Black Forest Log and Spider

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease sheet pan and line with parchment paper. Prepare cake.

Chocolate Cake Recipe

1 cup white sugar

1 cup flour

6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup boiling water

Directions

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add egg, milk, oil and mix until combined. Stir in boiling water and pour into greased sheet pan. Shake pan to coat evenly. Bake for 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

After cake done, flip onto a towel covered in parchment paper. Immediately roll cake and cool one hour.

While cake cools, prepare the whipped cream.

Whipped cream

1 pint heavy cream, chilled

1 cup sifted powder sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat cream in chilled bowl until frothy. Gradually add powder sugar and vanilla while beating until stiff peaks occur.

After cake is cooled, unroll cake (remaining on parchment paper) spread whipped cream and add cherry topping. Trim ends (including whipped cream and cherry topping) and set aside. Roll cake carefully using the parchment paper and cool in fridge for 20 minutes.

Chocolate leaves

-12 mint leaves

-3 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted

Lay mint leaves on wax paper and melt chocolate. Take about 1/2 teaspoon of chocolate and spread on leaf. Repeat and let dry. Carefully peel leaf away.

Cake balls

-9 oz white chocolate, melted

Take the trimmed ends of the cake roll, break down by hand or food processor. Shape into balls, and one small oval and one large oval for the spider body. Chill for 30 minutes. Melt chocolate and use toothpicks to dunk the balls into the chocolate.

Spider

-8 oz dark chocolate
-3 tablespoons whipping cream
- black food coloring
-8 pieces of thin food (like spaghetti, pretzels, pocky)

Melt chocolate and add 2-3 drops of food coloring. Add whipping cream to create ganache. Pour over spider's body. Break a thin food, such as spaghetti, into 8 larger pieces and 8 smaller pieces. Use remaining black ganache to cover pieces.

Spiderweb

-White cotton candy

Use fingers to spread out cotton candy to create spider web-like threads.

Or use a cotton candy machine (like I did!) using about 1/2 white sugar.

Prepare chocolate buttercream.

Chocolate buttercream

6 cups powder sugar

2 cup butter, softened

6 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted

6 tablespoons milk

3 teaspoons vanilla

(If chocolate is not dark enough, add more melted chocolate; my first batch was a little light so I melted about 5 oz more!)

Frost cake. Using a fork, draw lines across the cake to create a bark effect.

After cake balls and spider body have hardened, arrange them on the log. Place chocolate leaves around log. Add "spider webs" over it and enjoy!