Spiderweb Spice Cake

• 1 1/2 sticks (6 oz.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 apples, peeled and grated (2 cups)
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
• 2 sticks (1/2 lb.) unsalted butter
• 1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Orange food coloring
• 1 tube black icing
• Peanut or almond M&M's

1. Make cake: Preheat oven to 350u0b0F. Lightly grease 2 (8- or 9-inch) round cake pans; line with parchment, grease again and dust with flour.
2. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in sour cream, then cocoa, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Reduce speed to low; beat in apples and flour until blended. Stir in raisins and pecans (batter will be thick).
3. Spoon batter into pans, smoothing top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, turn out onto racks; remove wax paper; cool. Refrigerate until ready to use. (Cakes can be made a day ahead, wrapped tightly in plastic and refrigerated, or up to 3 weeks ahead and frozen.)
4. Make brown-sugar frosting: Melt butter over medium heat; stir in brown sugar and cook over low heat, stirring, until sugar and butter are blended, about 5 minutes.
5. Stir in milk and cook over medium heat just until mixture comes to a boil, stirring often. Let cool, about 1 hour.
6. Add confectioners' sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time, whisking until smooth and spreadable. Whisk in vanilla. Add food coloring in small increments until icing is desired shade of pumpkin. Use immediately.
7. Assemble cake: Spread about 3/4 cup frosting evenly on top of a layer. Place second layer on first and frost top and sides with remaining frosting.
8. Using black icing, pipe on a spiderweb (see photo). Make spiders with M&M's, adding eyes and legs with icing. (Cake can be loosely covered and kept at room temperature for up to 2 days or refrigerated for up to 5 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.)

unsalted butter, sugar, eggs, sour cream, dutch, baking soda, ground allspice, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, salt, apples, flour, raisins, pecans, butter, brown sugar, milk, sugar, vanilla, orange food coloring, black icing, peanut

Taken from www.myrecipes.com/recipe/spiderweb-spice-cake (may not work)