and Fun // Jun 16, 2014 at 10:37 pm

[…] Recipe from the not martha blog. […]
11 Ken Smith // Oct 18, 2014 at 2:30 pm

It’s 2014 but I just found this and love it. My daughter is going to a Zombie party and I’m going to send this along. We found a white glass skull cookie jar with removeable top at Target for 14.00. Going to use both the inside and outside for 2 diff. dips Thanks so much for this idea…..
12 John // Oct 28, 2015 at 2:09 pm

Making this for a Samhain party in a few days. Just finished washing my skull (well, not MY skull!) and I will go with the port wine cheese spread. Green olives with pimiento pupils for eyes and I’ll wrap the whole thing with strips of red wine-soaked cheesecloth for the grand unveiling.
13 Joyce // Oct 21, 2016 at 8:43 pm

I made the first version of the cheesehead for my office’s Spooky Treats contest today and blew away the field. I, too, used the green olives with pimento for the eyes. I also used black sesame seeds and they were awesome. Thanks!