Chocolate Spiders

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! 

Enjoy the holiday by eating something creepy and crawly... or in this case ADORABLE!!!   Spider Cupcakes!

The inspiration for making these cupcakes were the spider leg cupcake holders my mom bought me, but I have to say, I am so glad I made them because they couldn't be cuter.

When I think spider I think dark and my mind instantly went to chocolate, so when I decided to make these cupcakes and I found the most chocolate heavy recipe I could find.   These little creatures were made of brownie cupcakes with chocolate fudge icing.   The brownie cupcakes are super fudgy and delicious.

Brownie Cupcakes: Wilton 

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 squares unsweetened chocolate chopped
• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter cut into pieces
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 eggs lightly beaten
• 2 tsp clear vanilla extract
• 2 cups pecans chopped (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350F.   Line standard muffin pan with baking cups.
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour and salt.  
3. In small heavy saucepan or microwave-safe bowl, melt butter and chocolate; stir until blended.  
4. In large bowl, combine chocolate mixture with sugar; mix well.   Whisk in eggs and vanilla.   Add flour mixture to chocolate mixture; mix until blended.  If desired, stir in nuts.   Distribute brownie mixture evenly into baking cups.
5. Bake 18-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.   Cool cupcakes in pan on cooling rack for 5-8 minutes.   Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely before icing.  

Chocolate Fudge Icing: Wilton

• 2/3 cup butter or margarine
• 1 1/3 cup cocoa
• 6 cups confectioners sugar
• 2/3 cup milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat.  Add cocoa and heat just until mixture begins to boil, stirring constantly until smooth.  
2. Pour into mixer bowl.   Cool to room temperature.   My Note: It is really important to get it to room temperature.  Be prepared to make this part early and walk away from it for a while.
3. Alternately add confectioners' sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency.   Blend in vanilla. 

Once you have the icing made, add the black food coloring.   I like Wilton's colors best, but there are many different brands.  It takes a lot of black coloring, even in chocolate icing, to get a good black.  Be prepared to turn some mouths purple.  

To Make the Cupcakes:

First ice the cupcakes with a spatula, creating a fine layer.   Then add another layer on top (if your doing licorice legs you want to make this layer higher.   At this point you can add chocolate sprinkles onto the cupcake if you wish.  Then using a piping bag and the 1A tip, pipe a big circle of icing on the top front of each cupcake.   

Cut marshmallows in half and attach them to the circle, creating the giant whites of the eyes.  

Using royal icing, a small circle tip and a piping bag, pipe a small circle of a bright color icing, like orange, onto each eye.  Once its dry repeat with a smaller tip and black royal icing.  By putting the dots on the insides of the eyes you make them appear cross-eyed, giving them a more cartoonish look.  But you can do all kinds of expressions by piping the circles in different places.  Then using red royal icing pipe a small mouth.  If you don't want to make royal icing you can use M&Ms or Reeses Pieces to get a similar effect.  Use the chocolate fudge icing to secure the candies to the eyes.  Other options that would make good eyeballs or mouths include red hots or nerds.

Buy the Cupcake Holders Here!

In Lieu of the Cupcake Holders: If you don't have spider cupcake legs and don't want to purchase them, don't despair, you can still make adorable spider cupcakes.   Just get black or red licorice shoelaces or if you can't find them (and believe me they are hard to find) then find an alternative.  I used the Twizzler Pull and Peel candies in Watermelon.  Make sure the icing on the spiders back is thick enough to stick the licorice strings in well.   Set the legs up the way you want them to stand before cutting them to the right length.  Then immediately put the cupcakes in the refrigerator so that the legs set the way you want.   Leave the cupcakes in the fridge for at least an hour.




Enjoy these delicious and cute cupcakes!

Hostess Note:  In the spider holders these cupcakes are the perfect treat to spread out around a Halloween Party dessert buffet.  

Source: www.wilton.com