Use your favourite chocolate cake recipe or a packet cake mix to prepare the cakes. Allow to cool before decorating.
Ingredients
Method
To make frosting, beat softened butter for 5 min or until pale in colour. Gradually add the icing sugar mixture and vanilla essence. Continue to beat for 5 min or until thick and fluffy.
Place one-quarter of the prepared buttercream into a separate bowl. Tint the larger portion of buttercream with green food colouring and the smaller portion with orange food colouring.
Place one of the 22cm cakes onto a large cake board and spread with 3/4 cup green buttercream. Place remaining cake on top and use three-quarters of the remaining green buttercream to spread over the sides and the top of the cake. Push the Chocolate Orange Balls around the edge of the cake to decorate. Use remaining green icing and orange icing to decorate the cupcakes. Reserving a little to keep decorations in place.

Roll out black icing as directed on packet. Using a 3.5cm round cutter, cut out 16 rounds. Place one round onto each cupcake and use the others for the sides of the larger cake.

Use the red icing to shape small eyes and yellow icing to shape mouths for the cupcake spiders. Secure in place with a little water. Cut licorice into pieces for the legs and arrange onto the cake – using main pic as a guide.

Re-roll the remaining black icing to make a 10cm spider body for the top of the cake. Cut marshmallow in half to make the large spiders eyes. Add some tiny balls of black icing for the pupils and shape a mouth from red icing as well. Hold in place with a little buttercream. Add legs to the spider with licorice as before. Place cupcakes around cake before serving.
