Chocolate Spider Web Cupcakes Recipes

SPIDER-WEB CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, granulated sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Add eggs, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and water; whisk until smooth.
• Divide batter evenly among paper-lined standard muffin tins. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 16 minutes. Let cupcakes cool in tins on wire racks 10 minutes. Turn out onto racks and let cool completely. Cupcakes can be stored at room temperature up to 2 days before glazing and decorating.
• Whisk together confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth (glaze will be very thick). Spread onto cupcakes and let stand until glaze is set. Place cupcakes on a doily or serving platter in tight concentric circles.
• Place melted chocolate in a parchment cone or resealable plastic bag with a tiny hole snipped in one corner. Pipe a straight line from middle of top row of cupcakes to bottom. Pipe a second line going across middle of cupcakes, from left to right. Pipe 6 more lines through center point, spaced evenly apart; lines should form 16 even wedges. Create a web pattern by piping slightly curved, swooping lines to connect spokes, starting from center, letting chocolate flow between cupcakes.

CHOCOLATE SPIDER WEB CUPCAKES

Steps:

• For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with black paper liners.
• Whisk together the cake flour, cocoa powder, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk together the buttermilk, coffee, oil, eggs and vanilla in a separate bowl.
• Pour half of the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and beat on low speed just until combined. Scrape down the bowl then add the remaining wet ingredients and beat to combine. Scrape down the bowl and paddle. Increase the speed to medium and beat for a full minute.
• Fill the prepared cupcake tins 2/3 of the way full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of each comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly pressed, 15 to 18 minutes.
• For the frosting: Microwave the chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, beat the butter and salt in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to low, then gradually add the confectioners' sugar until combined. Increase the speed to medium and beat, scrapping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the cocoa powder, milk and vanilla, then beat until smooth. Add the room temperature melted chocolate, then increase the speed to medium-high and beat until very light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes more.
• Transfer the frosting to a large pastry bag fitted with a large round tip. Decoratively pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes in a circular, upward motion. Refrigerate until slightly firm, about 10 minutes.
• For the marshmallow web: beat the marshmallows in a large bowl with a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on low speed until the marshmallows break up, about 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium high and beat until glossy and smooth. Add the confectioners' sugar, and beat again until very thick and smooth, about 1 more minute. Using two forks, pull out about 1 tablespoon of marshmallow at a time, stretch into thin strands and drape over the top and around each cupcake to create a web.
• Stick one gummy spider candy on each, then let the marshmallow set, about 15 minutes.

SPIDER WEB CHOCOLATE FUDGE MUFFINS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to fan 170C/ conventional 190C/gas 5 and line a muffin tin with 10 paper muffin cases. Break the chocolate into a heatproof bowl, add the butter and liquid. Melt in the microwave on Medium for 30-45 seconds (or set the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water). Stir and leave the mixture to cool.
• Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and both sugars in a bowl. Beat the egg in another bowl and stir in the soured cream, then pour this on the flour mixture and add the cooled chocolate. Stir just to combine - don't overmix or it will get tough.
• Spoon the mixture into the cases to about three quarters full. Bake for 20 minutes until well risen. Loosen the edges with a round-bladed knife, let them sit in the tins for a few minutes, then lift out and cool on a wire rack.
• For the topping, make two piping bags out of greaseproof paper (or cut the ends off two clean plastic bags). Break the dark and white chocolate into separate bowls and melt in the microwave on Medium for 2 minutes (or over a pan as in step 1). Put 2 spoonfuls of dark chocolate in one bag and the same of white chocolate in the other.
• Working with one muffin at a time, spread with dark chocolate from the bowl, letting it run down a bit, then pipe four concentric circles of white chocolate on top. Using a small skewer, drag through the circles at regular intervals, from the centre to the edge, to create a cobweb effect. Repeat with four more muffins. On the remaining five, spread over the white chocolate and decorate with the dark. Best eaten the day they're made - even better while the chocolate's soft.