Spider Whoopie Cakes recipe for Halloween

Method

• step 1

  In a mixing bowl, cream the butter or margarine and sugar together until pale and creamy. Then beat in the egg and treacle

• step 2

  Sift the flour, ginger, bicarbonate of soda and salt into another bowl. Gradually add spoonfuls of the flour mixture to the creamed mixture, stirring well after each addition. Carefully and slowly, add enough buttermilk to make a smooth, thick mixture (you may not need the full 150ml buttermilk)

• step 3

  Line 2 baking trays with baking parchment. Using an ice cream scoop, drop 6 scoops of the mixture onto each baking tray. Keep the scoops spaced well apart, to allow for room for spreading

• step 4

  Bake in the oven for 12 to 14 minutes, until risen, lightly golden and firm to the touch

• step 5

  Cool for 5 minutes on the trays before transferring the cakes to a wire rack to cool completely

• step 6

  Make glacé icing by putting the sifted icing sugar in a bowl, adding a few drops (roughly 7ml) of water and mixing till it reaches a smoothly flowing but not too runny consistency. Cover the top of 6 of the 12 cooled cakes with the icing, smoothing it with the back of a knife

• step 7

  Using the black writing icing, add on a spider's web. First place a dot in the middle of the white icing, then 'pipe' 3 bigger and bigger circles around it. Then, draw a skewer or the back of a knife in 6 or 7 vertical lines from the dot through the circles to the outer edge of the cake, to create the web effect. Leave on a wire rack for a few minutes to set

• step 8

  Now, make the buttercream. Put the butter in a mixing bowl and beat until soft.

• step 9

  Gradually sieve in the icing sugar, beating well after each addition, to make a smooth, spreadable icing

• step 10

  Add a few drops of black colouring to richly colour. Spread the buttercream thinly over the flat sides of the remaining 6 cakes

• step 11

  When the spider's web icing is set, carefully sandwich these 6 cakes onto the 6 cakes with the buttercream filling