Spooky Halloween Cupcakes

Sofia Söderberg's dark chocolate cupcakes filled with oozy raspberry cream and topped with a chocolate spider.

Words by Sophie Miskiw. Photography by Johan Ståhlberg.

“When I think of Halloween, I think blood, spiders and ghosts! So I decided to make a chocolate cupcake with a raspberry cream inside that spills out like blood when you take a bite. This isn’t just for children, adults love chocolate and raspberry too!”

Sofia Söderberg

WHAT YOU NEED

Almond Crumble

40g Almond flour 40g Sugar 40g Wheat flour 40g Soft butter

Chocolate cupcakes

200g Butter 225g Dark chocolate 4 Eggs 125g Sugar 100g Wheat flour 1 tsp Baking powder

Raspberry cream

200g Raspberry puree 20g Sosa gel cream cold

Italian meringue

75g Egg white 25g Sugar #1 175g Sugar #2 62g Water

HOW TO MAKE IT

Components of the cupcake

  1. Almond crumble
  2. Raspberry cream
  3. Chocolate muffins
  4. Italian meringue
  5. Chocolate spiders

Almond Crumble

  1. Using your hands, combine all the ingredients together until they become a crumbly dough. Place to the one side.

Chocolate cupcakes

  1. Heat up the oven to 175 C

  2. Melt the butter and chocolate while stirring

  1. Whip the eggs and sugar until white and fluffy

  2. Sieve the flour and baking powder and fold into the eggs

  3. Add the melted chocolate and butter and fold until smooth

  4. Fill the muffin paper cups ⅔ of the way

  5. Spread some of the almond crumble on top of the muffins and bake for 20 minutes. Use a knife to test after 15 minutes - if it comes out dry then the muffins are ready

  1. Let the muffins cool on a cooling rack

Raspberry cream

  1. Mix the gel cream with the raspberry puree until creamy

Italian meringue

  1. Boil sugar #2 and water until 121 C

  2. Whisk the egg white and sugar #1 to a firm consistency

  1. When the water/sugar is at the right temperature, slowly pour it into egg white and sugar mixture, whisking at the same time. When all the syrup has been absorbed, whisk for a little longer so that the meringue begins to cool down

  2. When the mixture is shiny and firmer, the meringue is ready to use

Chocolate spider

  1. Temper the chocolate until it is 31 C (To do this, melt the chocolate slowly in the microwave and stir every 20 seconds. When the chocolate is 45 degrees, put ⅔ onto a marble board. Bring the temperature down to 28 degrees and then add back into the bowl with the warmer chocolate. It’s ready when it reaches 31-33 degrees)

  1. Fill the piping bag with the chocolate and cut a small hole

  2. Pipe the shape of the spider’s body and then pipe the legs

  3. Let the chocolate spider cool to room temperature

Put it all together

  1. Take the cooled muffins and cut the top off so that it becomes a lid

  1. Pipe some of the raspberry cream inside the muffin

  2. Place the ‘lid’ back on the muffin and pipe some soft meringue on top

  3. Carefully place the spider on the meringue