This easy Halloween spider web cake is how you transform a delicious gingerbread cake into a spectacular Halloween spider cake. It's like the moistest cake you have combined with a creamy, buttery frosting. It's a party dessert that's easy to prepare with a WOW factor.
Halloween Spider Web Cake
This cake is made from warming spices and fits great with the inclement weather generally associated with Halloween. Each bite warms your inner you and tastes great with a cup of hot chocolate or tea.
The cake is finished with frosting, and then spiders are divided on top, so it naturally fits the Halloween theme.
Making this cake is easy
Now it may seem very difficult, but it is not that bad. The spider's webs are M & M's, and the legs and the web are made of frosting. Because of the many colors, the cake looks exuberant. And everything is edible.
Jump to:
- Halloween Spider Web Cake
- Making this cake is easy
- Why do you want to prepare this delicious Halloween spiderweb cake?
- What do you need for Halloween Spidercake?
- How to prepare the Spider Halloween Cake
- How do you draw the spiderweb on the cake?
- Tips, Substitutions and Variations
- Preparing in advance
- Store your cake
- 📖 Recipe
Why do you want to prepare this delicious Halloween spiderweb cake?
- It's got a moist gingerbread flavor and is very easy to make. Even lumps are not a problem.
- The frosting is ready in less than 15 minutes.
- Drawing the edible spiderweb is done with ready-made store-bought frosting. Easy going.
- You add whole wheat flour for extra fiber and a nutty flavor.
- A delicious cake for a Halloween birthday party or at your Halloween cocktail party.
- All ingredients are easy to buy.
What do you need for Halloween Spidercake?
To prepare this Halloween Spider Web Cake, you need the following ingredients. You can find the correct amounts in the recipe card at the bottom of the blog:
Cake
- Apple butter, honey, and brown sugar: you want a sweet cake. You could use white sugar, but all these sweeteners have an extra rich flavor, which is excellent for a winter cake.
- Gingerbread spices: Warm spices, the flavor of the holidays.
- Whole wheat flour and flour: the whole wheat flour gives a nutty flavor to the cake. The all-purpose flour makes the air lighter.
- Baking powder: necessary for the rising of the cake.
- Buttermilk: buttermilk makes the batter fluid and, because it's a bit acidic, it makes the baking powder start to give air.
Frosting and Topping
- Egg whites, butter, and sugar: We prepare an Italian meringue by whisking the egg whites with the sugar. Italian meringue is prepared by heating the egg whites (contrary to regular meringue).
- Coloring frosting edible: You can buy this ready-made in a tube. If you warm this in a glass of water, you can draw the spider cob and legs of the spider more easily.
- M&M's: is used as the body of the spider. Put it upside down (so the M faces the cake) so it looks even better.
How to prepare the Spider Halloween Cake
You can find a printable recipe with a step-by-step description at the bottom of this blog.
Step 1 - Prepare the cake
Preheat the oven to 350 °C (180 °C). Make the gingerbread cake. Line a baking form with baking paper. Warm the apple butter, honey, and sugar in a saucepan and stir until dissolved. Turn off the heat and let it cool for 10 minutes.
Mix both flours, baking powder, and gingerbread spices in a large bowl. Pour the buttermilk and apple butter mixture and whisk until it's mixed. Lumps are not a problem!
Step 2 - Bake
Pour the batter into the springform and bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven. Next, take the cake out of the oven and let it stand for 5 minutes. Then, remove the baking form and let it cool down on a rack.
Step 3 - Make Italian meringue frosting
Make the butter frosting. Add the sugar with the egg whites in a heatproof bowl. Put a pan on the heat and hang the bowl above the water (don't touch it).
Let the egg whites slowly rise to 160 °F (70 °C) while whisking. Take the bowl off the heat and keep whisking until the egg whites are cooled down to room temperature.
Add the butter cube by cube to the bowl, and whisk until it's incorporated.
Step 4 - Decorate
Put the cooled cake upside down in front of you. Smear meringue on the top and sides. With the edible frosting, draw a web and put some M&M's on top.
Make tiny spiders of the M&M's.
How do you draw the spiderweb on the cake?
Although it looks very complicated, take your colored gel tube and warm it up (so it's easier to draw the lines).
Draw a point in the middle and then make a cross over the cake's top. Draw a full diagonal line and one halfway (to the point in the middle). Between the lines, draw bows. Start in the middle and work outwards (then you will keep your ready-made lines intact).
Add some M&M's in the not drawn web part and draw a line toward them. Then, on each side, draw spider legs. You can also add spiders to the sides of the cake for extra decoration.
Tips, Substitutions and Variations
- Because Halloween is a fall holiday, I choose a gingerbread cake as the base. But of course, you can make a vanilla cake. Use twice the ingredients as stated in this recipe for an easy cake.
- Even scarier, add some black food coloring to the batter.
- Make a chocolate version if you're a chocolate addict (and I can rely on that). Use chocolate mocha beans as spider bodies and take melted pure chocolate to draw the cobweb and the spider legs. Add some melted white chocolate to the meringue.
- If you want to make your red piping, you can use this buttercream frosting recipe as your base. Mix this with two tablespoons of red food coloring. TIP, if you've got enough time, prepare this recipe two days ahead. The color will get more depth over time.
- Clean your bowl and your mixer hooks with hot water and detergent before beating the egg whites. That way they're fat-free. If there is some fat residue, the whites won't stiffen.
- Mix the batter until it's well mixed, but don't overbeat it. This cake even allows lumps. If you mix too long, there will be too much air in the cake, and you will get a whole in the middle when baked.
- Line the spring form with baking paper. That way, you can loosen the cake easily from the spring form. It may seem difficult to cut a round baking paper, but in this Youtube video, I show you the easy way.
- Check if your cake is made by pricking a satay skewer in the middle of the cake. When it comes out dry and clean, your cake is done. Otherwise, bake for another 3 minutes and check again.
- Let the cake stand at room temperature for 5 minutes before releasing the spring form. Because the cake cools a bit, it will shrink a little bit. Therefore, you can remove it easier from the form.
Preparing in advance
You can prepare the cake in the morning. Keep it in the refrigerator until use.
Store your cake
- Store this cake up to 2 days in the refrigerator.
- You can freeze the gingerbread cake without frosting in the freezer for up to 3 months. Once you've added the frosting, this cake can't be frozen.
Did you make this recipe? Tag #byandreajanssen via Instagram. I enjoy seeing what your creation looks like. Video recipes can be found on my YouTube channel. And don't forget to save the recipes on Pinterest so you can easily find them next time!
📖 Recipe
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Easy Halloween Spider Web Cake
Equipment
- Spring form 8 inch / 20 cm diameter
Ingredients
Gingerbread Cake
2 cups apple butter
⅔ cup honey
½ cup dark brown sugar- 3 tablespoons ground gingerbread spices or pumpkin spices
2 cups whole wheat flour
1¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder- 1¼ cup buttermilk
Italian meringue butter Frosting
3 egg whites size L
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup sugar
2¼ sticks butter unsalted, room temperature
Garnish
- colored sugar pencil or gel tube (ready to use)
- M & M's
Ingredients you need per step are listed below the step in Italic
Instructions
Gingerbread Cake
- Line the springform with parchment paper.
- Preheat the oven to
350 °F or 
320 °F. - Heat the apple butter, honey, and sugar in a pan and stir until dissolved. Reduce heat and allow cooling slightly.2 cups apple butter, ⅔ cup honey, ½ cup dark brown sugar
- Mix both flours, baking powder, and gingerbread spices in a bowl.3 tablespoons ground gingerbread spices, 2 cups whole wheat flour, 1¼ cup all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder
- Add the buttermilk while stirring, and then the apple syrup mixture. Stir until you've got a smooth batter.1¼ cup buttermilk
- Pour the batter into the springform and bake for 60 minutes in the oven until it's done.
- Let the cake stand for 5 minutes at room temperature. Remove the springform.
- Put the cake on a rack and let it cool to room temperature.
Italian Meringue Butter Frosting
- Heat water in a pan until it boils (about 1 inch, 2 cm). Turn the heat low.
- Mix in a clean bowl, the egg whites and vanilla extract with the sugar.3 egg whites, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ¼ cup sugar
- Place the dish on top of the pan with boiling water and heat, while stirring, the egg whites up to 160 °F.
- Remove the bowl from the heat and mix the egg whites further until they have cooled to room temperature.(turn off the heat on the stove, you don't need the pan with boiling water anymore).
- Then add, while continuing to mix, the butter a cube at a time. Mix it through the meringue and continue to mix until you have a smooth mixture.2¼ sticks butter
Decorate
- Put the cake upside down in front of you (so you have a flat and smooth top).
- Spread half of the frosting on the top, and smoothen it (with the back of a spoon, spatula, or knife).
- Then brush the edges with the remaining frosting.
- Grab the colored sugar pencil and draw a web at the top.colored sugar pencil
- Put an M & M (with an M sign down) in the middle and draw the legs and the thread to the web.M & M's
- Draw some spiders on the top and also onto the sides of the cake.
Notes
- In advance - You can prepare the cake in the morning. Keep it in the refrigerator until use.
- Refrigerator - Store this cake up to 2 days in the refrigerator, loosely covered with plastic foil.
- Freezer - You can freeze the gingerbread cake without frosting in the freezer for up to 3 months. Once you've added the frosting, this cake can't be frozen.
Mary says
This is awesome Andrea! I love the way you decorated the top. Those two red spiders are freaking me out. So clever.
Andréa says
Thank you, Mary, the spiders are my favorite part of the cake too!