SPIDER CAKE

Halloween is only one week away! Who knew it would be here so soon? Are you ready for all the tricks and treats? Nature around here is so gorgeous with all the fall colors and colorful pumpkins everywhere. I love the smell of fall; it must be from all the fallen leaves. Halloween has always been one of those magical times of the year for me, when the kid in all of us awakens and becomes playful once again, and we put down some of the inhibitions that we have learned as adults.
I have always loved how truly spooky this Spider Cake looks. I enjoy watching the face of the first person who dares to grab one of the eggs the spider is guarding or when they pull out one of its legs and put it in their mouth to discover the delicious chocolate-covered pretzel.

THIS IS WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO NEED TO MAKE THE SPIDER CAKE:
2 Dozen cupcakes
One 16-ounce tub vanilla frosting
Your choice of food coloring, optional
Pink sugar crystal sprinkles
One 16-ounce tub dark chocolate frosting
A small bag of large round Rold Gold pretzel Thins
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted for dipping the pretzels
4 pieces of Red Hots candy for the eyes
One 12″ Wilton piping bag
One Wilton coupler ring (combination base and ring)
Wilton piping tips #4 and #233

Bake two dozens of your favorite cupcakes. Arrange as many cupcakes, up to 20, that you can fit on a large round platter. You will use 4 cupcakes to build the spider.

These are going to be the legs! I have used the Rold Gold Thin pretzels, the big round ones. I used a pair of small kitchen pliers to carefully snip off the inside pieces and left the outer round piece intact. And yes, you will break a few pretzels to finally get 10 intact round pieces; 8 for the legs, 1 for the fangs and 1 spare for accidental breakage.

Dip the pretzel rounds in the melted chocolate and place them on a rack to cool.

Cut the caps off two cupcakes. Use a dab of chocolate frosting on the cut surface and stick the two trimmed cupcakes together. This will be the smaller front piece, the thorax of the spider.

Apply chocolate frosting to the caps of two cupcakes and stick them together to make the abdomen.

Use a drop of Wilton Violet food coloring to color 16 ounces of classic vanilla frosting. Frost the cupcakes on the platter and sprinkle with pink sugar crystal sprinkles.

Fit Wilton #4 tip on a Wilton 12″decorating bag.

Fill the bag with half of the 16 ounce dark chocolate frosting.

Make a spider web design on the cupcakes.

Change the tip to Wilton #233 tip. This tip pipes out frosting in the form of shaggy hair.

Add more frosting to the piping bag and start piping hair designs on the abdomen piece. When this piece is covered on all sides, use two forks to lift it and place it on horizontally on its side on one of the cupcake in the center of the platter. Now pipe hair designs on the prepared thorax piece and transfer it to the platter and stick it to the front of the abdomen. Pipe more frosting onto any area that needs to be filled after the transfer of the pieces onto the platter. Push 4 chocolate covered pretzel legs into the frosting on either side of the thorax. Break off another chocolate covered pretzel in half and use the pieces as fangs in front of the thorax. Use a pair of large tweezers to place 4 Red Hots candy for the eyes in the area between the fangs. Pipe more frosting on the legs. Refrigerate until the guests arrive.