Impostor Pasta & Mock Meatballs

As a family, we give up sugary snacks for Lent, but Sundays are meant to be a mini-Easter, so I told the kids we could make a treat.

My oldest son Eamon wasted no time in selecting this funny confection he’s had his eye on in a book I recently borrowed from the library: Hello, Cupcake!: Irresistibly Playful Creations Anyone Can Make (Tons of fun and inspiring stuff in here! Highly recommended!)

Here’s how you do it:

1. Bake a batch of cupcakes (any kind you like). Frost them lightly with white frosting and place them close together on a plate.

2. Use a pastry bag (or ziploc bag with a corner cut off) to pipe frosting over the tops of them, like a heap of spaghetti.

3. Use strawberry jam (Low sugar Smuckers seems to have the best shade of red) to make a pool of “tomato sauce” over the top of the “spaghetti.”

4. Place chocolate balls on top for “meatballs.” The book recommends Ferrero Rocher Hazelnut Chocolates, and I think they would be the most realistic, as they have a bumpy texture. We settled for what our store had in stock: Lindt Truffles. Close enough!

5. We also skipped this step, but the book recommends that you grate white chocolate over the top to look like grated cheese. Cool idea, but I was out of white chocolate, and the kids weren’t complaining anyway.

It was that easy! Who can resist this kind of fun with frosting?

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