Cocoa Cobweb Cupcakes

Preheat an oven to 350. Prepare a 12 muffin tins with cooking spray and flour; set aside. In a mixing bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In another mixing bowl, combine butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla extract. Mix well. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternately with the buttermilk. Spoon batter evenly into the prepared muffin tins, filling each cup about two-thirds full. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool in the pan for five minutes, then transfer to a rack and let cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, to prepare icing, combine sugar, meringue powder, and water in a mixing bowl. Mix mixture for five minutes, or until it is so stiff that knife drawn through it leaves a clean-cut path. Transfer one-third of the icing to a small bowl and color with black paste. Spoon black icing into a pastry bag fitted with a tip. Now, ice the cupcakes and make the cobwebs: Spoon the white icing into the center of the cupcake and spread with a small butter knife. Starting at the center of a cupcake, pipe a spiral of black icing from the center to the outer edge. Then, drag a toothpick point from the center of the spiral to the edge of the cupcake. Wipe the toothpick clean, move about a half inch to the left or right and drag the toothpick in the opposite direction from the outer edge to the middle of the cupcake. Continue in this way until you have worked your way around the cupcake and formed the cobweb. Repeat procedure with the remaining cupcakes.