Creepy Spiders Food

CRISPY CREEPY CRAWLY SPIDER BITES

Steps:

• For the crunch: Place the milk chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Fill a medium saucepan with a couple inches of water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. (Alternatively, use a double boiler.) Turn off the heat, set the bowl of chocolate over the water to melt and stir until smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the cookie crumbs, peanut butter and butter. Reserve 1/2 cup of the mixture and set aside. Form twenty 1/2-inch balls with the remaining crunch. Press your thumg into the center of each ball to make a hollow center. With the reserved 1/2 cup crunch, sculpt thin spider legs and twenty 1/2-inch round discs to use as the bottoms. Set aside at room temperature until you are ready to assemble the spiders.
• For the chocolate ganache: Place the dark chocolate in a small heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a boil and pour over the dark chocolate. Let stand without stirring for a couple of minutes in order to let some of the chocolate melt. Stir in the butter, corn syrup and rum. Mix until smooth. Let sit at room temperature until you are ready to assemble the spiders.
• For the strawberry jelly: Mix 1 tablespoon of sugar with the pectin in a small bowl and set aside. Bring the strawberry puree to a boil in a small saucepan and slowly stir in the pectin sugar. Bring this mixture back to a low boil and add the corn syrup, lemon juice and remaining 2/3 cup sugar. Boil for approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the jelly to a small stainless mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap to let cool.
• To assemble: Place the milk chocolate in a large heatproof bowl. Fill a large saucepan with a couple inches of water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Turn off the heat, set the bowl over the water to melt and stir the chocolate until smooth.
• Transfer the strawberry jelly and chocolate ganache to two separate pastry bags and snip the ends off. Fill each hollow crunch ball with equal parts jelly and ganache and cover with the bottom pieces of crunch to form the spider bodies. Refrigerate for about 20 minutes.
• Lay a sheet of parchment paper over a flat surface. Arrange the spider legs on the parchment, dip the bodies in the melted chocolate with the rounded side facing up. Attach the spider body to the arranged legs. Dust with cocoa powder, if desired.

SCARY PEANUT BUTTER SPIDER COOKIES

Steps:

• Position oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Separate the chocolate candy balls into larger and smaller balls. The larger balls will make up the spider bodies and the smaller balls the heads.
• Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Cream the sugar and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the vanilla and egg and mix until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute. Add the peanut butter and mix until creamy, about 1 minute. Turn the mixer speed down to low and add half of the flour mixture. Beat on medium until incorporated, then turn the speed down to low again and add the rest of the flour mixture. Beat on medium until incorporated.
• Roll the dough by hand into 1-inch balls, place about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets and bake, rotating the pans halfway through, until the cookies are light golden brown and have spread to about 2 inches wide, about 16 minutes. The cookies are done when they smell very peanut buttery and the tops feel dry and slightly firm when pressed with fingers.
• Meanwhile, melt the chocolate over a double boiler. Remove from the heat and let cool briefly so that it is slightly thickened but still pipe-able.
• When the cookies are done, remove them from the oven and transfer them to a cooling rack. Immediately push 2 chocolate candies directly into each hot cookie, putting a smaller chocolate ball toward the edge of the cookie and a larger chocolate ball directly behind it in the center of the cookie.
• When the melted chocolate has thickened slightly, put it into a plastic bag and cut a small hole in the corner to create a piping bag. Pipe 8 legs on each cookie, starting from the point where the 2 chocolate candies meet. Pipe the front 4 legs so that they curve up toward the head and the back 4 legs so that they curve backward beyond the body. Reserve the remaining chocolate in the piping bag for the pupils of the eyes.
• To make eyes, pipe two 1/4-inch circles on the "heads" of each spider with the cake decorating gel. Pipe a tiny dot of the reserved melted chocolate in the center of each to make the pupils.

CREEPY SPIDERS FILLED WITH APRICOT JAM AND CHOCOLATE ALMOND CROQUANT

Steps:

• For the apricot jam: In a medium saucepan, soak the apricots in the Sauternes until softened, about 30 minutes.
• Add the granulated sugar, the vanilla bean seeds, the scraped vanilla bean pod and 2 1/2 cups of water to the saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Lower to a simmer and continue to cook slowly until the apricots are very soft and the mixture is slightly caramelized, 1 hour or more.
• Add the lemon juice and lemon zest and simmer for 10 minutes more. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the mixture to cool.
• When cool, remove the vanilla bean pod and place the apricot mixture in a food processor and pulse until slightly chunky. Drain off the excess liquid, if there is any. Refrigerate the apricot jam in a covered container until ready to use.
• For the chocolate shells: Melt 24 ounces of the chocolate in a metal bowl set over a pan of simmering water fitted with a digital or chocolate tempering thermometer. Heat to 115 to 120 degrees F.
• Remove the bowl of chocolate from the heat and add the remaining 8 ounces of chocolate. Stir until all the added chocolate has melted. The temperature of the chocolate should be below 86 degrees F. If not, allow the chocolate to continue to cool, stirring frequently, until it reaches 85 to 86 degrees F.
• Place the bowl of chocolate over the simmering water again and reheat for a few seconds at a time, stirring well, until the temperature has risen to 87 to 91 degrees F. (Do not allow the temperature of the chocolate to exceed 91 degrees F, or you will have to repeat the procedure from the beginning.) Wipe any moisture from the underside of the bowl before proceeding.
• Ladle the tempered chocolate into a 24-cavity half-sphere polycarbonate chocolate mold, filling the cavities completely. Tap the mold on the table or countertop several times to release air bubbles in the chocolate. Invert the mold over a large, clean bowl and allow the excess chocolate to drip out. Scrape the drips with a large thin spatula or blade and then invert the mold again. Scrape once more, making sure to leave clean edges around each cavity in the mold.
• Scrape any leftover chocolate into one bowl. Reheat and maintain the temperature between 87 to 91 degrees F.
• Leave the shells to set at cool room temperature, or place the mold in the refrigerator for no more than 5 minutes to help the chocolate begin to set. Reserve the remaining tempered chocolate for the spider legs.
• For the chocolate almond croquant: In a small bowl, mix the almond butter with the dark chocolate. Set aside and keep warm.
• Place a small saucepan over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes. Sprinkle in 2 tablespoons of the sugar. Allow the sugar to melt without stirring. Tilt the pan if necessary to help the sugar melt evenly. Add 2 or 3 additional tablespoons of sugar and allow it to melt. The sugar may begin to caramelize at this point. Raise or lower the heat as needed to control the melting and prevent the sugar from burning. Continue to add the sugar in increasing increments until it has all been incorporated. Make sure all the sugar has melted (you may stir gently at this point) and continue to heat until a slight smoking of the caramelized sugar occurs.
• Immediately remove the pan from the heat and add the butter. Stir the mixture until the caramel absorbs most of the butter. Reheat the caramel, if necessary, to keep it fluid.
• Reheat the almond butter and chocolate mixture if necessary. It should feel warm to the touch. Scrape the mixture onto a nonstick silicone mat and spread to a thickness of about 1/4-inch.
• Have ready 2 bench scrapers. Pour the caramelized sugar and butter mixture onto the top of the almond butter and chocolate mixture. Using the bench scrapers, fold the mixture over itself repeatedly. The more you mix, the smoother the texture will become. As you continue to fold, the mixture will begin to cool and will absorb any butter or chocolate that has leaked out.
• Quickly shape the croquant mixture evenly, cover it with another silicone baking mat and use a rolling pin to roll the croquant to 3/8-inch-thickness. Remove the mixture from the silicone mats and cut it into disks slightly smaller than your hollow chocolate shells.
• To assemble: Transfer the apricot jam to a disposable pastry bag and snip a small opening. Pipe the jam into the prepared chocolate shells, filling about halfway. Press a croquant disk into the mold, making sure to leave a slight headspace.
• Ladle the remaining tempered chocolate onto the top of the mold, filling in the headspace of each chocolate shell. Tap the mold a few times on the table to release air bubbles. Use a spatula or blade to scrape the excess chocolate from the top of the mold. Let set at cool room temperature for a minimum of 2 hours, or preferably overnight.
• Before unmolding the filled chocolate shells, place the mold in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes. Well-tempered chocolate will contract as it sets and release cleanly. Remove from the refrigerator, flex the mold slightly, and carefully invert to release the chocolates. These will be your spider bodies.
• Arrange the spider bodies on a clean piece of parchment or wax paper. Transfer some of the remaining tempered chocolate to a small pastry bag and pipe a small mound of chocolate that touches each spider body. This will be the spider¿s head. Allow these to set until firm.
• Pipe spider legs onto a separate piece of parchment or waxed paper. When the legs are set, carefully remove them from the parchment paper and use the reserved tempered chocolate to attach the legs to the bodies.

CREEPY SPIDERS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, butter and egg (dough will be stiff). Shape into 1-in. balls. , Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until set. Cool for 1 minute before removing from pans to wire racks., Spread a heaping teaspoonful of frosting over the bottom of half of the cookies. Place four licorice pieces on each side of cookies for spider legs; top with remaining cookies. For eyes, attach two red-hot candies with frosting to top of spider.