spaghetti & meatballs cupcakes

That's right! Combining oh-so-delicious pasta with oh-so-delicious desserts? Perfect! These were a special treat for everyone at the restaurant I work (well, worked) at, since I'm leaving them for the lure of the big city. I found the idea here, and couldn't wait for a reason to make them!

For the cupcakes, I just did my favourite ever chocolate cupcakes, which I also used when I made the canupcakes, so hop over there for the recipe, or use your personal favourite - and it doesn't have to be chocolate, that's just what was requested! To decorate, you'll need the following:

- Enough buttercream frosting (tinted pasta-coloured with just a touch of cocoa powder) to do a dozen cupcakes
- Some Ferrero Rocher chocolates for meatballs
- A bit of strawberry jam
- Some coconut if you want to add "parmesan cheese"

And that's it! First up, whip up your cupcakes, and make/tint your icing:

Then, using what I call the "little hole tip" for your piping bag, or just a regular ziploc bag with the corner cut off, pipe the icing on top of your group of cupcakes, so that it looks like a big plate of spaghetti. Mmm! I found that if I left a bit of a nest, with just a little frosting underneath, I had a nice space to nestle the Ferrero Rocher meatball into.

Then, arrange the Ferrero Rochers on top, like so:

And drizzle with the strawberry jam - thin it a tiny bit with some warm water if it's too thick to drizzle - so that it looks like your pasta's covered in delicious marinara sauce:

Seriously, it's that easy. I feel like such a cheater, because it seems like something that would take a lot of effort, but really it's just such a clever idea that it looks impressive!

 

Enjoy!
c.