Spun Sugar Spider Nest with Choux Eggs

For Halloween this year I’ve decided to do a post about something that I find truly scary.  Spiders!  

Though I admire their handiwork, accidentally walking into a spider’s web is a traumatic experience. (This happened recently, and I have yet to fully recover!)  As fall creeps in, it is more and more evident that these little guys are super busy.  I’m finding webs on my porch railing, on the hedgerow and worst of all, across the walkway to my house.  Going to the mailbox now requires a thorough inspection and at times, a broom.

All that spinning inspired me to do some of my own.  In this recipe, I’ve spun sugar across overturned bowls to create a candy spider’s nest.  Below the sticky landscape I placed delicious “spider eggs” (cream puffs) that are filled with berry pastry cream and rolled in powdered sugar. 

I also made some eerie red meringue spiders to place around the nest.  I think they turned out really cute, but boy, were they ever fragile!!  If anyone wants to attempt these little guys, I piped them with a #4 plain Wilton tip.

Next time I make this, I’ll probably skip the meringue spiders and use a few plastic ones.  They are just as cute and not so (very!) fragile.  I’m not including them in the printable recipe, but you can find the recipe here (I halved it) if you’d like to give them a try.

Spider’s Nest with Choux Eggs

 [click for printable recipe]

Pate a Choux (Yield: About 28)

3/4 cup (175 ml.) water

6 Tbsp. (85 g.) unsalted butter

1/4 Tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 cup (125 g.) all-purpose flour

4 large eggs

For Egg Wash: 1 egg and pinch of salt

Powdered sugar for dusting

Pre-heat oven to 425◦F/220◦C degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. At boil, remove from heat and sift in the flour, stirring to combine completely.

Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until the batter dries slightly and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Transfer to a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon 1 minute to cool slightly.

Add 1 egg. The batter will appear loose and shiny.

As you stir, the batter will become dry-looking like lightly buttered mashed potatoes.It is at this point that you will add in the next egg. Repeat until you have incorporated all the eggs.

Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large open tip (I piped directly from the bag opening without a tip). Pipe choux about 1 inch-part in the baking sheets. Choux should be about 1 inch high about 1 inch wide.

Using a clean finger dipped in hot water, gently press down on any tips that have formed on the top of choux when piping. You want them to retain their ball shape, but be smoothly curved on top.

Brush tops with egg wash (1 egg lightly beaten with pinch of salt).

Bake the choux at 425◦F/220◦C degrees until well-puffed and turning lightly golden in color, about 10 minutes.  Lower the temperature to 350◦F/180◦C degrees and continue baking until well-colored and dry, about 20 minutes more. Remove to a rack and cool.  Can be stored in a airtight box overnight.

Berry Pastry Creme

1 cup (225 ml.) whole milk

2 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch

6 Tbsp. (100 g.) sugar

1 large egg

2 large egg yolks

2 Tbsp. (30 g.) unsalted butter

1 Tsp. Vanilla

1/3 cup berry puree (I used blackberries and raspberries)

Dissolve cornstarch in 1/4 cup of milk. Combine the remaining milk with the sugar in a saucepan; bring to boil; remove from heat.

Beat the whole egg, then the yolks into the cornstarch mixture. Pour 1/3 of boiling milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so that the eggs do not begin to cook.  Return the remaining milk to boil. Pour in the hot egg mixture in a stream, continuing whisking.  Continue whisking (this is important – you do not want the eggs to solidify/cook) until the cream thickens and comes to a boil. Remove from heat and beat in the butter and vanilla.  Stir in berry puree.  Pour cream into a stainless steel/ceramic bowl. Press plastic wrap firmly against the surface. Chill immediately and until ready to use.  To fill pastry puffs, make a small slit in the sides of the choux and pipe in pastry creme.  Gently press back together and set aside.  Roll in powdered sugar.  Store (refrigerated) in an air-tight container until ready for use.

Spun Sugar Spider’s Nest

 2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup water

Prepare a work surface with parchment paper.  Place two bowls of different sizes upside down on the sheets of parchment. Coat them with cooking spray.

Combine the sugar, water, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, and stir until the sugar dissolves.  Boil the sugar syrup (stirring occasionally), until it reaches 302 degrees. The sugar will cook very quickly towards the end, so watch closely to ensure it doesn’t burn.

As soon as the sugar reaches the proper temperature, remove the saucepan from the heat.  Allow the mixture to stand for a minute or two to thicken slightly.

Hold the pan in one hand and a fork in the other. Dip the fork in the sugar syrup and stir. Remove the fork from the syrup and hold it 12 inches above the bowls (I used a step-stool).  Rapidly flick the fork back and forth allowing very fine strands of sugar to drape across the bowls. Repeat several times.  If the syrup doesn’t create any strands, or the strands have a lot of “beads,” allow the syrup to cool for another minute. If the strands are very lumpy and difficult to form, re-heat the syrup very briefly.

When finished, carefully pick up the entire mass of spun sugar and transfer it to a serving platter.  Place several spider eggs (crème filled choux puffs) in and around the nest, making sure to place a few under the raised mounds of spun sugar created by the overturned bowls.  Place the remaining choux in a bowl beside the centerpiece.

Spun sugar is best used immediately after it is made.   

To close, I’d like to wish my very good friend and fur-baby a happy birthday.  

Happy Birthday Biscuit!

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Sue
Sue
13 years ago

Did making this help you conquer your fear? I like your red spiders much better than the black one…shivers! Your berry pastry creme sounds so good! Happy Birthday to Biscuit!

Shirley @ Kokken69
Shirley @ Kokken69
13 years ago

This is magnificent! The best Halloween creation I have come across so far!

Mara Campbell
Mara Campbell
13 years ago

Wow, this is fabulous!!! I too hate spiders. We have these huge garden spiders that spin webs across our doorway at night. When I leave in the morning, I have to break my way through, sometimes with the spider STILL in the web. For a while, I started going out the back garage door. No kidding!!!

Megan
Megan
13 years ago

Too cute! I really want to try my hand at spun sugar. But I'm scared! LOL

Leah
Leah
13 years ago

So cleaver!
Happy Birthday Biscuit 🙂

Jessica @ How Sweet
Jessica @ How Sweet
13 years ago

This is TOO cool!

Unknown
Unknown
13 years ago

That is very cool.

Zoe
Zoe
13 years ago

I like your spiders…look quite real actually. The shapes are very well proportion!

Pattie @ Olla-Podrida
Pattie @ Olla-Podrida
13 years ago

This is great! I've always wanted to try my hand at spun sugar, but never had the nerve.

Paula
Paula
13 years ago

what a great idea!

have a nice time!
Paula

cookies and cups
cookies and cups
13 years ago

You are out of control! Everything you do is so beautiful…if I wasn't so in love, so I would be crazy jealous 🙂

The Blue-Eyed Bakers
The Blue-Eyed Bakers
13 years ago

That is one of the most adorable, impressive and delicious looking Halloween desserts we've ever seen! And that's saying a lot considering our paralyzing fear of spiders!

JehanP
JehanP
13 years ago

nice..very different take on spiders and webs for halloween.

Heather (Heather's Dish)
Heather (Heather's Dish)
13 years ago

you are seriously SO creative! this is beautiful!

Maria Miteva-Christou
Maria Miteva-Christou
13 years ago

Wow!!!
This is absolutely fabulous!
Regards Maria

naomi
naomi
13 years ago

I love it! What a clever way to dress up some classic dessert components for Halloween!

the decorated cookie
the decorated cookie
13 years ago

Beyond brilliant! (I posted a link at ediblecrafts.craftgossip.com)

Ingrid_3Bs
Ingrid_3Bs
13 years ago

Happy brithday Biscuit! And aren't the very clever one Heather! Oh, wait we already knew that!
~ingrid

Karen @ Mignardise
Karen @ Mignardise
13 years ago

Wow! Very very impressive. Spiders don't scare me but scalding sugar does!

Beth @ Wiccan Make Some Too
Beth @ Wiccan Make Some Too
13 years ago

I bet the spiders were very delicate yet tough. Really cool idea. Love it!

Andrea
Andrea
13 years ago

This is GREAT! I love those spiders,and the Pate a Choux looks delicious.

Unknown
Unknown
13 years ago

Such a unique idea – you're very creative!

🙂
ButterYum

marla {family fresh cooking}
marla {family fresh cooking}
13 years ago

Just submitted this genius creation to Stumble. Girl you are so creative. Love how you face your fear of spiders with this sweet creation. Spider webs are really vile. But now I will see them differently!

Audrey
Audrey
13 years ago

I am so right there with you…
walking into spider web gives me a massive case of the heebie jeebies. Wonderful recipe though!
and cute fur baby!

AudreyGardenLady

Amy
Amy
13 years ago

Whoa! That's the coolest. I'd impress my kids big time with this one!

Lili
Lili
13 years ago

At first, I thought the spider eggs were Russian tea cakes, but oh my how unexpected to see the berry filled cream puffs! You do go all out for us and I can only imagine how lucky your friends and family are to get to sample and partake of your exquisite creations! ~Lili

Chelsea
Chelsea
13 years ago

These are so adorable and I MUST try them. And the choux eggs look so divine… my boyfriend will go absolutely nuts. Thank you!

Anonymous
Anonymous
13 years ago

Happy Birthday Biscuit! I wish my sugar control skill was that great.THe spun sugar is really impressive.

Cat
Cat
13 years ago

The spider web is fabulously creative, but more than that, I find you extremely brave to fight your fear of spiders (which I wholly share with you!) and actually make some of the edible creepy crawly things!! Foooey!! I don't think I could do it as I would just get cold all over thinking about the real eight-legged beasts that roam in places I don't even want to imagine (like under the bed!! Yikes!!) Nevertheless, your recipe is great!! I'm sure many will love making it..call me a chicken, but I'm afraid I would just have nightmares after!!! haha!! Cat

Ali
Ali
13 years ago

How creative are you?! Amazing! And I'm loving the new look of your blog!

Unknown
Unknown
13 years ago

Eep! How did I miss this! SO adorable. And happy (belated) birthday to Biscuit!

Amanda
Amanda
12 years ago

The spun sugar is absolutely amazing!

Amanda
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