New England Spider Cake Food

NEW ENGLAND SPIDER CAKE

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 350º degrees. Combine the milk and vinegar in a bowl and set aside to sour-approximately 5-10 minutes.
• 2. In a mixing bowl combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
• 3. Once the milk has soured and has thickened slightly, whisk the eggs into the milk.
• 4. Stir the dry ingredients into the batter *just* until blended. Tip: I use a large wire whisk to stir the ingredients together.
• 5. Melt butter in a 10- or 12-inch cast-iron skillet. Pour in the batter. Pour the heavy cream into center but DO NOT stir, then slide the skillet into the oven and bake until golden brown on top, about 45 minutes.
• 6. To serve: slice into wedges and serve warm with a light drizzle of real maple syrup if desired.

SPIDER CAKE

Steps:

• Using a sharp serrated knife, slice the dome shaped cake horizontally into two pieces. Set the larger piece, flat bottom down, on your cake plate, and frost the middle of the cake with about a half inch of icing.
• Top with the second piece, flat side down.
• Frost the sides and then the top, making sure the entire cake is covered in a thick layer of frosting.
• Push the blackberry candies through the sour apple rings from the green side out the white side, in a spiderly eye fashion.
• Press the eyes into the frosting. Wasn't that easy? He's starting to look like a cute, albeit dorky, spider! He also looks kind of like a legless octopus. (Ooh, I think someday I'll make an octopus cake.)
• Unroll the red licorice and cut off about four inches or so. This is the mouth. Apply to cake!
• Press the candy corns into the frosting underneath the red licorice, point down. These are the spider fangs, or whatever those things are on spiders. I sort of like to think of them as buck teeth, too.
• Fold the licorice pieces in the middle so they're just a little bent. Stick four into the cake on either side. Legs!
• We added a couple licorice antennas over the eyes, too, just to add to the dorky effect.
• Sprinkle with chocolate sprinkles - I just kept them on the top, mostly, as I was liking the idea of a hairy-backed spider.
• Refrigerate until about an hour before you're ready to serve.

SPIDER CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Sift together the flour and baking soda and set aside. In a mixer fitted with a whip attachment, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Then add both sugars and continue mixing to cream them together. Add the eggs gradually and let them thoroughly mix in. Add the melted unsweetened chocolate and mix in well. Add the vanilla and 1/3 of the yogurt and mix, then add half the dry ingredients, and mix in well. Repeat alternating wet and dry, ending with wet.
• Pour batter into a muffin tins, lined with cupcake papers, filling them 3/4 full. Bake until firm to the touch on the cap of the cupcakes, about 20 minutes. Let cool in the pan, then decorate.
• To make the cupcakes into spiders, frost with your favorite chocolate frosting glue 2 flat chocolate buttons on the top of the cupcake as eyes. Pipe a large white dot on lower half of each button then stick on the chocolate chips, then pipe a tiny white dot on the tip of the chip. In red, pipe a smile and to make them tarantulas, pipe a red hourglass shape on its back. Cut black liquorice into 3-inch long pieces and tuck 8 of them into the rim of the cupcake cap to make legs.
• To serve the cupcakes, with black frosting pipe a spider web onto a middle of a large white plate and place the spiders around the edge.
• Notes about the recipe: I always buy the large tub of plain yogurt because it's so much cheaper than buying all those small ones, and the next thing I know, it's gone moldy for lack of attention. So this is a good place to use a large quantity of it up. You can use sour milk instead or sour your own by squeezing a good amount of lemon juice into whole milk and letting it stand 2 minutes to curdle and sour.
• Here's proof that there is something even cuter than a cupcake. Princess Diana's butler, Paul Burrell, taught me how to turn cupcakes into spiders. He made these on the Princes' birthdays, as part of a complete bug theme party with a big ladybug cake and cheese pastries coiled up like snails, with antennae made of chives. I make them for my prince's birthdays; my son Gio loves them.

NEW ENGLAND SPIDER CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Combine the milk and vinegar in a bowl and set aside to sour. In another bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Whisk the eggs into the soured milk; stir into the dry ingredients and set batter aside.
• Melt butter in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet and pour in the batter. Pour the cream into the center and slide the skillet into the oven. Bake until golden brown on top, about 45 minutes. Slice into wedges and serve warm. (It's perfect on its own, but be prepared that people are going to want to put something on the spider cake -- butter and honey, jam, or just butter.).
• NOTE: You can use 2 cups of buttermilk instead of souring regular milk. And, if spider cake inspires you to buy a cast-iron skillet, you'll need to season it when it first comes out of the box (unless you buy a preseasoned one.).

NEW ENGLAND SPIDER CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine milk and vinegar in a bowl and set aside to sour. In another bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking soda and salt. Whisk eggs into the soured milk. Stir into dry ingredients and set batter aside.
• Melt butter in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet. Pour in the batter. Pour cream into the center, slide skillet into the oven and bake until golden brown on top, about 45 minutes. Slice into wedges and serve warm.

NEW ENGLAND JOHNNY CAKE

Steps:

• Sift flour with baking soda, salt, and sugar.
• Stir in cornmeal.
• Combine eggs, vinegar, milk, and shortening. Add to dry ingredients, and stir just until dry ingredients are moist.
• Turn into a greased 8x8x2" baking pan.
• Bake at 400, for 30-35 minutes.

NEW ENGLAND SPIDER CAKE RECIPE - (4.2/5)

Steps:

• Place dry cast iron skillet in the oven. Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit. While the oven is heating, combine the milk and vinegar in a bowl and set aside to curdle (wait 5 to 10 minutes - you'll see the milk get lumpy). If you are using buttermilk, you don't need to wait; you can add the buttermilk when mixing the batter. In another bowl, combine dry ingredients: flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Whisk eggs into the curdled milk (or buttermilk). Stir into dry ingredients and set batter aside. When the oven (and the cast iron skillet) reach 350 degrees F, melt the butter in the pan, spreading it around with a fork or spatula. Be sure to spread the butter along the sides as well as the bottom, as it melts. When the butter has melted, pour the batter into the pan. Don't wait for the pan to cool off. Pour the cream into the center, then immediately place the pan into the oven. Bake for 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown. The hot pan will properly cook the underside of the cake. The result will be a bottom layer that is fluffy and moist all the way to the bottom; but it's not soggy. And it doesn't stick! Slice into wedges and serve warm, with maple syrup if you'd like.

MOTHER'S WALNUT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Cream butter, shortening and granulated sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk and vanilla. Beat on low speed just until combined. Stir in ground walnuts. , Pour into three greased and floured 9-in. round pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 20-25 minutes. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely. , For frosting, beat cream cheese and butter. Add confectioners' sugar; mix well. Beat in vanilla until smooth. Spread frosting between layers and over the top and sides of cake. Sprinkle with walnuts. Refrigerate.