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Thursday, October 17, 2019

Easy-To-Make, No Talent Required Frosting Spider in Its Web to Top Cakes, Cookies, or Brownies

I like to make little surprises for my family to find when they arrive home each evening. I know -- that sounds so old-fashioned. But it's part of how I show my love for my family members. Anyway, this morning I decorated the kitchen door with the window clings that I bought at Dollar Tree 2 or 3 years ago and some artificial vines that came in a free box from a year ago, summer. It's just something simple and didn't cost a cent. So, why not, right?


I also like to bake a treat or two in October as a surprise for those same family members. Here is a batch of frosted brownies (using this scratch recipe that can be microwaved or oven-baked) that I topped with a not-so-spooky spider in its web. 

To make a spider in its web with frosting for a cake, pan of brownies, cookies, or cupcakes, you'll need:

the baked good(s)
base layer frosting, buttercream (I used orange)
dark cocoa frosting, buttercream
1 snack-sized ziploc bag
scissors
toothpick


This is how I made the spider in its web. 


After the batch of brownies cooled, I iced it with a scratch buttercream frosting which had been dyed bright orange.


I then made small amount of cocoa frosting, making it as dark as I could (lots of cocoa powder.)


I filled a snack-sized baggie with the cocoa frosting, sealed it shut, and snipped off the tip of a corner with a pair of scissors. This was my make-shift frosting bag.


I used this frosting bag to pipe concentric circles. As you can see, my hands are not the steadiest with this; yet that won't matter one bit for the end product.


Using a toothpick, I "drew" lines from the center to the outside edges of the pan of brownies, dividing the pan in halves, then fourths, eighths and so on.


By the time I was finished, I had something that resembled a web. I placed a "spider" at the center of the web by piping a circle of icing, which I filled with additional icing, and then added the 8 "legs."

Like I said, this is very easy and does not require any cake decorating skills whatsoever. In fact, the fact that I had shaky hands while making this didn't seem to matter.

By the way, you can use this same technique, maybe with a less-bright base color of frosting and leave off the spider, to make an absolutely beautiful cake for a celebration. I've used tan-colored frosting base-layers with dark cocoa piped icing, dragging the dark icing through with a toothpick as I've done here to make incredibly special-looking birthday cakes. No talent. No skill. But very impressive, nonetheless.


You'll find this post, and many others like it, just a click away on this page -- a compilation of my recipes, shopping lists, and menu plans that illustrates how I feed my family of 4 adults on $125 to $135 per month.


4 comments:

  1. It must be so fun to live at your house with random surprises showing up here and there. The spider cake is fun and I was thinking there are a lot of plastic spiders out this time of year that would look good in the middle, also.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I learned the toothpick trick from a food blogger but I never thought to apply it to a spider's web. You're right, it's an oh-so-easy but impressive decorating trick.

    If you are old fashioned, then so am I. I like putting out seasonal decorations and providing good food for my family to come home to. It sounds corny, but one of my favorite things is the kids getting home and asking "what's for dinner, mom?".

    We also do whimsical, silly things as a family, like hiding toy figurines around the house to see who discovers it. It's the little things, isn't it? :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Live and Learn,
    Thanks. I hope it's fun for my family to live with me! You're right, a plastic spider would be cute and 3-D. Thanks for the suggestion!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kris said...
    I learned the toothpick trick from a food blogger but I never thought to apply it to a spider's web. You're right, it's an oh-so-easy but impressive decorating trick.

    If you are old fashioned, then so am I. I like putting out seasonal decorations and providing good food for my family to come home to. It sounds corny, but one of my favorite things is the kids getting home and asking "what's for dinner, mom?".

    We also do whimsical, silly things as a family, like hiding toy figurines around the house to see who discovers it. It's the little things, isn't it? :)


    Hi Kris,
    it is all about the small things! That's fun to hear about some of the quirky little things that bind your family together. I guess we're both old-fashioned, then!

    ReplyDelete

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