SPOOKY SPIDER CUPCAKES/MUFFINS FOR A HOWLING HALLOWEEN!

Steps:

• Pre-heat the oven to 180C/360°F.
• This is a VERY easy all in one mix; simply put the softened butter into a large mixing bowl with the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, beaten eggs and vanilla extract. Mix on slow with a hand mixer, incorporating all the dry ingredients gradually into the butter and eggs. Increase the speed to medium and then to high. Stop and add the milk, tablespoon-by-tablespoon, whisking in between each spoon until you have a smooth, silky mixture with no lumps. Add the chocolate chips or chocolate pieces and mix well.
• Spoon the mixture into well-greased muffin tins, or tins lined with muffin cases - I do not use cases as a rule!
• Bake in the pre-heated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until well risen - check with a wooden cocktail stick by pushing it in the middle of the cake, if it comes out clean, the cakes are ready.
• Leave to cool for 5 minutes and then gently run a knife around the sides to release the cakes - or take the cakes out if they are in muffin cases. Put them on a wire rack and allow to cool completely before decorating.
• Whilst the cakes are cooling, make the butter cream icing. Put the softened butter and icing sugar into a mixing bowl and mix thoroughly by hand with a fork. Add the vanilla extract and mix again before adding the cocoa powder - mix all the ingredients together and then add the milk if you need to loosen the mixture for spreading. The butter cream icing should be soft and silky - but should still hold its shape.
• When you are ready to decorate the spider cakes, cut the liquorice Catherine wheels into "legs" that just dangle over the edge of the cake - mine were about 2" in length. Take the liquorice allsorts sweets/candy that have a white inside and a liquorice exterior - see photos - gently make a hole in the centre with a cocktail stick and push in a small sliver of liquorice to make the eyes. Choose a red or orange liquorice allsorts sweet/candy, which is layered - see photo - and cut each sweet/candy into 4 pieces for the mouth.
• Gently push the legs into the top of the cake at intervals - the icing will go over the top to keep them in place later, so do not worry how they look! You need 8 legs per spider - of course! Spoon on some chocolate butter cream icing to cover the legs and come within 1/2" of the edge - make it look "hairy" by stippling with a fork. Then place two eyes in the top, finishing off with a mouth! Continue to decorate all the cakes in this way, place them all on a plate with some extra sweets/candy scattered around them, and watch the looks of delight on the children's faces when they see them!