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Chocolate Spider Web Cupcakes

Name: Chocolate Spider Web Cupcakes
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 16 cupcakes
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: Â½ cup canola oil; 1 cup sugar; 2 eggs; Â¾ cup buttermilk; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 2 cups all-purpose flour; Â½ cup cocoa powder; Â½ teaspoon baking soda; Â½ teaspoon salt; 1 cup strong, hot coffee; 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature; 3 cups powdered sugar; 3 tablespoons milk or cream; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; â teaspoon salt; 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Chocolate Spider Web Cupcakes make a scary-good Halloween dessert. Use a toothpick to create a web pattern in the buttercream, then decorate your webs with fake spiders for an even spookier presentation.

Jessi Heggan

Print Recipe

Makes: 16 cupcakes
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Recipe Created By: Jessi Heggan
Featured In: Mississippi Farm Country

Ingredients

½ cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
¾ cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cocoa powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup strong, hot coffee

Buttercream Spider Web:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk or cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
⅛ teaspoon salt
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill a cupcake pan with liners and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla extract.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk to combine.
Slowly whisk in the cup of hot coffee until the batter is smooth and a little runny. Try to not over mix.
Spoon batter into cupcake liners, filling about halfway. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Transfer cupcakes to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, use a hand or stand mixer to beat the butter for about 1 minute. Add the powdered sugar, milk or cream, vanilla, and salt. Beat for an additional 1 to 2 minutes, or until combined and fluffy. Once cupcakes are completely cool, frost the tops with buttercream.
Fill a piping bag with melted chocolate. Pipe 3 concentric circles onto the top of each cupcake, starting with a small circle in the middle and moving outward. Starting at the middle circle, use a toothpick to drag the chocolate to the outer edges of each cupcake to create a spider web pattern.
Enjoy cupcakes immediately or store in an airtight container until ready to serve.