Annabel Karmel's Chocolate Spider Cupcakes
- Preparation and cooking time
- Prep:
- Cook:
- plus decorating time
- Easy
- Makes 12 cakes
- 125g butterat room temperature
- 125g golden caster sugar
- 110g self-raising flour
- 1½ tsp cocoa powder
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp grated orange zest
- 50g plain chocolate chips
- 3 to 4 tbsp ready-to-eat chocolate buttercream
- chocolate strands or sprinkles
- chocolate sticks
- 50g plain chocolate
- liquorice allsorts
Method
step 1
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4/Fan 160°C. Put 10 paper cases in a muffin tray.
step 2
Beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Sift the flour and cocoa powder together in a separate bowl. Add the eggs to the creamed butter mixture a little at a time, adding 1 tbsp of the flour mix halfway through. Add the orange zest, the remaining flour mix, then the chocolate chips
step 3
Fill each muffin case two-thirds full with the mix. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes. Allow to cool on a wire rack
step 4
When cool, spread a little chocolate buttercream over each cupcake and sprinkle with chocolate-flavoured strands or sprinkles
step 5
Line a couple of baking trays with greaseproof paper. Cut a quarter of the chocolate sticks in half. Melt the plain chocolate, dip one end of each of the longer sticks into the chocolate and attach them to the shorter lengths at an angle, to make the spider legs. Arrange them on the trays and allow the chocolate to set
step 6
Once set, push the short end of the legs into the body of the spider cake and then repeat until there are 4 legs on each side. Stick round liquorice allsorts on to the top of each of the spider's body to make eyes