Halloween is a fun time for everyone, not just kids. It offers a chance to go crazy with baked items. But I got so preoccupied researching creative designs that I decided to make life easy and adapt my recipe for Chocolate Coffee Cupcakes. This post is about the designs.

The star of the show is the spider, but I had to make an entire batch of white frosting so I could make eyes. What was I to do with the rest of the frosting? Make a matching spiderweb. This was achieved by placing a flat layer of white frosting on the cupcake and then drawing three concentric circles with melted chocolate. A toothpick was then drawn through the circles to create the web. Cool, right?

To ensure that everything was vegan, I made the eyes myself. To save time you can buy candy eyes, but check the ingredients. Now, for the spider…

Spider Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting
cupcakes
1 cup vanilla soy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup organic sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup + 1 TBS all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
generous 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
frosting
1/4 cup shortening (I used Earth Balance Vegan Shortening)
1/4 cup vegan margarine (I used Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
2 1/2 cups organic powdered sugar, sifted
3 TBS soymilk
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
decorations
chocolate sprinkles
white buttercream frosting
mini chocolate chips
black licorice whips
For Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350F and line a 12-cupcake pan with paper liners. Whisk together the milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, and vanilla extract to the milk mixture and beat until foamy.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat just until no large lumps remain. Pour evenly into the liners, filling three-quarters of the way. Bake 18-19 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.
For Frosting: Beat the shortening and margarine together until well combined and fluffy. Add the cocoa powder and beat for 1 minute. Add the powdered sugar, alternating with milk, and beat until fluffy. Add the vanilla and beat until incorporated.
For Decorations: Place a flat layer of chocolate frosting on a cupcake. Put the chocolate sprinkles on a plate and dip the cupcake in sprinkles until fully covered. Add two small circles of white frosting. Place a small chocolate chip with the point side down in the center of each circle. Cut a licorice whip into eight pieces and insert each piece at spaced intervals.

Until next time, happy baking!