Spider 'Spookies' and Cream Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 180C / 160C Fan and get your 12 cupcake tin lined with your desired cupcake cases. 

Melt dark chocolate and butter together in the microwave then add in the hot water. 

While the chocolate mixture is melting, sieve all dry ingredients into a bowl. 

Add in caster sugar and light brown sugar to the dry ingredients and mix. 

In a separate bowl, mix together the buttermilk, vanilla, eggs and black gel food colouring. 

Now it is time to incorporate your wet ingredients with your dry ingredients. (Be careful not to overmix as this will result in a dense cake). Fold the mixture.

Once combined, scoop mix into cupcake cases evenly. An ice-cream scoop is ideal for this! Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes and then leave to cool completely. 

Place cream and white chocolate into a bowl and microwave on 30 second blasts. Stir until smooth. 

Mix in the red colour until you reach a deep red colour. Place in the fridge to cool until needed. 

Place soft butter into a mixing bowl. Using an electric hand whisk, whip until very pale and fluffy. This will take about 5 minutes. 

Add icing sugar in 3 separate batches until incorporated well. 

Whisk in the crushed Oreos and Vanilla. Whisk in the milk to thin out if needed. Set buttercream aside. 

Now that the cakes are cool we want to core them. You can use a cupcake corer or an apple corer or knife will do the trick. Fill up each cupcake with blood ganache. 

(If using a piping bag) Fill up your piping bag. Swirl buttercream on top of each cupcake. 

Set cupcakes in the fridge for 30 minutes. This is to make adding the marshmallow web easier. 

Add marshmallows into a bowl and melt in very short blasts until soft (about 30 seconds). Stir until smooth and let cool until they are not piping hot. They need to be still warm and melty (about 1 minute to cool). 

Remove your cupcakes from the fridge. Take a big pinch of marshmallow between your fingers and pull it apart between your fingers until thin and cobweb like. Wrap around each cupcake very gently. 

If you need to heat the marshmallows back up, place in the microwave for about 10 seconds. Top cupcakes with some Glamour & Sparkle Sprinkles and your Fondant spiders. 

Enjoy! Follow Gills Bakes and Cakes on Instagram