Spaghetti and Meatball Cake

Chocolate cake covered in spaghetti icing, with Ferrero Roche meatballs smothered with raspberry sauce.

Classic Chocolate Cake
– 1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
– 1 1/2 cups caster sugar
– 3 eggs
– 3/4 cup milk
– 140g unsalted butter, melted
– 3 tbsp cocoa powder
– 1 tsp vanilla extract

Raspberry Coulis ‘Tomato’ Sauce
– 300g frozen raspberries
– 1/4 cup sugar
– 2 tbsp water
– Approx 1/2 tsp cocoa powder

Vanilla Buttercream ‘Spaghetti’
– 185g unsalted butter, softened
– 2 1/2 cups icing sugar
– 2 tbsp milk
– 1 tsp vanilla extract
– Cocoa powder
– Yellow food colouring

For the ‘Meatballs’ & ‘Parmesan’
– 8-10 ferrero rocher chocolates
– Grated white chocolate

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees c. Line and grease a round baking tin. To make the chocolate cake, place all cake ingredients in the bowl of a mixer, and mix on medium speed for 3mins. Pour into prepared tin and bake for 40-45 mins or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

While the cake is cooking prepare the raspberry sauce. Combine the raspberries, sugar and water in a saucepan over a med-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5-8 mins. Stir through a little cocoa to darken the colour of the raspberry coulis until it resembles the colour of tomato sauce. Remove from heat and pop it in the fridge to cool completely, the sauce will thicken once cooled.

To make the buttercream, place the softened butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 5-7 mins or until light and fluffy. Add the icing sugar & milk and beat for a further 7 mins or until the sugar is all dissolved. To make the buttercream spaghetti coloured, add a little cocoa powder and yellow food colouring. Be careful to add the yellow colouring one drop at a time, you only need a very small amount as you want the buttercream just slightly yellow.

To assemble the spaghetti & meatballs cake place the chocolate cake in a large round pasta serving bowl. Cover the top and sides of the cake with a thin layer of the buttercream, it doesn’t have to be perfect you just want to cover it in the right colour before piping.

Place the remaining buttercream in a piping bag with a small round spaghetti sized tip. Pipe the ‘spaghetti’ all over the cake, covering it completely. There are no rules for this, the more random you are the better it will look. Once the cake is covered pop it in the freezer for 2mins to firm the buttercream a little before continuing.

Next place the ferrero rocher ‘meatballs’ over the top of the cake. Be a little random with them, they will look better if the placement is less perfect.

Cover the ferrero rochers with the raspberry sauce, letting some of the sauce drip down at certain spots. Finally, sprinkle the top with the grated white chocolate ‘parmesan’.

La Yum.