Spaghetti cupcakes!

I'm not the biggest fan of April Fool's Day - I usually spend the day on pins and needles, hoping nothing falls out of the sky or jumps out to scare me. Needless to say, I hate being unnecessarily surprised. But April Fool's Day does afford me the opportunity to make a fun dessert, so I can't really complain!


Consider this a sequel to my hamburger cupcakes. Decorating cupcakes is always fun, especially making them look like other foods. These were far easier than the hamburger ones too - you simply bake your favorite cupcake recipe, squiggle some of your favorite buttercream frosting (dyed slightly yellow) on top, and throw on some strawberry jam as the sauce, hazelnut chocolate balls as the meatballs, and coconut as the Parmesan.

I am in a rush today (HIMYM SERIES FINALE), so I ended up using store bought cake mix and frosting (Duncan Hines Butter Yellow Cake Mix with Duncan Hines Cream Cheese Frosting). The consistency of the frosting needs to be just right to get the noodle effect, so to save time and minimize risk, I went with canned frosting.

I loved how these turned out! From a distance, they actually look like of real. Hope they are a hit tomorrow at work!

Spaghetti cupcakes - makes 2 dozen

• Two dozen cupcakes (use your favorite recipe or a cake mix)
• A can of white or cream cheese frosting (or make your own)
• Yellow food coloring
• Cinnamon
• 24 hazelnut chocolate balls (Ferrero Rocher works perfectly)
• Strawberry jam (low sugar seedless gives the best color/consistency)
• Shredded coconut

1. Make your cupcakes and frosting. 
2. Add 3 drops of yellow food coloring to ~16oz of frosting. Sprinkle in 1/2 tsp of cinnamon to give it a grainy appearance for the noodles. Stir until the color is consistent. 
3. Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes - squiggle the frosting all over the top to give it a noodle-like appearance. Pile it high to make it even more realistic!
4. Spoon some strawberry jam on top. Place a hazelnut ball on top. Spoon some more jam on top of the "meatball."
5. Sprinkle with coconut for the "cheese" and serve! See if anyone falls for it. :)