IF you’re organising a party this Hallowe'en why not entertain your guests with this spooky 'Spider Web' cake.
Not only does it meet the spooky, scary food criteria for Halloween, but it’s great fun to make too.
It's guaranteed to be an instant success with the children as it’s made out of chocolate and they get to choose their own spider to sit in the middle of the web.
You will need a small icing piping bag to pipe out the web.
And remember spiders are not just for Hallowe'en, this makes a great birthday cake too.

Ingredients (makes an 18cm cake to serve 6)

Cake:
100g Fruisana Fruit Sugar
150g softened butter or margarine
125g self-raising flour
25g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
2 large free range eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp warm water

Topping:
142ml pot double cream
100g dark chocolate, at least 60% cocoa solids
About 40g sifted icing sugar

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180°C, Gas mark 4. Grease and line an 18cm round cake tin, about 2cm deep with a round of baking parchment.

2. Beat together the Fruisana and butter or margarine until light and fluffy. Sift together the flour, cocoa and baking powders then gradually mix into the creamed butter and Fruisana alternating with the eggs. Then beat in the vanilla and water.

3. Spoon into the tin, level the top and bake for 20-25 minutes until risen and firm to touch. Check it is cooked with a thin clean skewer which should come out clean. Cool and turn out of the tin onto a cake rack.

4. Make the topping. Break up the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and pour in the cream. Melt in a microwave on a medium setting or place the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water. Remove, stir until smooth and cool.

5. When the chocolate cream is thickened, pour it over the cake, scooping up with a spoon and smoothing over the sides. Allow to set.

6. Beat the icing sugar in a small bowl with a few dribbles of water until you have a smooth slightly runny paste that will flow easily. Spoon into an icing bag fitted with the thin nozzle. Then pipe out a web design on the cake top. Let this set and then fix a plastic spider in the middle.