Description
Create spooky and delicious Creepy Halloween Spider Cupcakes featuring moist chocolate pumpkin cupcakes topped with black cocoa buttercream and decorated with white fondant spider webs and tiny green sprinkles for eyes. Perfect for a festive Halloween treat.
Ingredients
Scale
Chocolate Cupcakes
- 180 g self-raising flour
- 20 g cocoa powder
- 100 g salted butter
- 200 g granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 200 g pumpkin puree
- 100 ml milk
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Buttercream
- 450 g powdered sugar
- 225 g salted butter
- 2 tablespoon black cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoon milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Black food coloring
Decoration
- 175 g white fondant
- Tiny green sprinkles (for the spiders’ eyes)
Instructions
- Preheat and Prepare: Preheat oven to 175°C and line a cupcake pan with muffin liners.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: Whisk together self-raising flour, cocoa powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Sift and set aside.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for about 2 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping sides and bottom halfway through.
- Add Eggs: Beat in the eggs one at a time thoroughly, scraping the bowl’s sides and bottom to ensure even incorporation.
- Combine Wet Ingredients: Beat in pumpkin puree until mixture slightly curdles, which is normal.
- Fold in Flour and Milk: Gradually fold half the dry flour mixture into wet ingredients, then fold in milk, followed by the remaining flour mixture. Avoid overmixing. Add vanilla extract and mix well.
- Fill Cupcake Liners: Scoop batter into liners, filling about three-quarters full for even baking.
- Bake: Bake cupcakes for 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cupcakes rest in the pan for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Cool: Transfer cupcakes to a wire rack and cover with a kitchen towel to cool completely and retain moisture.
- Prepare Buttercream: Beat butter until smooth and creamy. Sift in powdered sugar and black cocoa powder, mixing lightly first then beating on medium speed until smooth. Scrape bowl and beaters.
- Add Flavor and Color: Add vanilla extract and beat. Let frosting rest 10-20 minutes for color to darken. If needed, add black food coloring or a mix of red, green, and brown gel colors; mix well and rest another 10-15 minutes.
- Fill Piping Bags: Transfer buttercream to a piping bag, then fit two more bags with star tip (#1M) and small round tip (#3) for decorating.
- Pipe Buttercream Stars: Using star tip, pipe a reverse star circle pattern atop each cooled cupcake.
- Cut Fondant Webs: Roll fondant to ⅛ inch thickness, cut 2-inch diameter circles, enough to cover all cupcakes, then place each on top of the piped buttercream in the center.
- Pipe Spider Bodies: Using round tip, pipe a small circle for spider body and a smaller circle as the head in front. Then pipe four legs on each side of the spider.
- Add Eyes: Using tweezers, attach two tiny green sprinkles for spider eyes to finish decoration.
Notes
- Scraping the bowl during mixing ensures proper ingredient incorporation.
- A cookie or ice cream scoop helps maintain consistent cupcake sizes.
- Adjust baking time if using different sized cupcake liners.
- Cover cupcakes with a kitchen towel while cooling to keep moist.
- Mixing sugar lightly before using a mixer prevents sugar dusting.
- Gel food colors are preferred over liquid to maintain frosting consistency.
- If buttercream is too much for one bag, divide between two bags for ease of decorating.
- Knead fondant well and dust workspace to prevent sticking when rolling.
- Cutter size for fondant webs can vary depending on cupcake size.
- Store decorated cupcakes in a cool, air-conditioned room to prevent fondant sogginess; avoid refrigeration.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cupcake
- Calories: 320 kcal
- Sugar: 30 g
- Sodium: 150 mg
- Fat: 16 g
- Saturated Fat: 9 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 40 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 55 mg
