The treat: Creature Cupcakes
The trick to it: Inspired by Martha Stewart's clever use of confectioneries, these monster cupcakes are too fun to pass up. At the party, let your guests concoct their own creature cupcakes. Before guests arrive, frost all of the cupcakes in green, purple and orange buttercream. (To make the furry cupcakes, use a pastry bag and decorator tip No. 233 when frosting.) Then set out bowls of candy. For younger guests, you can make eyeballs in advance: Dot marshmallows with melted chocolate as Stewart suggests or stick jelly beans in the middle of doughnut-shaped gummy candies. Then let your little laboratory assistants at it and listen for the giggles.
Ages: all
Difficulty: easy
Marzipan spiders
If you can make balls and snakes from Play-doh, you can make Marzipan spiders. The hardest part is making these shapes in miniature.
First, buy premade Marzipan, available in the cooking aisle of the grocery store. Making the dough is easy but the boxed kind saves time. You’ll also need red nonpareils. (You can buy multicolored ones and select out the red ones.)
Then line a tray with parchment.
To make a spider, tear off a quarter of the Marzipan log and knead in black or brown food coloring. (Keep the remainder of the dough in a plastic bag to prevent it from drying out.)
Once you’ve achieved the desired color, tear off enough of that Marzipan to roll a ball the size of a mini marshmallow. Then shape the ball into a teardrop and set it on the parchment-lined tray. This is the abdomen.
Next, form a slightly smaller ball and put it directly in front of the abdomen (on the rounded side opposite the pointed side). Press the ball in place to form the thorax.
Finally, roll a still smaller ball and press it in front of the thorax.
Though in real life the thorax and the head are joined as one body part, I like to add definition to the head by rolling a separate ball. (Spiders have two body parts; insects have three.)
Next, roll tiny bits of dough into snakes the thickness of pencil lead.
Using a knife, cut the snakes into eight equal lengths, about a 3/4-inch long.
Set them on the parchment.
Pick up the legless spider (all parts should be firmly stuck together) and poke four holes in a row on one side of the thorax with a toothpick.
Use your toothpick to pick up one of the legs; simply press the tip of the toothpick gently into the end of a leg and it should stick. Lift the leg to the spider and push that end of the leg into the first hole. Be firm and if necessary push it in again until it is secure.
Continue this step for the next three legs. Then repeat for all four legs on the opposite side of the thorax.
Once all of the legs are attached, place the spider back onto the parchment and position the legs as you like. The top two legs on both sides can be bent upward, the lower two legs on either side, bent downward.
Next, poke two holes in the head where the eyes should go and using your finger tip pick up a red nonpareil and press it into one of the holes. Repeat for the other eye.
Then start all over with the next spider.
Let the spiders set overnight in the refrigerator before placing them on the cupcakes to prevent the food coloring from running into the frosting.
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