Spidey Floss

I’ll admit, I’m not an avid Spider-man comic book reader. So when I watch the Spider-man movies, I don’t have the book biases that others have. I’m strictly speaking of the movies based on a movie-fan’s knowledge. That being said, I was a little skeptical when they decided to reboot the series so soon after the Toby Maguire movies. I was also a little skeptical about Andrew Garfield, but that was strictly because I’m such a huge fan of his doppelganger, Ben Schwartz. (How great is Ben Schwartz?)

Alas, I watched the movie, and I thought it was great. It had a lot of content overlap with the previous series, but I think it was done in such a different way that I didn’t mind it at all. I thought Garfield’s take on Peter Parker was solid and brought more angst and less awkwardness to the character, honestly, making it a little easier to comfortably watch. Not to mention, Emma-fucking-Stone, the love of my life, is feisty and lovable and blonde in it. The two have unbelievable chemistry and I’m all about it.

So yeah, I’m excited for The Amazing Spider-Man 2, coming to theaters tomorrow. One of the plot points of this movie is Jamie Foxx’s character, Electro. I am a little concerned about him, as I have my own comic book character that I’m developing called Electro-cutie. But she doesn’t have some lame electric eel accident. We are also going to get some Green Goblin action and most importantly … we’re gonna get some more Gwen Stacy action.

In anticipation, I made some shit for you guys. Obvi.

I thought it would be fun to make “homemade cotton candy.” If you’ve ever had it, you know it’s nothing like actual cotton candy, or like the cotton candy that you get from the at-home machines you can get. (I am really growing to hate uni-functional kitchen gear.) This is just strands of sugar that look a hell of a lot like spider webs. I have a fun spider web cone template that I made for you to print out and put your Spidey Floss in. I will warn you, molten sugar is hot and when it dries, it can be sharp. Make this recipe at your own risk. Oh, and enjoy!

Editor’s Note: Below is the recipe as it appeared on Hobotrashcan.com.

Who knew Spiderman’s web tasted so good?

Spidey Floss
4 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
olive oil

Note: You’ll need a candy thermometer, a pastry brush and a decapitated whisk. My shortcut for the whisk was buying a 99 cent whisk at the store and used wire cutters to create my own.

In a large saucepan, mix together sugar, corn syrup, salt and water. Cook over medium heat. Stir until the sugar is melted. Using a damp pastry brush, apply a light layer of olive oil to the sides of the pan so the sugar doesn’t get stuck to the sides. Once the sugar is melted, clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pan. Heat to 320°F and then remove immediately.

While it’s cooking, layout parchment paper on your work surface. Also, lay some out on your floor because you will make a mess.

Transfer to a heatproof bowl. Dip your whisk into the bowl, shake of the excess (very important!) and then, holding it about a foot above the parchment paper, loosely and quickly whip the sugar back and forth over the parchment paper to create the delicate strands of sugar. After you get enough for one cone, remove it from the parchment paper and immediately roll and shape it. (It hardens after it sets awhile.)

Repeat!

Serve immediately or store in an air-tight container.

Tip! Clean your bowl and utensils immediately because it becomes very hard to clean after it hardens completely.