Chocolate Spider Cupcakes

Tender chocolate cupcakes are baked in a standard muffin tin, cooled, then frosted with cocoa buttercream and finished with chocolate-covered pretzel spider decorations for a Halloween presentation.

By Julienne

Cook time: 20 minutes

Servings: 12

Ingredients

• 180 g all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
• 200 g granulated sugar
• 50 g unsweetened cocoa powder
• 6 g baking powder
• 2 g baking soda
• 3 g fine salt
• 60 ml neutral oil
• 1 piece large egg room temperature
• 135 ml whole milk room temperature
• 120 ml hot water hot but not boiling
• 10 ml vanilla extract
• 113 g unsalted butter softened
• 240 g powdered sugar sifted
• 15 g unsweetened cocoa powder
• 15 ml whole milk
• 60 piece chocolate-covered pretzels for spider legs and bodies
• 24 piece candy eyes

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 175°C. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. The oven is fully preheated and the pan is lined.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until evenly combined. The dry mixture looks uniform with no cocoa streaks.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk the oil, egg, milk, hot water, and vanilla until smooth. The mixture will look thin. The wet mixture is fully blended and glossy.
4. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and whisk just until no dry flour remains. Divide the batter evenly among the 12 liners, filling each about two-thirds full. The batter is evenly portioned and the tops look smooth.
5. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until the tops spring back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. The cupcakes are risen and a tester shows moist crumbs, not wet batter.
6. Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting. The cupcakes are fully cool to the touch.
7. Beat the softened butter, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and milk in a medium bowl until fluffy and spreadable, scraping the bowl as needed. The frosting is smooth, airy, and holds soft peaks.
8. Frost the cooled cupcakes with the chocolate buttercream. For each cupcake, set 1 chocolate-covered pretzel on top as the spider body, then arrange 4 chocolate-covered pretzels around it as legs. Add 2 candy eyes per cupcake if using. Each cupcake reads clearly as a spider decoration and the frosting supports the toppings.
9. Serve at room temperature. The frosting is set enough to hold the decoration and the cupcakes are ready to eat.