Spider Cupcakes II

So I made the cupcakes. I had to change a few things though. For instance, I made this big deal about accuracy and spiders having 8 legs. That only works if you buy enough pocky to make a zillion legs. I bought 3 boxes. I should have bought about 6 boxes, so my spiders have only six legs. I was WAY too lazy to make the eyes from chocolate, so I found some sugar “creature features” at Michael's that Wilton makes to use as the eyes. Also, I couldn’t find black cupcake liners (well I could have, but I forgot to look while I was at Michael's and didn't feel like going back over there), so I used black liners that had a Halloween pattern on them instead. The cupcake batter sort of soaks into the liner so it’s still really dark anyway.

I brought the cupcakes in to work early this morning and heard someone say “Whoa! Who made these spider cupcakes!?”  SUCCESS.

Above: Aren't they beautiful?

Below: Lilly "helping" by eating the cupcake batter

Above: The eyes I used

Below: Spiders pre-legs

Below: Assembling legs

I'd say my awesomeness level is pretty high.

Halloween Spider Cupcakes

I really wanted to make some type of Halloween cupcake this year, so I Googled "Halloween cupcakes" and found a bunch of photos that gave me some ideas. 

I am really scared of spiders. Some of them jump, some are poisonous, some are the size of my head. I am really scared that a spider the size of my head with giant fangs filled with poison venom will jump and fly at my face while making a screeching sound and then chew my head off. Or something equally as ridiculous, yet scary enough to make me shudder. So, naturally I am fascinated by them and I decided to make spider cupcakes.

I looked around for the best way to make them and I like the use of Pocky for the spiders legs the best instead of limp licorice or straight pretzels...

Here is a random story before we get started... last year I put a fake spider on the windowsill thinking it would scare Andy, which it did not. The fake spider however is still there and has gathered dust, so it's started looking a little hairy and a little more real. At least once a month I go to open the window, forgetting it's there, and it scares the crap outta me. I have successfully scared the crap out of myself with this stupid fake spider at least six times. And yet I leave it there on the windowsill. 

Ok, here we go...

Disclaimer: I haven't made these yet. I hope to make them this weekend. I have no idea how they will turn out, so I wish you luck if you decide to try this before I do.

Ingredients:

2 Boxes Chocolate cake mix

24 Black cupcake liners

A bunch of brown/black sprinkles

White chocolate for melting

Milk chocolate for melting

Chocolate frosting

Vanilla frosting

4 to 6 Boxes of chocolate Pocky

1 Bag candy corn

1 Piping bag with small round tip

Most of the above quantities are total estimations. Good luck.

You might need at least an hour to two hours for this project.

Makes approx 24 cupcakes. Probably more. 

Directions:

1. Make cupcake mix as directed on box

2. Fill each cupcake liner in pan about 3/4 with cake batter. You need to fill the liners higher than usual so that you have rounded tops later.

3. Bake as directed on box (might need a few extra minutes in oven)

4. Take out of oven and let cool

5. Assemble legs from Pocky and melted milk chocolate. Let dry on wax paper. I would go into detail on how this is done but I just don't feel like it at the moment.

6. Make the white chocolate dots for the eyes on wax paper from melted white chocolate (can use a different color such as yellow, green or red for eyes if desired)- Let the white dots harden then add little milk chocolate dots on the larger white dots. This works best with a piping bag. Let dry on the wax paper. 

7. Frost the cupcakes generously with the chocolate frosting. 

8. Fill a small wide bowl with chocolate sprinkles.

9. Dip frosted side of each cupcake in the sprinkles rolling it around to cover.

10. Carefully push the Pocky legs into the cupcakes. It might be helpful to make holes for the legs first. Remember: Spiders have 8 legs and if you're going for accuracy, so should your cupcakes.

11. Using the piping bag, add a small dot of vanilla frosting for each eye and attach eyes. The frosting is your glue. You can finally eat glue. You should feel happy about this.

12. You can add candy corn fangs or other features if desired. Use the piping bag and pipe on small dots of icing to attach fangs and other random things you come up with right now because you want to keep attaching things since you're having so much fun.

13. Admire and eat your spider-cakes. Do not eat the cupcake liners. They don't taste very good.

Now for your enjoyment, a few Halloween photos from my childhood:

I'm the one in the poodle skirt. My sister is Pebbles Flintstone. Batman and the devil are our friends Alanna and Julian.

With my cousin, Laurin, when we were like two and half. I am Minnie Mouse and she is an inside out shirt. Really though I'm not sure what she was supposed to be. Maybe a ghost? I am not sure she remembers either.

My Tooth FELL OUT

My tooth fell out. Not the whole thing but a large chunk of it. It is severed in half vertically not horizontally. I haven't been to the dentist in almost two years because it is so expensive. I am grateful that this is the only problem I am having since I do not have health insurance and it isn't something more serious. Judging by the pain in my tooth, I think I may need to have a root canal. When I was 17 I was hit in the face with a volleyball in gym class and I had to have a root canal then. This hurts much the same way that did, which is A LOT. I really need to go to the dentist and I am avoiding it for three reasons: 

1. It is expensive and I can't even afford an office visit and a cleaning much less dental surgery. 

2. I am soooooo lazy and I'd really rather not think about it. My tooth fell out about three weeks or a month ago and it hadn't hurt much since then so I've just tried to keep food out of the hole and forget about it. I just want to ignore the whole situation. I am so good at ignoring things. I was pretty sure this would work.

3. I don't like going to the dentist. I don't like to hold my mouth open for so long, it makes my jaw hurt. I don't like saliva pooling in there and I can't swallow or spit and the dentist has the spit sucker thing in the wrong place. I don't like the taste of the gritty toothpaste. I don't like it when they scrape my teeth or poke at my gums. I don't like how the dentist asks me questions while he is working on my mouth. The least he could do is phrase them so they only need a yes or no answer. I don't like the GIANT needle they use to numb you. I don't like how dry and crackly my lips are when it's all over. I don't like that all I have to show for it at the end is a toothbrush. I may be 27, but I'd still like a sticker. Or better yet, some chapstick for my dry crackly lips that were not dry or crackly before I saw you, Dentist person.

My main concern right now is just the money thing. Who has an extra $2000 laying around for dental surgery? I know that I will need a filling, or a crown, or root canal, or a fake tooth. Whatever it is I need it will be expensive and there is no way around that.

I have already contacted a few talk shows that offer help for small things like this. I'm not sure if they will help me, but I really hope someone does! It would really make the whole situation a little more fun and exciting if I got to be on TV! The chances of that happening are very slim. So slim you can't even see that sliver of the pie chart with the naked eye (the pie chart which hasn't been created but gives you a visual of my chances- OK, fine. I'll draw a pie chart). I am hoping to make a video to also submit to the shows. Maybe that would help convince them a little?

Whatever the case, I think the tooth fairy should come and give me a little something-something for my tooth chunk. I hear from kids these days that she has been pretty generous. I remember getting $1 from the Tooth Fairy, but I've met some kids who lost their tooth in recent years and made up to a hundred bucks! So not fair, but that's inflation for you, I guess. 

OK so now it is time for your opinion. Should I...

A. Make a video for the talk shows and cross my fingers they will help

B. Stand on a corner with a sign saying "Help me get dental surgery" and a bucket

C. Have a lemonade stand to raise money

D. Keep ignoring it

E. Buy some chapstick

Please comment with your response.

Bellow are some photos I sent to the Ellen DeGeneres show to try and get her to help me out. I also sent  in to a few others including one I'd never heard of. These photos were just for Ellen though.

Above: There is a post-it on my chin. I try to point out where the tooth chunk is missing. It's really difficult to see in this photo. This makes it look like it isn't as bad as it is. It's not so easy to take a picture of the back of your own mouth.

Below: When I took this photo my mouth hurt so much I didn't even want to open it. The note says "that's a tooth not a scribble" and refers to the little picture I tried to draw of a tooth.

Below: That pie chart you requested