Spooky Spider Cupcakes

2 Hours 10 Minutes Total
24 Servings

These fun cupcakes with their clever spider’s web pattern will delight Halloween trick or treaters!

Ingredient List

For the cupcake
  • Small check mark in a circle icon 1 box Betty Crocker™ Devil’s Food Cake Mix
  • Small check mark in a circle icon 120 ml vegetable oil
  • Small check mark in a circle icon 230 ml water
  • Small check mark in a circle icon 3 medium free range eggs
For the decoration
  • Small check mark in a circle icon 1 tub Betty Crocker™ Velvety Vanilla Icing
  • Small check mark in a circle icon Green food colouring paste or gel
  • Small check mark in a circle icon 2 small tubes black writing icing
  • Small check mark in a circle icon 48 blackcurrant pastilles

Preparation

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C for fan assisted ovens)/Gas Mark 4. Line 2 x 12-hole muffin trays with paper cupcake cases.
  2. In a mixing bowl, stir the cake mix, oil, water and eggs gently together, then whisk (by hand or electric mixer) for 2-3 minutes until smooth and creamy. Divide the mixture evenly between the cupcake cases. Bake both trays together in the oven for 18-22 minutes. Remove from the oven and carefully transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely; about 30 minutes.
  3. Put the icing in a large bowl and use the green food colouring paste or gel to colour the icing bright green. Reserve 1 tablespoon of icing. Use a small palette knife to spread the remaining icing on the top of the cupcakes.
  4. Using the tubes on black writing icing, pipe 4 concentric circles on each iced cupcake. Gently draw the tip of a cocktail stick through the circles from the centre outwards at intervals to create a spider’s web pattern on each cupcake.
  5. Use a rolling pin to flatten 24 of the pastilles into ovals. Cut each into 8 thin strips and place the strips on top of each cupcake to form the spider’s legs. Top each with a whole pastille for the spider’s body using the reserved icing to secure in place. Using the black writing icing, pipe tiny eyes on the spiders. Serve immediately or keep in a cool place for up to 2 days.

Tips

  • Change the colour of the icing, if you like, purple or orange will work well too.
  • You can buy larger packs of strawberry and blackcurrant fruit pastilles. Mix it up by using a combination of the two, if you prefer.