Spider Petits Fours

When I first stumbled upon the decorated cookie I was smitten!  Meaghan posts the neatest and cutest ideas... she always inspires!

She was the creator behind the Oreo cakester petits four... one of my favorite ideas of all time.  I have made quite a few of these in my day, and loved it more and more every time! (cant wait for Christmas!!!)

Except this time.

I had big ideas.

GRAND ideas.

And not such a grand execution.

I just might have to chalk up this post the the #FAIL pile. (love when Bridget does those, her failures are like what I strive for in success!) 

I wanted to make spider petits fours.

I think they ended up being sort of a cross between a box elder bug and a black widow.  

Without the red thingy.

To make these I used Oreo Cakesters, fondant, and a little sparkle stuff for the white ones.

I cut out strips of fondant for the legs, placed them over a piece of rolled up paper to dry, and hoped they would in fact dry.

These are after FIVE days of drying, and the legs still did not hold their shape.  I think I might need to venture out of my safe fondant world and try some gum paste.  We'll see.

Heh.  I was tryin' I tell ya!  Tryin' to make something of these weird spider thingies!

So then I remember I had some cupcakes left over from a charity event so threw a spider on it.

(are you blown away by my mastery of the English language?  And that sentence structure... just exquisite!)

 

Better?  Or worse?

Wow.  Not so itsy bitsy huh.

(he he)

I have ONE more Halloween inspired cake that I would love to share, but this week is crazy busy with cookies orders, so I am just hoping like crazy I can get to it.  I do not think I can wait one whole year to share.  Although I probably should.  

I may be out of ideas after that. :)

Comments

[Renee]

Eek! I'm not a spider fan, but for a spider, those are kinda cute! Well done.

[Kaitlin]

These are SO cute! I have no idea what you're talking about - they seem perfectly executed to me!

[Jessica @ How Sweet]

Ooooh Amanda. You blow me away. I am scared to death of spiders, but I would like to eat these. I hope I can be half as talented and creative as you someday!

[angie]

those are so cool looking!!

[Angela]

I don't think those are a fail at all! Very cool idea. I wish some of my "wins" could look like your "fails"!

[Brenda @ a farmgirl's dabbles]

You sell yourself way too short - these are GREAT!!!!!

[Joy]

Loved the spiders! very cute!

[Mary at Deep South Dish]

Hi! Was in your session at BlogHerFood. I like to eat too. :)

Okay. These are the epitome of awesomeness!! Fantastic. Gonna share these with my FB peeps.

[Becki D]

cute cute cute! though not exactly petit fours. I do think they look better with a cupcake....what a great idea!

[Amy's blah, blah, blog]

Fail? Are you kidding me? Those are adorable! As per your usual, of course! Remember to take care of yourself this week and not to push too hard! Hope it all gets done and you can put your feet up for a moment. Happy Spideriffic Halloween to you!

[Jenny]

I think they're adorable. And I wouldn't write that unless it were true. (And I don't have low standards!)

[Lora]

I LOVE your spiders. The petit fours are just wonderful.

[Maria]

You are so talented. I am amazed by every post! Love these!

[the urban baker]

OMG. you are amazing, girlfriend! you have found your calling and you need keep on doing it!!!
happy halloween!

[Janis]

Not sure I could bring myself to eat those - so do NOT like spiders -- even ones made out of sugar! :)

[Michelle Andrews]

A failure? Are you kidding me? These are great, and the legs look perfect. They do look like black widows, but what can be more scary than that!?

[Londa]

Creepy cute! Sooo not boxelder buggish! I'm totally driving to your house to trick or treat if those are your treats!

[Wei-Wei]

I can definitely tell that they're spiders! I think that the curly legs actually look cuter. :)

[Viv]

Have to say they look pretty good to me, really cute. If you have problems with your fondant/sugarpaste not drying well when you're modelling, try kneading in a little Tylo powder; it makes the paste much easier to handle for modelling and it does dry faster.

[sunflowers8]

Brrrr, spaventosamente ideali per Halloween ;) bravissima, come sempre!
Buona giornata
Sonia

[marla {family fresh cooking}]

Amanda, you will never be out of ideas!! How cute??!! are these spider treats. Do you gag when you put a spider in your mouth? Prob not, I guess they are sugar - but they really do look like spiders. Dig the fancy sparkles too.
Just gazed at The Decorated Cookie blog, you are right - so awesome!
XO

[Susan]

Yeah - I seriously don't know what you mean by #FAIL....this are amazing!

[Brittanie]

Those are brilliant! Just enough creepy mixed with cute in a twisted way. I love that they completely take over both treats!

[Jae]

Gumpaste is your friend Amanda! :P in the mean time I love these! Especially the cupcake one! I think the simplicity of the spider is what makes these so adorable!

[Kelly @ JAX does design]

Your spiders look awesome! Well, as awesome as spiders can look - they're normally kinda creepy, afterall ;-) I think they're equally good as petit fours and on cupcakes.

I love all your Hallowe'en creations :-)

Kelly

[Paula]

The are cute, creepy and oh so creative. They look great on the petit fours and awesome on the cupcake, almost as if they are daring you to eat them :)

Noticed on your side-bar that you have entered into the LA Times Cookie Bake Off...I have cast my vote, best wishes with the contest. Your cookie and your story about them are doing very well over there :)

[Erica B.]

How fun, love this idea!!

[Nicole]

These are adorable, not a fail at all! It kind of looks like the spider is picking up the petit four and is going to walk away with it, which makes it all the more scary.

[bridget {bake at 350}]

Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow! Um, wow! Amanda! I am IN LOVE with these!!! YOU are incredible! I was actually just thinking about your sweet Christmas petit fours yesterday, but I LOVE these creepy ones, too!

Bravo, my dear!

[Barbara]

Huh? You didn't like the way they turned out??? I think they're adorable! What fun. Spooky too.

I love Them Decorated Cookie...I made her MisFortune cookies last post!

[Jen @ Passion-for-Parties.com]

Girlie, if THIS is a fail, then I'm doomed! These are awesome! Great work, as always. Hold your head high, creative diva! :)

[Gwendolyn McBee]

They are perfectly Ekkky! LOL I am definately going to give these spiders a "spin" Heheheh What a great creative idea. I have a few cupcakes that will be perfect for this. Wish I was there to help bake and decorate cookies with you. I would love to master your techniques from the master herself. :-)

[Rose in Ohio]

Spider: "You can't touch this."
Me: "Whatever you say, Sir."

Successfully awesome and scary treats. You should be patting yourself on the back and taking bows--definitely not apologizing!

[Sue]

Are you kidding? I think they look perfectly creepy! Shivers!

[Erika Beth, the Messy Chef]

These are great! Everyone would know they are spiders! I especially love the white sprinkles.

[kotomi]

i love these! i wouldn't categorize them under Fail at ALL, that is just crazy. What did you use for the little black cupcake stand?? is it meant to be a cupcake stand, or is it a candle holder? it's super cute.

[Alicia]

Had you not mentioned that you weren't satisfied with these I would have never known. They are adorable!

[Heather I.]

Those are adorable and oh so perfect for this week. Totally not a FAIL!

[meaghan (chic cookies)]

Thank you so much for my shout out (sniffle, wipe tear)! You are SO beyond brilliant! And silly, these are perfection! I'm horribly afraid of spiders, and even I love 'em. Oh great, now I feel spiders all over me. Eek!

[Renee (Kudos Kitchen)]

I don't know how you keep topping yourself Amanda but you continue to do so. I am in awe of your talent!

[BethieofVA]

Not a fail, but a FANTASTIC!

[mindy]

Love it!! Maybe when you venture out of your safety zone, I will too. Gumpaste scares me more than these edible spiders do!!

[Lauren @ Crave. Indulge. Satisfy.]

These are fabulous! They sure do look like spiders to me, great idea, LOVE IT!

[Laura Flowers]

Sooo cute! I know you had trouble with the legs, but your spiders couldn't be cooler!

Laura

[holly]

Once again-absolutely adorable little spiders;) Question-do you make your own fondant or do you buy it??

[jennifer]

Just buy some Wilton Gum-tex and add it to your fondant. It will make it dry harder and faster than fondant normally does. I think you'll be happier doing that than using actual gum paste.

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1383896427]

These are really cute, Amanda. They look great and I think the legs are perfect.

Soooo....we don't celebrate Halloween here (lol, my kids become completely scandalized anytime we walk into a store with halloween decorations) and I'm not particularly a fan of spiders...but I'm sitting here trying to think of how I can incorporate this totally cute idea in a non-Halloween way.

BTW, where'd you get the black fondant? Did you buy it pre-made from Michael's, order it online, or make it yourself. Because if you made it yourself I'd LOVE to know how you did it.

I had a heck of a time trying to make black MMF last year for Colton's fire truck birthday cake...it ended up purple. And the more black Wilton gel I added, the purplier it got until it was like, deeeeeeeep Bubble Yum Bubble gum purple.

[Baking In Brooklyn]

This is perhaps the first time that spiders have looks delicious...

[Trisha]

Oh, i absolutely love u'r blog - its so inspirational ... i've been visiting for a while now. Your work is great. And gumpaste isn't so scary - it hardens much better than fondant.

[grace]

i didn't think it was possible, but those spiders are both creepy and cute at the same time. :)