How to Decorate a Spider-Man Cake

by Tonya Staab
Published: Last Updated on

All you need is a basic cake, a few supplies, and you can make a fantastic Spider-Man cake in no time at all with these tips. 

Last week my oldest (you know, the one who recently moved out of home, sniff) asked me to make a birthday cake for his girlfriend.

All I knew is she loves red velvet cake and Spider-Man.

a decorate spider-man cake with webs and a toy spider-man sitting on top

I would love to share a fabulous red-velvet cake recipe with you, but things have been busy lately. I didn’t have time to experiment in the kitchen as I would normally do and I don’t have a tried and true recipe on hand for red velvet cake. So, I made this cake using a couple of boxes of cake mix, substituting the oil for apple sauce, and then made my own vanilla icing.

This cake took two boxes of red velvet cake mix which I divided between three 8″ round cake pans.

What you need

  • 3 8″ round cake pans (or just bake each layer separately to re-use the one pan
  • 2 box red velvet cake mix
  • Vanilla frosting
  • Applesauce (for cake mix instead of oil)
  • Butter and flour (for greasing the pan)
  • Red nonpareils
  • Spider-Man toy
  • Parchment paper
  • White chocolate
  • Wilton piping tip No.2
  • Piping bag
  • Black edible food spray

Instructions

Preheat the oven, and then follow the cake mix instructions substituting the oil for applesauce.

I don’t normally use baking paper in cake pans. Instead, I grease them by brushing melted butter around the base and sides and then shake flour over the top, moving the pan around until all of the butter is covered in a thin layer of flour. I then shake the excess out.

I didn’t know if she liked fondant and didn’t want to run the risk of her hating it so I decided against doing a tiered Spider-Man cake. Instead, I put icing between each of the cake layers, leveling each of them with a knife before stacking them. I then did two layers of icing around the outside – a crumb layer which I refrigerated until firmer and then added a top layer.

a white cake with black spiderwebs on top and a spider man doll

I then added red sprinkles to the top of the cake and a Spider-Man candle.

Edible spider webs

To make the webs I drew spider webs on a piece of parchment paper in various sizes, turned it over and piped melted white chocolate over the top using a piping bag with a No.2 Wilton tip. The white chocolate was set in the refrigerator and then sprayed with black edible color. I didn’t want it to look perfect so sprayed some webs with a second coat and others with a very light coat.

Unfortunately, some of the webs began breaking as they softened which I actually decided made them look more realistic because I was able to place broken pieces of webs around Spider-Man.

black edible webs on a cake

She was thrilled with her cake. And I’m so glad I was able to put smiles on both of their faces.

a decorated spider-man cake

The spider webs would be perfect for a Halloween cake.

If you have a child who celebrates their birthday around Halloween and are looking for a party theme, then this is perfect. Kids love superheroes, and what could be better than adding the ‘spider’ touches to make it a kid-friendly Halloween party.

Please pin this post for later

You Might Also Like These Too

14 comments

Maggie Unzueta @ Mama Maggie's Kitchen September 3, 2014 - 7:34 am

This is what happens when I visit your blog: I see cool stuff, and I never leave. lol. PINNING!

Reply
Shannon April 2, 2019 - 4:52 pm

Great idea ! Just wondering what substituting apple sauce for oil does to the taste ? Thanks

Reply
Amy May 18, 2020 - 2:02 pm

Such a great cake!!!

Reply
AMY WILLIAMS May 18, 2020 - 8:04 pm

Any of my three boys would absolutely love this!

Reply
Katie @ Amotherthing May 18, 2020 - 4:45 pm

Oh man, as a mom of four boys who LOVE Spidey, I know I’ll be referring back to this for the next birthday that comes along!!

Reply
Katrina May 20, 2020 - 4:01 pm

This is adorable!

Reply
Jennifer West May 23, 2020 - 6:25 pm

That is seriously one of the COOLEST cakes EVER!!! Love this!

Reply
Keren November 29, 2021 - 4:22 pm

Hi, beautiful idea!! I have to make it for my son’s birthday!! Just wanted to ask regarding the spider webs. Why did you use white instead of brown dark chocolate? In the pictures they seem sprayed with gold or shimmer, us that true?
Thank You!

Reply
Tonya Staab November 30, 2021 - 9:59 am

There was no particular reason why I used white instead of dark chocolate, you can use whichever one you prefer. I actually sprayed sections of the white chocolate with an edible black spray so that you could see the white through parts of it.

Reply
J.O. June 30, 2022 - 4:28 am

This is such a cool idea~ After decorating + letting it set, do you think the chocolate webs will melt easily? How soon should you serve it before the chocolate webs melt?

Reply
Tonya Staab July 2, 2022 - 8:06 pm

The webs will melt if the cake is in a warm space. I recommend keeping it refrigerated until ready to serve, especially on a hot day.

Reply
J July 23, 2022 - 12:58 pm

This is such a great idea 🙂 How long does it take for the webs to set?

Reply
Tonya Staab July 24, 2022 - 11:13 am

The webs set fairy quickly because they are melted chocolate. You will need to keep them cold though once they are hard so they don’t melt again. I recommend putting them into the cake at the last possible moment.

Reply
Sweet E's Bake Shop September 7, 2023 - 8:58 am

This Spider-Man cake is amazing! I love the way you used the red velvet cake and the white chocolate webs. It’s perfect for a superhero fan.

Reply

Leave a Comment

* By using this form you agree with the storage and handling of your data by this website.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More