Crispy Creepy Crawly Spider Bites Food

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 CRAWLY BROWNIE SPIDER BITES RECIPE - (4.5/5)

Steps:

• BROWNIES: Preheat oven to 350°F and grease an 8-inch square baking pan. Heat butter and chopped chocolate in microwave on low. Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between until melted and smooth. In a mixer, add sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix until combined. Add the melted chocolate and butter to the sugar mixture and mix until combined. Add flour and mix until combined. Spread the brownie batter in greased pan and bake for about 40 minutes or until done. Let cool. If you want, you can also use brownies from a box mix and just follow the decorating instructions below. Makes 25 spider bites, more if your roll into smaller balls. After the brownies are cooled, (they can be still be slightly warm) cut 25 equal brownie squares, trimming off the outside edges first. This will help when you start to roll them. These brownies were so moist and moldable already, I decided to try rolling them without using any frosting. And it worked out just fine. DECORATE: Prepare the licorice legs first. Unroll one licorice wheel at a time and cut it into as many 2 3/4 inch sections as you can. See how the strand is doubled up in the picture above. You can separate each strand of licorice by pulling apart the two pieces. Start on one end and pull the two pieces apart, leaving them attached at the other end. Repeat until you have four pairs of legs for each spider body. (totaling eight licorice legs each.) Set them aside until ready to use. Prepare the raspberry gumdrop eyes second. All you do for these is cut small pieces of the leftover licorice and press directly into the tops of these raspberry candies. The candies are soft, so don't be afraid to press down firmly to get the licorice pieces to stay. Start dipping! Place the candy coating in a small, deep microwave safe bowl. Heat in the microwave on low in 30 second intervals, stirring in between. Repeat until melted and smooth. Don't overheat the chocolate. Drop the ball in the bowl of chocolate coating. Don't stir or move it around. Then cover it by spooning more melted chocolate over the top, completely covering the brownie ball. Then, using the same spoon, lift it out of the chocolate and tap the handle of the spoon on the edge of the bowl. This will force any excess chocolate off the ball and back into the bowl. When most of the excess has fallen off, transfer the ball to a wax paper covered cookie sheet and immediately sprinkle a few black non-nonpareils on top. Repeat with remaining brownie balls. Let the spider bodies dry completely before applying the rest of the decorations. Use the remaining chocolate candy coating to attach the licorice legs and candy eyes. You won't need much, so just reheat what is left in the bowl that you used for dipping. Place the top (attached) part of the licorice leg pair in the coating and then attach it to the side of the spider body. Hold in place for a few seconds while the chocolate sets. Repeat with remaining legs. Don't move the spiders until the coating has completely set with the legs attached. Then, use more candy coating to attach the raspberry candy eyes and let dry. For the finishing frightening, touch, insert two sprinkles for fangs (I used white confetti color stick sprinkles). Just push them right in and have a frightfully Happy Halloween!