Easy Chocolate Spider Cake
Learn how to make a spooky Chocolate Spider Cake, a moist cocoa cake topped with rich chocolate frosting and decorated with cookie spiders for a fun Halloween treat.
Equipment
- mixing bowl
- whisk
- spatula
- oven
- 9-inch round cake pan
- wire rack
- knife
- cutting board
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
Ingredients
Cake Batter
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 0.5 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 0.5 tsp salt
- 1 cup water
- 0.333 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Decoration
- 1 container prepared chocolate frosting 16 ounces
- 8 chocolate sandwich cookies
- 16 thin pretzel sticks
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt until they are well combined and uniform in color.
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the water, vegetable oil, vinegar, and vanilla extract. Mix with a spatula just until the batter is smooth and no dry streaks of flour remain. Be careful not to overmix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.
- Once the cake is cool, spread the chocolate frosting evenly over the top. Twist apart the 8 chocolate sandwich cookies and scrape off the cream filling. Place the cookie halves, cream-side down, on the frosting to create the spider bodies.
- Break the pretzel sticks in half to create 16 "legs." Press two pretzel pieces into the frosting on each side of a cookie body to create eight spiders. Repeat for all cookies.
Notes
Let the cake cool completely before frosting to prevent the frosting from melting.