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.