Description
Delightfully spooky Spider Web Cupcakes featuring rich chocolate cupcakes topped with fluffy vanilla buttercream frosting piped into a striking spider web design, complete with mini Oreo spiders and candy eyeballs—perfect for Halloween or any fun occasion.
Ingredients
Scale
Chocolate Cupcakes
- 2 cups (240g) all purpose flour
- ¾ cup (63g) cocoa powder, natural unsweetened or dutch processed
- 1 tsp instant coffee granules such as Folger’s, optional
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, 1 stick, room temperature
- 1 ½ cups (297g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup (236ml) buttermilk
- ½ cup (118ml) hot tap water
Frosting
- 1 ½ cups (339g) unsalted butter, 3 sticks, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2-3 cups (227-339g) powdered sugar
- Dash milk or heavy cream if frosting becomes too thick
Extras
- Candy eyeballs
- Piping bag
- Wilton 4 piping tip
- Black gel food coloring
- Mini Oreos
Instructions
- Prepare Oven and Dry Ingredients: Preheat the oven to 350º F. Line a muffin pan with muffin liners. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, instant coffee granules, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a separate mixing bowl, beat the butter and granulated sugar with an electric mixer for 2 minutes or until pale and fluffy. Add in the eggs and beat for another 30 seconds.
- Combine Wet and Dry Ingredients: Add half of the buttermilk to the butter mixture and beat for about 20 seconds. Mix in half of the dry ingredients, then add the remaining buttermilk and hot water. Beat just until liquids are mixed in, then add the remaining dry ingredients and beat on low speed until combined.
- Bake Cupcakes: Fill the muffin liners halfway with batter. Bake for 19 minutes at 350º F or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a few moist crumbs. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
- Make Frosting: In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and vanilla extract using an electric mixer until fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Gradually add powdered sugar, mixing on low speed until combined. Add a dash of milk or heavy cream if frosting is too thick. For extra fluffy frosting, add ¼ cup heavy whipping cream when adding the last portion of powdered sugar and whip for 3-4 minutes.
- Color Frosting: Remove 1 cup of frosting and dye it black using black gel food coloring.
- Assemble Cupcakes: Spread a generous amount of white frosting on each cooled cupcake. Transfer black frosting to a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 4 piping tip. Pipe a horizontal black line across the cupcake, then two diagonal lines forming an X. Connect the lines with slightly curved lines (2 per section) to create a spider web design.
- Decorate Spiders: Place a mini Oreo on the spider web as the spider’s body. Use a small amount of frosting to attach candy eyeballs on the Oreo. Pipe 4 spider legs on each side of the Oreo for a total of 8 legs. Repeat decoration on remaining cupcakes.
Notes
- Use buttermilk at room temperature for best batter consistency.
- If you don’t have black gel food coloring, mix regular food coloring with a small amount of cocoa powder to achieve a deep black shade.
- Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting to prevent melting and sliding.
- Mini Oreos can be substituted with other small chocolate sandwich cookies.
- The instant coffee granules enhance the chocolate flavor but can be omitted if desired.
- If frosting becomes too runny, chill it briefly in the refrigerator to thicken before piping.
- Ensure piping bag tip is clean to create smooth spider web lines.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cupcake
- Calories: 320 kcal
- Sugar: 28 g
- Sodium: 180 mg
- Fat: 18 g
- Saturated Fat: 11 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 36 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 55 mg
