So here it is. Quick and simple.
What you need:- some iced cupcakes, cookies, or brownies
- a toothpick
- melted chocolate of your choice
- a piping bag + tip (I believe I used a Wilton Tip 2)

Need I say more? :)
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Things to consider:
- Ice your goodies just before piping on the spiderweb. The cupcake you see in pictures 1 – 5 was iced only 10 minutes before piping on the white chocolate but that was still too long. The cupcake in the last picture was iced and then I immediately did the spiderweb. Much better!
- If your spiderweb chocolate gets too cool, you’ll also have problems getting it to look smooth. Reheat the chocolate in the microwave for a few seconds until it’s slightly warm.
- I recommend practicing on a Silpat or a cutting board with a piece of plastic wrap over it. Practice piping the circles and then you can reuse the chocolate by using a spatula to get it all off.
- Don’t worry if your circles aren’t perfect. Look at mine! Nobody will ever be able to tell that your circles weren’t perfect.
- I wouldn’t bother with anything really domed. It could work but I imagine it’d be tricky. Flat would be best. I filled my cupcake liners only enough so that there was still room between the top of the liner and the cupcake after baking. This meant that the chocolate frosting couldn’t escape. It was really liquid so that would have definitely been a problem if they were domed or too big.
- I’ve only made these with the frosting recipe in my grain-free chocolate cupcakes. The consistency was very runny, like ganache right after being made. I’m pretty sure this won’t work with buttercream or any other stiff frosting. Cream cheese frosting would probably work wonderfully! And you only need a thin coating.
- I’m making brownies for a Halloween party and making these spiderwebs, but this time I’m going to dye my white chocolate purple and orange.

I’m in the kitchen whipping up some more Halloween peanut butter chocolate goodies. I’ve eaten about two pounds of peanuts in the last few days. All for you, internet pals. :) I hope to be back soon with more Halloweeny goodness!
27 comments on “Spiderweb Tutorial for Cupcakes, Cookies, Brownies” — Add one!
This is so cute and intricate, and I love the unique concept. I tried these, however, and failed miserably, lol. I freezed them for too long I suppose, and the icing was rock hard. So, I had to let them thaw again and I even tried microwaving the cupcakes to get the icing to de-solidify some. All options ended badly. :P The spiderwebbing was also way too advanced for little ol’ me! I couldn’t get the white chocolate to be liquidy enough to pipe without it seizing up as soon as it hit the icing (by the time I was done piping the circles, they had already set into rock-hard white chocolate again, making the toothpick process impossible.) I tried adding a bit of milk to liquify the white chocolate, but it got a little messy and soupy on the tiny surface of the cupcake.
The cupcakes themselves are also incredibly rich. Delicious, but a little too much for me!
All in all, adorable recipe, but I wouldn’t recommend it for an amateur! ;)
Oh no. What a pity. :( It sounds like me to be honest! I swear… that’s what happens to me 90% of the time in the kitchen. Perhaps I just got lucky with these? I’m so sorry that it didn’t end well. I’m happy that the cupcakes were at least good! Thanks so much for your feedback. :)
How fun and so simple!
Thank you! :)
I want to do these for a kids party but they look a bit messy to eat — does the icing set up after a bit? Should I allow time to refrigerate?
If you use the icing recipe linked to in step 6, they set up after a short chill in the fridge. 30 minutes should do it! I walked outside in the cold for 10 minutes with these directly after making them and they were already hard after that. So 30 minutes is really generous. Good luck! :)
I LOVE THESE!!! Your photos are stunning :) What a cute idea for Halloween. I'm so bad at decorating cupcakes, so hopefully this how-to will help!
Thank you! I'm terrible at it too so if I can do it, so can you. :)
What an awesome tutorial! I'm really going to need this for the weekend! :)
I hope it work out for you! :)
CUTE!!!!
Thanks!
I've never taken the time to teach myself the trick to spiderweb cupcakes. THANK YOU for laying it all out for me. Now I have no excuse. :) They are gorgeous! and perfect!
And thank you for the nice comment. I'm happy this post had a positive effect! I hope you'll try it. So easy!
Now I'm super glad that I have the tip to pull this one off! Thanks for the easy tutorial!
You're welcome! Happy it's of good to someone. :) Good luck!
I remember making spider web designs in my catering class freshman year. It's so simple, but it's so fun to do!
Catering class?! Is that a new thing or another way or saying cooking class?
just another way of saying cooking class but we also learned about food cost and such so thats why it was called catering at my high school.
So easy, and so festive!!
I was so surprised by how easy it was. Now I want to cover everything in spiderwebs!
really!?! really that easy….so cute now I know I could actually do that. but I want to eat that cupcake!
It was a good one! :)
Aww so fun! Love these little cupcakes :)
Thanks!
Fun! i've seen this done to mimic fireworks on cookies/cupcakes on the 4th of july, too – fun how versatile it is!
I just googled that. So neat! Definitely doing that next July 4th. :)