I’m going to be brutally honest here, I love doing things that are just a little off-kilter. A little odd. It makes life more fun that way. So, when making treats for the kiddo’s Halloween party, I tend to get a little odder than even my “normal”. I think this recipe for Spider Surprise Cupcakes might be one of the treats I take this year. I mean, quiet, unassuming cupcakes, obviously homemade (and dairy-free, so that even the vegan-kiddos can enjoy), and then the kids bite into them and–WHAM! I can’t wait to hear the squeals, giggles and general sounds of enjoyment as they find those little spiders hiding in their cupcakes. Sweet sounds of motherhood, that.
Ingredients for Spider Surprise Cupcakes
For the cupcakes
- 1 3/4 cup flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tspn vanilla
- 1 tspn white vinegar
- 1/3 cup oil
- 1 cup water
- 1 tspn baking soda
- 1/2 tspn salt
For the icing
- 2 cans coconut milk
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tspn vanilla extract
- 6 drops of black food coloring
- 6 drops of orange food coloring
For the spiders
- 3 Twizzler Pull-n-Peel Candies (I would prefer black, but I couldn’t find those at my local stores)
How to Make Spider Surprise Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place liners in a cupcake pan.
- To make the cupcakes, mix all the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl.
- Mix all the wet ingredients together in a medium bowl.
- Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients in 1/3 cup increments.
- Blend until batter is smooth.
- Pour batter into the cupcake pan and place in the oven for 18-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center-most cupcakes.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack.
- While that’s cooling, open your coconut milk cans and scoop the thick cream part into a bowl, trying to get as little of the coconut water as possible. Discard coconut water or just set aside for chugging later, whatever.
- Add the powdered sugar and vanilla to the coconut cream.
- Mix on high 2-3 minutes with a hand mixer until it becomes stiff and fluffy.
- Separate the icing into two bowls.
- Add black food coloring to one bowl of icing and orange to the other. Stir both until food coloring is consistently mixed throughout.
- Place in piping bags and set aside. (I recommend putting this in the refrigerator so it doesn’t melt at all.)
- Cut each twizzler stick into 4 equal lengths.
- Peel apart all of the smaller twizzler strings.
- Make bundles of 4 of the individual twizzler strings.
- Wrap 1 string around each bundle of 4, working the string used to bundle until there is a flat, well smooshed shape like that of a spider body.
- Repeat until you have 12 spiders. Set aside.
- Using a cupcake corer or a serrated knife, cut the center out of each cupcake, being careful to salvage the top of the cutouts (you’re going to want those).
- Cut the cupcake cutout’s tops off, being careful to keep the top intact. You can discard the bottom portion (or eat it–that’s what I did).
- Gently stuff a spider into each cupcake hole, then replace the top.
- Pipe icing onto cupcakes to “disguise” the hole…
- Enjoy the little noises of surprise (and delight) when those kids bite into those cupcakes and find the surprise!
Super-Cute Spider Surprise Cupcake Video Tutorial
Spider Surprise Cupcakes
I think this recipe for Spider Surprise Cupcakes might be one of the treats I take this year to the school party. I mean, quiet, unassuming cupcakes, obviously homemade (and dairy-free, so that even the vegan-kiddos can enjoy), and then the kids bite into them and--WHAM!
Ingredients
- For the cupcakes
- 1 3/4 cup flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tspn vanilla
- 1 tspn white vinegar
- 1/3 cup oil
- 1 cup water
- 1 tspn baking soda
- 1/2 tspn salt
- For the icing
- 2 cans coconut milk
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tspn vanilla extract
- 6 drops of black food coloring
- 6 drops of orange food coloring
- For the spiders
- 3 Twizzler Pull-n-Peel Candies, I would prefer black, but I couldn’t find those at my local stores
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place liners in a cupcake pan.
- To make the cupcakes, mix all the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl.
- Mix all the wet ingredients together in a medium bowl.
- Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients in 1/3 cup increments.
- Blend until batter is smooth.
- Pour batter into the cupcake pan and place in the oven for 18-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center-most cupcakes.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack.
- While that’s cooling, open your coconut milk cans and scoop the thick cream part into a bowl, trying to get as little of the coconut water as possible. Discard coconut water or just set aside for chugging later, whatever.
- Add the powdered sugar and vanilla to the coconut cream.
- Mix on high 2-3 minutes with a hand mixer until it becomes stiff and fluffy.
- Separate the icing into two bowls.
- Add black food coloring to one bowl of icing and orange to the other. Stir both until food coloring is consistently mixed throughout.
- Place in piping bags and set aside. (I recommend putting this in the refrigerator so it doesn’t melt at all.)
- Cut each twizzler stick into 4 equal lengths.
- Peel apart all of the smaller twizzler strings.
- Make bundles of 4 of the individual twizzler strings.
- Wrap 1 string around each bundle of 4, working the string used to bundle until there is a flat, well smooshed shape like that of a spider body.
- Repeat until you have 12 spiders. Set aside.
- Using a cupcake corer or a serrated knife, cut the center out of each cupcake, being careful to salvage the top of the cutouts (you’re going to want those).
- Cut the cupcake cutout’s tops off, being careful to keep the top intact. You can discard the bottom portion (or eat it–that’s what I did).
- Gently stuff a spider into each cupcake hole, then replace the top.
- Pipe icing onto cupcakes to “disguise” the hole…
- Enjoy the little noises of surprise (and delight) when those kids bite into those cupcakes and find the surprise!