| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 1 hr 30 min |
| Prep: | 30 min |
| Inactive: | 30 min |
| Cook: | 30 min |
| Yield: | 30 Spiders |
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups toasted pecans
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, in pieces
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 5 ounces thin black licorice strands, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 4 ounces milk chocolate, chopped
- Chocolate curls or sprinkles, optional
Instructions
- Line 2 baking sheets with waxed paper and lightly spray with nonstick spray. Mound 30 small clusters of pecans, about 3 or 4 pecans each, spaced a couple inches apart on the pan.
- Make caramel: Warm the cream over low heat and keep warm while you cook the sugar.
- Put the sugar and corn syrup and in a deep, heavy-bottomed large saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves. Stop stirring, raise heat to medium-high, and simmer until the sugar reaches the hard crack stage, or 305 degrees F on a candy thermometer, about 7 minutes.
- Whisk the butter and salt into the sugar mixture. Gradually pour in the cream and vanilla taking care since the mixture will bubble up. Reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar reaches soft ball stage, 240 degrees F on the thermometer, about 5 minutes more. Immediately remove from the heat and cool for a minute.
- Ladle a couple tablespoons of warm caramel over some of the nut clusters, to make the spider bodies. Then press 6 pieces of licorice into the warm caramel to make the legs. Repeat with the remaining caramel and licorice. (It’s helpful to have an extra hand here, since the caramel can set quickly. If caramel hardens, warm over very low heat. ) Let spiders cool 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, put the chocolates in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with 1-inch or so of water to a very slow simmer; set the bowl over, but not touching, the water. Stir the chocolate occasionally until melted and smooth. (Alternatively, put the chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Melt at 50 percent power in the microwave until soft, about 1 minute. Stir, and continue heat until completely melted, 2 to 3 minutes more.)
- Spoon about 1 tablespoon of melted chocolate on top of each spider. Sprinkle with sprinkles or chocolate curls, if desired. Let cool until firm.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 30 servings |
| Calories | 175 |
| Total Fat | 10 g |
| Saturated Fat | 4 g |
| Carbohydrates | 22 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 18 g |
| Protein | 1 g |
| Cholesterol | 14 mg |
| Sodium | 43 mg |
Reviews
I love idea of the spiders for Halloween time. I would love see someone making spiders come out of walls some how,with a person stand there going in there month.
I liked the idea but there was a problem because the spiders didn’t turn out as I had thought they would. They didn’t end up looking anything like spiders. In fact, they looked like turtles dressed up as spiders. Everything always turns out prettier when you are a professional chef.
Yum!!! My only problem was that after the spiders had cooled (or so I thought I put them on a serving dish that they all stuck to. I would put each spider on a piece or wax paper and leave it on until consuming.
Did you all really have an easy time with this recipe? My caramel was soft and it did not firm up as expected. (although I let it boil at the temperature indicated) I waited 5 minutes for the caramel to cool before I started assembling the spiders but it ran and the pecans spread out. Nothing I did remedied the problem. I think they could be cute but I did not have fun. Tasted good but came out like globs of stuff with licorice sticking out of the sides.
As Halloween is only a matter of days away I decided to find fun some treats for a my adult Halloween party. I still wanted to keep things fun but not looking like a kids bash so when I came across this recipe I was thrilled. I made them last night just to have a test run before the big day and they were perfect!. I work with Better Recipes so I am always reviewing recipes but Halloween Recipes like this are my favorite. They are great because they are fun for adult parties without coming across too childish
The candy tasted excellent, but I could not get the candy to harden. Could some tell me what I did wrong.
tasty!!!yum!
wow. in reading more, i see many unhappy people here. and not to be blaimed are the spiders. sheesh happy time o’ year? these were fun! not perfect, not angry, but fun. chill people and find some happiness already.
These are very cute and fun to make. After I made the carmels and chocolate. I placed each in a different fondue pot to keep warm. It made the process and decorating go much faster since I didn’t need to worry about the carmel & chcolate hardening. I also used chow mein noodles cut to size for legs and used the chocolate to cover the chow mein noodles.
I read all the reviews and have decided to make these with my granddaughters.
The youngest one is the self proclaimed “bug killer” in the house; so it won’t matter how many legs these creepy crawlys have.
Now, how many “store bought” carmels did you bakers use in this recipe?
The youngest one is the self proclaimed “bug killer” in the house; so it won’t matter how many legs these creepy crawlys have.
Now, how many “store bought” carmels did you bakers use in this recipe?
Linda