filled chocolate spiders

bursting with delicious guts.

chocolate filled spiders are really easy to make, but you need a spider candy mold to get them started.

they can have whatever kind of guts you want, but my personal favorite is raspberry preserves. it has a great texture and gross out factor, and the taste is very intense. caramel's always a crowd pleaser, and it's nice to have 2 varieties- adds to the surprise. in addition to the mold, it helps to have a spatula, a tiny spoon (for the fillings), a regular spoon, and a clean synthetic paint brush.

use whatever chocolate you like. i had a brick of bittersweet and 1/2 a bag of semi sweet chocolate chips, which was about 2 cups of chopped chocolate. it made about 40 spiders.

• once the chocolate is melted (for a reminder of how to melt chocolate in a double boiler, click here), add a small spoonful to the first 4 spiders cavities. tap the mold on the counter a few times (with some force) to get rid of any air bubbles.
• using the brush, paint the chocolate around each cavity, going all the way to the top of the mold. make sure that the spider is completely covered in chocolate, but keep it to a minimum- if it's too full, there won't be enough room for the filling. repeat with the rest of the mold, doing 4 at a time so the chocolate doesn't get too cool to spread evenly.
• pop the mold into the fridge for about 15 minutes.

• when the mold comes out of the fridge, add a tiny bit of filling to each spider. fight the inclination to add a lot of filling- it shouldn't go above the top line of the mold or touch any of the sides. if it does, it will be difficult to cover and might break the spider when popping it out of the mold.
• after filling has been added, pour another small spoonful of chocolate into each cavity. tap the mold on the counter a few more times (with some force), and push the chocolate around with the brush to completely cover the surface.
• refrigerate for another 15-20minutes until the chocolate has retracted and firmed up. flip the mold over on the counter and twist it gently (like an ice cube tray). some of the spiders will pop right out, and some will be a little stubborn. gently push on the back of any that are stuck, and they'll jump out eventually.