Welcome to the week of the Undertea!
Today’s entry will come in 2 parts.
INTRO: WHAT’S UNDERTALE AND WHAT’S AN UNDERTEA?
Those of you not in the gaming loop may not have heard of Undertale. Undertale is an indie RPG created by Toby Fox. It takes place in an underground world inhabited by lovable (and not so lovable) monsters. You, as the sole human in the underground, must journey through the monster world to try and get back to your home on the surface. Undertale became well known mostly for its characters and interesting gameplay. Undertale is an RPG where you don’t have to kill anyone if you don’t want to. It’s also a game where choosing violence has real consequences, and as a result the game can play quite differently for each person. The game’s unique world and high quality made it an absolute phenomenon online.
I played Undertale this past December, and have been sitting on recipe ideas ever since. The second I encountered Muffet, a baking spider girl with a knack for business, I knew I wanted to do a high tea. It took me months to actually get around to it since I was working on my Steven Universe desserts, but at last I’m here. Which brings me to…
What’s an Undertea? Why, it’s a well-rounded high tea spread consisting entirely of Undertale inspired recipes, of course! Consider it a spread that Muffet would lay out for you if she asked you over. You know, to apologize for that whole trying-to-kill-you thing. (Or, in my case, that killing-me-multiple-times thing.)
Here’s my schedule for the week, so you all know what to expect:
MONDAY: Intro + Spider Cider
TUESDAY: Blueberry Spider Donuts
WEDNESDAY: Snowman Pieces + Undertale Around The Web
THURSDAY: Abandoned Mini Quiches
FRIDAY: Napstablook Spookmint Marshmallows
SATURDAY: Legendary Hero Finger Sandwiches
SUNDAY: Papyrus’s Spaghetti (Cake)
PART 2: SPIDER CIDER RECIPE
Yields: 1 liter/quart cider
This spider cider is a basic mulled cider finished with a blueberry syrup. For some extra pizzaz, make flexible sugar spiderwebs to float atop each cup!
SPIDER CIDER
1 quart apple cider
2 cinnamon sticks
5 allspice berries
10 cloves
1 small orange, sliced
___
2 tbsp sugar
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1. In a large saucepan, combine the first group of ingredients. Heat on low for 30-40 minutes or until steaming nicely; do not bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and strain the cider to remove all the spices.
2. In a small saucepan, combine the berries and sugar with 2 tbsp of the mulled cider and bring to a boil. Boil for about 3 minutes, stirring regularly, until the berries have broken down. Mash the berries thoroughly, then run the syrup through a sieve to remove the berry skins. Stir the blueberry syrup into the mulled cider.
SUGAR SPIDERWEBS
2 tbsp boiling water
1 tsp tylose powder
2 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tbsp corn starch
1 tsp meringue powder
1/2 tsp corn syrup
1. Preheat your oven to 200°F/95°C. In a stand mixer bowl fitted with a whisk, combine the boiling water and tylose powder. Whisk on high for 5 full minutes, or until the mixture has created a smooth gel.
2. Add the meringue powder and beat on high for another minute. Finally, add the remaining ingredients and beat on high for 5 minutes, or until the mixture is thickened, bright white, smooth and without lumps. Transfer the mix to a piping bag fitted with a #2 tip.
3. Find a round glass or pastry cutter just smaller than the glasses you’ll be serving the cider in. Dip the rim of the glass in a bit of powdered sugar or cornstarch and use it to make a guide on a sheet of parchment or a silicone mat. Using your piping bag, pipe a freeform spiderweb within each circle. They should all look a little different and not too perfect, so just have fun with it!
4. Place the cookie sheet in the oven and allow the webs to set for 5 minutes. Take them from the oven and check to see that all spots are set; you want the surfaces of the webs to lose their shine. If they need more time, return them to the oven for 2 minute increments until they’ve set. Allow to cool.
5. Carefully peel the webs from the parchment. Using an offset spatula to loosen them a bit helps. To store the finished product, simply place the webs in an air-tight container with a square of parchment between each one to prevent sticking. When it’s time to serve your cider, place a web on top of each cup of hot cider and enjoy!
IN THIS RECIPE:
OMG I LOVE THOSE SPIDERWEBS
<3!
So great!
I’m gonna make this (and the rest of Undertea) for me and my friends!
Thanks for writing the recipe
>(*=u=*)>
I hope you love it!
I’m going too make all of this for my birth day thank you so much! -mweh heh heh
I am going to make this, but I can’t find allspice berries anywhere here (in Denmark). Do you think ground allspice in a paper tea filter will give something close to the same effect?
Hi there,
I think that’d be just fine! I only use whole berries because they’re easy to fish out, but the paper filter gives the same effect.
Hey, I managed to find berries in a Middle Eastern store in my town and it was even at a really cheap price, so I will be able to do it properly 🙂
Oh, fabulous, I’m glad! They are so lovely for mulling wines and ciders.
Quick question! Is it possible to use a substitute for blueberries? I was going to make these for a party but one of the guests is allergic
Hey there! Sure, you can use a substitute. You may have to balance the color out with food coloring, though. Any berry (or sweet fruit, really) should work fine.
omg i just realized that there was a quiche in the picture
haha
Whenever I mention this tea to people I somehow always forget the quiche. Perhaps that’s why it was abandoned. It was simply overlooked!
Where did you get those awesome looking cups
I actually found them at a thrift store! Flea markets and thrift shops tend to have lots of awesome cider cups.
Hello, Undertea looks great one day I will make it for my family!!!! I am so excited!!!! Thanks for the recipe<3
I would like the nutritional stats for this as I am doing this recipe for a project. If you could plug the nutritional stats it would be much appreciated.
Hey, I was wondering if you’d be ok with me using the pictures of the food for a Muffet’s cafe sort of art piece I’m working on? I want to put the picture of the cider on the overhead menu, for instance. i’d credit you as the source for the image(s) and link you back the finished piece, but it’d really help me out with making the image i currently have a bit more of the muffet aesthetic
Hi Andrea,
That sounds totally fine as long as I’m credited and the image isn’t being resold for profit. 🙂