This Halloween Spider Cake with the Thermomix® works without a mixing bowl, without a hand mixer, and without having to cook the pumpkin beforehand. The raw pumpkin flesh is chopped in the mixing bowl and goes straight into the batter. During baking, the Hokkaido softens, releases moisture, and creates a moist crumb that stays soft even after two days.
We have been baking this cake for Halloween parties for years. The recipe comes from our recipe calendar and we have made it hundreds of times by now. The orange glaze comes from white chocolate coating with food colouring, and the spiderweb is piped on with icing sugar and a freezer bag.
Halloween Spider Cake with the Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 13 ✓
- 300 g hazelnuts
- 500 g Hokkaido pumpkin flesh
- 220 g butter + extra for the tin
- 100 g plain flour (type 550)
- 200 g sugar
- 50 g honey
- 1 sachet baking powder
- 1 sachet vanilla sugar
- 4 eggs
- 200 g white chocolate coating
- orange food colouring
- 100 g icing sugar
- 4 tsp lemon juice
Instructions 0 / 7
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1
Preheat the oven.
Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan 160°C, gas mark 3). Grease a springform tin.
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2
Chop the hazelnuts.
Add the hazelnuts to the mixing bowl in two batches, one after the other. Grind for 10 sec / speed 8 and set aside.
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3
Chop the pumpkin.
Cut the pumpkin flesh into pieces, add to the mixing bowl in two batches, chop for 6 sec / speed 5 and set aside.
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4
Mix the batter.
Add the ground hazelnuts, chopped pumpkin flesh, butter, flour, sugar, honey, baking powder, vanilla sugar and eggs to the mixing bowl and mix for 15 sec / speed 4. Spread the mixture evenly in the springform tin.
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5
Bake the cake.
Bake the cake on the middle shelf of the oven for 60 to 70 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Rinse the mixing bowl.
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6
Chop and melt the chocolate coating.
Cut the chocolate coating into pieces, place in the mixing bowl, chop for 6 sec / speed 8 and melt for 5 min / 50°C / speed 1. Add food colouring to the desired intensity and mix for 10 sec / speed 4. Spread the chocolate coating over the cooled cake. Leave to set for at least 1 hour.
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7
Glaze and decorate the cake.
Stir icing sugar with lemon juice, spoon into a freezer bag, snip a very small hole in one corner of the freezer bag and pipe a spiderweb pattern onto the cake.
Nutrition per serving
Why raw pumpkin instead of pre-cooked puree
The Hokkaido is not steamed beforehand or cooked in the Varoma. We cut the pumpkin flesh into rough pieces, chop it for 6 seconds at speed 5 and add it raw to the batter. During the 60 to 70 minutes of baking time, the pumpkin cooks through, continuously releasing moisture into the batter and preventing the cake from drying out. Pre-cooked pumpkin would lose too much water, and the batter would end up either too runny or too firm after baking.
The hazelnuts are ground in two batches, 10 seconds at speed 8 each time. One batch is not enough because 300 g of nuts overfills the mixing bowl and the nuts at the bottom do not get properly ground. Remove the first batch with the spatula, then grind the second.
How the batter comes together without over-mixing
All the batter ingredients go into the mixing bowl at the same time: ground hazelnuts, chopped pumpkin flesh, butter, flour, sugar, honey, baking powder, vanilla sugar, and eggs. 15 seconds at speed 4 is enough. Longer would make the mixture too smooth and the cake would turn out dense rather than light. The consistency is thick but not stiff. That is correct as the pumpkin firms things up during baking.
The springform tin must be greased, otherwise the cake sticks to the sides. We use butter and spread it with a piece of kitchen paper. Distribute the batter evenly in the tin without smoothing it flat. The surface can stay rough as it makes no difference for the glaze later.
The skewer test is essential after 60 minutes
The baking time is between 60 and 70 minutes at 180°C top and bottom heat (fan 160°C). After 60 minutes, do the first skewer test. If wet batter still sticks to the wooden skewer, bake for another 5 minutes and check again. The pumpkin releases moisture, which is why this cake needs longer than a standard sponge. Taking it out of the oven too early results in a raw, soggy centre.
Leave the finished cake to cool in the tin. Wait at least 30 minutes before applying the glaze. A warm cake causes the chocolate coating to melt straight away, and the orange colour runs unevenly.
Orange chocolate coating and spiderweb technique
The white chocolate coating is chopped for 6 seconds at speed 8, then melted for 5 minutes at 50°C on speed 1. Add orange food colouring drop by drop and mix for 10 seconds at speed 4. Too much colouring makes the glaze garish, too little leaves it pale. We add the colour gradually and check the intensity after each mixing run.
Spread the melted chocolate coating over the cooled cake using a spoon, then smooth it evenly with the spatula. Leave to set for at least 1 hour at room temperature. In the fridge, the chocolate coating would set too quickly and condensation would form on the surface.
For the spiderweb, stir icing sugar with lemon juice until a thick paste forms. Spoon into a freezer bag, snip a very small hole in one corner (no larger than a matchstick head), and pipe the web onto the set coating with even pressure. Too large a hole produces lines that are too thick and not fine enough for a spiderweb.
What other recipes do differently
Most Halloween recipes on Cookidoo, Rezeptwelt and similar sites use a dark chocolate sponge with cocoa and ganache rather than Hokkaido pumpkin. The spiders are almost always assembled separately from liquorice wheels, chocolate rolls, or marshmallows with white sugar eyes. We take a different approach: the pumpkin makes the batter moist without extra fat, the spiderweb is piped directly onto the orange glaze, and no extra figures are needed. Anyone who wants it more spooky can place a black plastic spider in the centre of the web. For children, the web pattern alone is enough. Cream cheese glazes with a piped spiderweb are an alternative, but they only keep in the fridge and do not pair well with Hokkaido pumpkin.
Goes well with: Vanilla ice cream and pumpkin soup.
After the party
The cake keeps for 3 to 4 days covered at room temperature. The glaze stays firm, and the spiderweb may soften slightly after 2 days if the air is humid. Storing it in the fridge dries out the cake, as the cold draws moisture from the crumb. Freezing does not work as the chocolate coating becomes patchy when thawed.
More Halloween recipes and autumnal cakes can be found in our Rocky Roads and in our Thermomix® recipe calendar.
