Ingredients:

  • 1 ½ cups All-Purpose Flour (180g)
  • 1 cup Granulated Sugar (200g)
  • ¾ cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (75g)
  • 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
  • ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
  • ½ teaspoon Salt
  • 2 Large Eggs
  • ½ cup Whole Milk or Buttermilk (120ml)
  • ¼ cup Vegetable Oil (60ml)
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • ½ cup Hot Strong Black Coffee (120ml)
  • 1 cup Unsalted Butter, softened (226g)
  • 3-4 cups Powdered Sugar, sifted (360-480g)
  • 1 ½ teaspoons Vanilla Bean Paste
  • 2-3 tablespoons Heavy Cream or Milk
  • Pinch of Salt
  • Black Food Colouring Gel
  • ½ cup Chocolate Ganache or Melted Dark Chocolate

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients: flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
  3. In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients: eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla extract.
  4. Gradually add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overmix.
  5. Carefully stir in the hot coffee until the batter is smooth and thin. Fill the cupcake liners two-thirds full.
  6. Bake for 18–22 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
  7. While cooling, prepare the decorations. Melt the dark chocolate/ganache. Pipe small oval bodies and eight tiny legs onto parchment paper or into silicone moulds to create the spiders. Chill until completely firm.
  8. To make the frosting, beat the softened butter until creamy. Gradually beat in the sifted powdered sugar, then add vanilla paste and cream until you achieve a light and fluffy consistency suitable for piping.
  9. Divide the buttercream: leave most pale, and colour a small portion jet black using gel colouring. Ensure the black icing is deep and opaque.
  10. Pipe a generous swirl of the white buttercream onto each completely cooled cupcake.
  11. Using the black icing, pipe a solid circle onto the centre of the white swirl. Immediately take a toothpick or skewer and drag lines from the centre of the black circle outwards to the edge of the white swirl to create the spiderweb spokes.
  12. Gently place one chilled chocolate spider onto the web pattern to complete the Spooky Spider Halloween Cupcakes.