April Fool’s Day is just around the corner. Whether or not you have memories from childhood of your family and friends setting up pranks around the house, many people find themselves looking for surprising and creative ways to catch someone in a gag. This year, why not make the prank fun and tasty too? Cupcakes are a great way to surprise the people in your life with something sweet.
Hello Cupcake is a great book to get started with. Think TLC’s Cake Boss with a simplified twist. You won’t need an industrial kitchen to make your goodies! Instead, the book acts as a guide to teach beginning bakers the basics of decorating. In the past, I’ve made their “Autumn Leaves,” “Alligator” and “Starry Night” cupcakes with ease.
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One of their most popular recipes, ideal for Apr. 1, are the “Spaghetti and Meatballs” cupcakes. Designed to look like a pile of pasta, it’s the perfect opportunity to fool the people in your life when it’s time to make dinner. But why bother eating dinner at all when this dessert makes it just as easy to do both?
Spaghetti and Meatballs Cupcakes
Note: This recipe was inspired by Hello Cupcake (pp 34-5) and Duncan Hines.
You Will Need:
- 1 box of white cake mix of your choosing
- 2 cans (16 oz.) vanilla icing (if pre-made icing isn’t your thing, try this recipe from Baked by an Introvert!)
- 2 tsp. cocoa powder
- 6 drops liquid yellow food colouring
- 1 ½ cups strawberry jam
- 24 Ferrero Rochers
- Some white chocolate, for grating (roughly 4 tbs worth)
- 24 white cupcake liners
Method:
- Line a cupcake tray and make the cake mix as directed. Once made, fill the 24 cupcake liners with batter. Bake as directed. Continuing baking until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Let the cupcakes sit for one minute, prior to removing them from the pan and transferring them to a wire rack. Set aside to cool
- Empty the cans of icing into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Tint the icing by adding the cocoa powder and yellow food colouring, adding the ingredients slowly to watch the colour. Mix until fully incorporated.
- Take a spatula and spread a thin layer of the icing onto the cupcakes. Once iced, arrange the cupcakes onto a serving platter so that they are touching.
- Spoon the remaining icing into a plastic ziplock bag or piping bag. Snip a small corner from the bag, about 1/8 of an inch in size. Squeeze gently but firmly, making long strands. Be sure to zig-zag across the cupcakes and double back often to make the pile of “noodles” nice and high. This video acts as a great example (jump to 3:30). Be sure to cover as much of the cupcake as you can.
- Pour the strawberry jam into a small bowl. Stir the jam so that it becomes more liquid than stiff. Spoon some of the jam across the top of the cupcakes, leaving a bit behind to cover the Ferrero Rochers.
- Place one unwrapped Ferrero Rocher into the bowl with the leftover jam. Mix the chocolate around until covered. Spoon the covered Ferrero Rocher on top of one of the cupcakes. Continue with the remaining 23 Ferrero Rochers. Add any remaining jam on top of the cupcakes.
- Take the white chocolate and grate over the cupcakes like parmesan cheese. Serve when ready to your unsuspecting friends. Get ready for confusion and laughter to ensue.