Dexter's Candied Blood Slides

Happy Halloween!

I absolutely adore this holiday and in honor of this spooky evening, I decided to do something that is creepy all by itself: Dexter's Candied Blood Slides.

Those of you that follow Dexter Morgan know exactly what these are. If you are not familiar with the show then the following might help.

Dexter is about a serial killer, Dexter Morgan, who works as a blood-spatter analyst for the Miami Police Department by day, and kills deserving criminals by night. As with most serial killers, Dexter keeps a memento of each killing: a blood sample of each victim stored on glass microscope slides.

In honor of Dexter and Halloween, I have decided to recreate a candied version of Dexter's blood slides. I cannot take credit for this idea as I found it perusing Forkable. 

Process

These were actually really easy to make, although I did not cook the sugar enough, resulting in the slides warping at room temperature. Oh well, you live and learn and they still satisfied my sweet tooth.

Begin by bringing the corn syrup, sugar, and water to a boil. Stir the mixture until the sugar dissolves. After it has dissolved, stop stirring the sugar and let it cook. If you stir it too much, sugar crystals will form at the edges and will disrupt the final product.

Let the mixture turn a nice golden color (the picture to the left is an example of NOT golden enough). If you have a candy thermometer, let it come to hard crack. This is where I botched and didn't let the sugar cook long enough.  As I mentioned this has the effect of not forming as solid and warped at room temperature.



Pour the melted sugar onto the parchment paper and push out to make a large "glass" plate, as thin as possible. Let it sit for about fifteen minutes to cool. Afterwards, heat a large flat edge or crummy knife (as heating a blade over a flame is not ideal for nice knives) to cut out the slides. Between cuts, clean off the knife with water so the sugar doesn't accumulate.

If there are sharp edges, you can use your finger dipped in water to smooth them out. Once you have cut all your slides, put them into the fridge to harden. Once ready, using a toothpick drop some red dye onto the center of each slide and let dry.

 Dexter's Candied Blood Slides

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
red food dye
kabob skewer/toothpick
2 T water

Directions

1. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Bring the sugar, corn syrup, and water to a boil. Stir until the sugar dissolves. After the sugar dissolves, leave alone until the sugar turns golden, 7 to 10 minutes (this is where I didn't let the sugar golden enough).
2. Pour the melted sugar onto the parchment paper and use a kabob skewer to flatten out. Try to make the slides as thin as possible for realism and ease of cutting. Let cool for 15 minutes.
3. Using a large flat edge (knife works, but use a crummy one), heat up the edge over a burner. After the blade is hot, use it to cut slides out. Wash off the blade after each cut as the sugar will start accumulating on the edge. You can use water to smooth the edges.
4. Let the slides harden in the fridge for 15 minutes. Using a toothpick place a drop of red dye in the center of the slide to mimic the blood. Let the dye dry and serve.