When you’re renovating, a trip to Ikea is one of those many things that you do quite often. So one afternoon while browsing light fittings there, we went downstairs to the Swedish food section after paying. We always stop and get a 50c ice cream cone which tastes like milk powder, something that I love the smell of as it reminds me of my late grandmother who would always mix up a drink each morning with powdered milk eschewing the fresh milk in the fridge. But I digress, what should I happen upon amongst the herrings, Daim bars and meatballs? Yellow string that looked like spaghetti! I grabbed it straight away and took it home, knowing that it’s future lay wound around the top of a cupcake.
A few days later, we were meant to do work on our new place but that morning, a bizarre thing happened to Sydney. It had turned red overnight. Thankfully I wasn’t awake at 6am when it was at its worst or I would have completely freaked out. My husband managed to take a couple of shots around 7.30am. Apparently the wind from Broken Hill (a mining area) had carried through to Sydney and blanketed us with this absolutely vivid red haze. We were warned to stay inside if we could so of course we gladly put off cleaning the new house in favour of staying home and baking.
The view when Mr NQN woke
Due to this happy state of house arrest, I managed to tick off three things that day as I took over the kitchen and this was one of them. There are several parts to make to this but it’s not impossible . I really liked the taste of the cupcakes-the cupcake is light and fluffy due to the carbonation from the creaming soda and the strawberry jam and buttercream give it an old world butterfly cupcake sort of taste. As for the spaghetti and meatballs, I ate those separately and they were both good.
By the end of the day the haze had died down and all returned to “normal” and I was left to ponder what a fantastic setting for a horror movie it would have been. And for my next trick Pizza cupcakes?
So tell me Dear Reader, were you or would you be scared to be woken up in a red haze?
Spaghetti & Meatball Cupcakes
An Original Recipe by Not Quite Nigella
For cupcake:
- 125grams softened butter
- 3/4 cup caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1.5 cups plain flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup creaming soda or vanilla Coke
Buttercream:
- 1/4 cup (65grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 to 2 cups icing sugar
- 1/8 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For “meatballs”:
- 1 cup chocolate
- 3/4 cup dessicated coconut
- 2 tablespoons cream
For spaghetti sauce:
- 125g/4ozs strawberries halved
- 2 tablespoons icing sugar
- 4 tablespoons Strawberry jam
For “Spaghetti:
- Ikea Godis Gula Snoren
1. Prepare “meatballs”. Melt chocolate in a microwave proof bowl on medium power in the microwave or over a double boiler. Add coconut and cream and stir. Line a plate or baking sheet with parchment paper. Using cold hands (run under a cold water if necessary and dry), scoop out small balls with a spoon or a melon baller and roll into circles and place on parchment to set at room temperature.
2. Preheat oven to 160C and line a muffin tray with cupcake liners. Cream the butter and sugar with the paddle attachment of an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time until incorporated. Mix flour and baking powder together thoroughly. Add half of the flour and baking powder mixture and milk and then combine, add the rest of the flour and baking powder mixture and then add creaming soda or Vanilla coke. Spoon into cupcake cases about 3/4 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool.
3. Make buttercream by placing the butter in a large mixing bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 1-2 minutes. Add 1 cup icing sugar and then the milk and vanilla. On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat on low until incorporated and then beat on medium until smooth and creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Gradually add the remaining sugar, beating well (about 1 minute), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency.
4. Make Spaghetti sauce by placing the strawberries and icing sugar in a food processor with a metal blade and blend until smooth. Mix with strawberry jam.
5. Assemble cupcakes: Spread buttercream on top of cupcakes. Take a long string of the Ikea Godis Gula Snoren and wrap it in a small circle as shown. Spoon the strawberry sauce on this and place on top of cupcake. If any ends poke out, stick them in the buttercream underneath the spaghetti. Place two meatballs on top and spoon a little more strawberry sauce on top.
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66 Comments | Add your own
It’s halloween cupcake decorating time again! Hey Lorraine, you should hold a contest for the best halloween cupcake decorations or something… I’m hosting a halloween party on Oct 31st and I need to brainstorm what halloween-decorated food to serve! Hmmm…..
The second dust storm blanketed us on Porchetta Day! Luckily country people are tough and didn’t care too much.
I love buttercream in cupcakes, makes a huge difference and they end up tasting rich and divine.
The spaghetti and meatball cupcakes are a great novelty idea!
AHHHHH that is so cute Lorraine! Fantastic idea using that IKEA candy, the first thing I thought when I first saw that was that it looked just like spaghetti. I’m so into making cupcakes that look like something else, I’ve been doing some of my own – great minds
Hahaha… for a moment there, I actually thought you had real meatballs on the cupcakes
savoury and sweet. Very ingenious creation Lorraine – I love it!
Everyone was talking about the dust – thinking it was everything from bushfires, to the apocalypse… to someone thinking they had woken up in hell. It was an interesting day! (I still have some cleaning to do from it)
Wow they look great!!! The dust did not bother me as it blanketed the city turning our sky red/orange, however the days afterwards of constant cleaning is what is bugging me. No matter how hard I clean it seems to stick around!!!
These are so incredibly cute! I love trick dishes where something is made to look like something else. So adorable and very clever, Lorraine!
Very creative and fun!
How cute! I love a visit to Ikea too, and the food is always a bargain. Oh yes, Halloween cupcakes would be a cool project!
How creative! These look simply wonderful.
I heard about the dust storm you had, it looked pretty crazy. I would’ve probably been a little freaked out at first but then, like you, I would’ve taken full advantage of the day off to cook.
Hello all… My friends and I were only talking of a blended version of spaghetti and meatballs yesterday – a friend’s mother pureed the spaghetti + meatballs to a paste (ick!!) so that she could eat some sort of proper food after she had had her wisdom teeth out… Given the ick factor of this story, it probably comes as no surprise that when I first glanced at this blog I was a little shocked – surely not another wacked version of the family fav spag bol! I am relieved to see that it is not in fact what I first assumed… the butter cake recipe looks delicious, however I do not think I am in the right frame of ‘spag and bol’ mind to just quite pop the cupcakes into my mouth… maybe in a month or two! Great idea for Halloween, enjoy!
Yikes! That would freak me out, seeing everything red, but I’m glad its all back to normal – The cupcakes are so fun & creative!
This is SO cool! We don’t have an Ikea in Denver, but will try to find some of this. I have got to make it.
The red sky was actually very pretty. Hope all is well.
another fantasy creation from NQN that is so much fun to read about!
I am curious to know what the ‘spaghetti’ is made of – does it taste like spaghetti or is it quite sweet?
I hope your new home wasn’t too dirty with the dust from the dust storm – I remember how dirty our school room was after the 1983 dust storm despite closing the windows and doors!
lorraine, these are genius! what a fantastic idea! what exactly is the yellow stringy stuff though…i’m ever so curious? and i love the idea of having the taste of old world butterfly cakes…they remind me of grandma and cooking with her when i was little…
These are so cute! They sound delicious too. What a great way to spend a day inside.
Hey that’s so cool! For a moment there I thought you actually made savoury cupcakes (like muffins) with real spaghetti and meatballs, but really it was all sweet! The buttercream actually looks like mash too!
I was just in Berlin and apparently the Germans are fans of something called Spaghetti Eis – an ice cream sundae made to look like spaghetti – I was kind of horrified but my german pal assured me it was a well known and very popular desert. The spaghetti was made buy squeezing icecream through a press – like a meat grinder (almost), the sauce was strawberry topping and the cheese was coconut. All of this sat on a bed of whipped cream. Your cupcakes reminded me of it!
Yum – I definitely want one of those meatballs. We had the alien haze here too, but not as extreme, and it happened later in the day, so I wasn’t scared, just curious.
The cupcakes look really cool xD How do the “spaghetti” taste? They look a bit like plastic without the jam :S
I got a message at 6 and then another at 7 from friends about the dust storm. I only saw it at about 7 but it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as the photos I saw of the city. Your one looked worse than what I saw (or what I remember anyway).
Once again, I find myself floored by your creative cupcakes—I’ve never seen anything like these. You should definitely open up a bake shop. I’ve seen enough of your work over the years to know you’ve got real talent.
As far as the red haze—I’d be scared, even though the photo was stunning.
Such a clever idea! I read about your red skies in our local paper. It would seem a little freaky!
Super cute!!
Aw, these are so cute! I think they have to be the most realistic spaghetti and meatball cakes I’ve seen. Yum!
I think I’d be a bit freaked out by the haze but would likely just see it as an excuse to sleep in…that’s how I tend to take anything, though.
This is so creative!
These are adorable Lorraine! Fantastically creative. They remind me of the ‘spaghetti ice-cream’ we used to have in dodgy Italian restaurants as kids covered in strawberry sauce with dessicated coconut for parmesan cheese.
I thought, what is she talking about. I looked at the photo first before reading the recipe. They really look like meatballs and spaghetti. Brilliant.
Haha…cute idea! I don’t know if I’d be able to eat these…just the imagery of spaghetti on a cupcake
My mum woke me up that morning…it was really scary! I took a couple of photos as well, but mine didn’t turn out as well as Mr NQN’s did.
Lol,it takes the mind about 10 secs. to adjust to the fact that these are really sweet and not savoury but then the ‘must-have’ factor sets in. Oh, Lorraine, you keep doing this to us and we have to keep adding all these amazing recipes and ideas to our long, long, lists! haha Looking forward to your ‘Pizza’ creation.
The dust storm didn’t bother me a bit and while everyone around me was freaking out, I’m saying “What’s the problem??”. I just felt bad for all the people that were affected the worst, especially in the bush.
My mom’s FAV meal in world is spaghetti and meat balls,and wouldn’t she get a kick out of these adorable cakes.
So interesting! What is that Ikea stuff? I’ve never heard of it!
Looks really fun, but I always have trouble eating something that looks savoury and tastes sweet (or even worse, the other way around!) I haven’t been to The Fat Duck, but I know Blumenthal messes with your senses and expectations in his cooking so I think it would freak me out a bit!
Much like the red dust storm with spun me out completely. I had laser eye surgery a few months ago and I woke up in a complete panic, convinced that the surgery had gone horribly wrong overnight and I was forever going to see the world in a red haze! I was so relieved when my husband woke up and confirmed he could see it too!
Did you go to the Growers Market on the weekend, Lorraine? Fergus Henderson was doing a nose to tail bbq and we dragged ourselves out of bed at 6.30am on a freezing, rainy morning to get there and experience some cooking by the master of nose to tail dining.
Instead we watched him wander around looking at a pig on a spit (produced by an outside local catering company) and paid $15 for baked beans and bacon (good baked beans and great bacon, but still…) then were hurried off so the next sitting could have their turn. No presentation by Fergus or any of the other celeb chefs who were there, the pig on a spit was served later for additional cost and the food wasn’t all that spectacular. Terribly disappointing really.
I hope the weekend ‘away’ in Sydney that my husband and I are taking this weekend to sample some of the other SIFF events is a bit more enjoyable…
oh wow i was wondering how tomatoey- cupcakes would taste haha these look interesting!
I freaked out when I woke up at 6.30am and thought the aliens had finally landed and got us all. Lol. It was really eerie though.. awesome cupcakes btw!
I live near an athletics field so when I went outside it was quiet and red. I was a little scared. It was beautiful though. Your cupcakes look amazing.
i was at ikea just last saturday! i had lunch there. awesomeness. my faves are the chicken wings, meatballs and daim cake! and brilliant cupcakes! thats the kind of cupcakes that got me to buy ‘hello cupcake!’
Great idea…will make this for my niece an nephew
Cool cupcakes
At first I thought it was real spaghetti and meatballs! Unfortunately on the day of the dust storm I had to go out and my poor shoes ended up covered in dust – they looked like they got fake tanned!
These look exactly like spaghetti and meatballs…I almost wondered before reading the whole post if you had made a savoury cupcake with spaghetti and meatballs
You are just so clever! I love it-
We had the same duststorm in Brisbane- a little later in the day. I took my 5 month old baby home, and made little “dusty biscuits” in the shape of houses, with a mix of chocolate powder, pomegranite powder (for a tangy red!) and icing sugar atop to take to mother’s group the next day… After seeing your gorgeous creations, I wish I’d taken a photo too- Truly love your blog. Keep up the tasty work- you must have a lovely sense of humour!!!
What did the spaghetti taste like?
Oh, what a brilliant idea!! I love Ikea, and you can’t beat those soft serves or the $1 hot dog after the check-out! The dust storm was crazy, I was a bit freaked and had no idea what was going on! But it would totally be perfect for some sort of horror movie!
That picture with all that redness looks amazing! I saw it also in the news here.
What cute cupcakes!
Love this idea! We were there for the dust storm and were so confused because we didn’t see anything about it on TV. It felt like Mars, didn’t it?
Love your work yet again! I really must try them from the “hello cupcake” book too. I don’t think they use Ikea noodles though
The red haze musta been interesting for you Sydney folk though!
You’ve done it again! Marvellous stuff
)
no doubt about it–if i woke up to an aura of red, i’d FREAK. it’s awfully pretty though. meanwhile, your cupcakes are completely outstanding and ridiculously clever. they make me simultaneously crave spaghetti and meatballs AND cupcakes, which is a rare occurrence.
Super cute darling! You’ve even outdone yourself this time
And here I thought you made ACTUAL spaghetti + meatballs cupcakes! But then again… I wouldn’t put it past you
Ah yes I must secretly thank the red dust storm for finally spurring the boy to wash the car after about a year’s worth of grime and washing the dog who had to walk around with red paws, poor thing
Godis Gula Snoren – what a great name! Did you eat any Ikea meatballs while you were there? (one of my guilty pleasures…)
The red dawn was cool! I sent all my children off to school as normal – it was a day not to miss. We loved seeing the world a different colour.
Hee hee I thought it was an alien invasion… ah well maybe next time
Ooh these look so cute! and would make the ‘spaghetti’ taste better as I thought it was a bit bland by itself.
oh my god, I totally thought they were real spaghetti & meatballs!! this is so cleaver and creative Lorraine!
The dust storm was surely creepy wasn’t it? I remember waking up really confused, thought there was some kind of terrorism happened!
MR NQNs view looks scary :S those meatball cup cakes look soo pretty L
oh my the red haze does sound scary!! But these cupcakes are genius!!
OMG! That’s SUPER COOL! I am SO using your recipe and I’ll totally credit you. That’s BRILLANT! Thank you for the recipe & idea!
Definitely would’ve thought the end of the world had come! Yikes!
I love your use of the yellow candy cords — how adorable!! And we just got our first IKEA here in Charlotte, NC, USA! Perfect timing
The only thing better than speg. and meatballs is speg. and meatball cupcakes.
I didn’t have time to read yesterday, but I saw the cupcakes and thought you were up to your old tricks again.
And then I just read it, and realised they are actually sweet!
You are SO SO clever! x
Very original! This reminds me of one of my favourite Italian ice cream dishes I used to eat in Germany as a child – spaghetti bolognese – with ice cream being the spaghetti (in strands) and strawberry sauce being the bolognese sauce. Delicious, so I can imagine how your cupcakes taste like!
So creative! I love playing with food and making things appear to be foods that they are not. Wonderful cupcakes!
hahahah awesome. i love it!
YUMO I was at ikea on the weekend and brought some “spagetti” and made these but my two young nephews asked where the cheese was so i toasted some coconut and sprinkled it on top to look like parmasan
How adorable! I love the idea of spaghetti and meatballs cupcakes!
I love trips to Ikea. I never eat anything there but husband loves the treat of an American hotdog at the stand right by the cash registers. And I’ve never bought any of their food items. These cupcakes are a riot! And a red haze? Scary, but a great excuse to stay home and bake!
you make the coolest things! THese look so cute! I made your panda bread and too bad, it looks squashed.
Hi Trisha-It sure is! Hmm good idea but I think I’ve left it too late
Sorry! It’s a great idea though!
Hi Gastronomy Gal-Ahh yes your famous porchetta day! Hehe good attitude
Thankyou so much! 
Hi Steph-Thankyou so much! Hehe me too
Yep great minds!
Hi Anita-Hehe well you never know with me I suppose!
Thankyou! I know, it was such a freaky occurrence! 
Hi sandra-Thanks so much! Oh yes that was annoying wasn’t it!
Hi Faith-Thankyou! Hehe I love doing that too
You are too kind!
Hi Maria -Thanks!
Hi MrsDesperate-Yes it’s a must isn’t it! I wish I had the time to do the Halloween cupcake contest-that would have been the best!
Hi Deseree-Thankyou so much! Yes luckily my mum told me not to worry, I would have been!
Hi Miss Marissa-Oh my I’ve never tried that! Hehe no it’s not a whacked out version-well depends on who you ask though right?
Hi Lauren-I know, it hasn’t happened before!
Thankyou so much!
Hi Lea Ann-Thankyou so much!
I’d love to know what you think of it 
Hi Johanna-Hehe why thankyou!
It’s sweet, like flavoured licorice. We were lucky, we left all the windows closed so there wasn’t any dust at all (apart from the dust from renovating!).
Hi sinead-Thankyou so much! It’s like a caramel flavoured licorice
Sounds like a great memory! Ahh the nostalgia of butterfly cakes 
Hi lia-Thanks so mcuh!
I agree 
Hi Rilsta-Haha no although I have done that with meatloaf and mash cupcakes
Thankyou!
Hi Vita-Ooh cool! I’ve heard of that, sounds like of crazy but good
Hi Cakelaw-Ahhh that might not have been that scary then!
Hi Alice-Thanks so much! Thankfully nothing like spaghetti
more like caramel flavoured licorice! Apparently it was worse before then!
Hi Sandie-Aww shucks thankyou!
Hehe now that would be fun! I would have been too fi I weren’t warned 
Hi Barbara-Thankyou! Ahh so it made the International news!
Hi Bethie-Thankyou!
Hi Anna-Thankyou so much!
Haha yes if I had to go out, I don’t think I would! 
Hi Anh-Thanks so much
Hi cherryblossomcupcake-Why thankyou!
Haha that sounds rather cute-I missed out on that!
Hi Divina-Haha! That’s very cool, thankyou!
Hi Liv-Haha I suppose so but it doesn’t taste savoury
Imagine being the first person to see it !:O
Hi Matilda-Hehe I promise you they taste delicious
Cool! I will work on those once Halloween is over 
I’m the opposite of you, I went a bit Woody Allen and worried about respiratory problems!
Hi Angela-Haha really! I’d love to know what she thinks about it-I hope she approves!
Hi Esz-Yes this was the first time I’d seen it!
Hi sissyhankshaw-Ahh I see!
Oh yes that would have been quite startling! I couldn’t make it sadly but I wanted to go. OH dear, doesn’t sound like you enjoyed it very much? I hope you had a good time otherwise?
Hi Betty-Haha I promise you not too tomatoey at all!
Hi Min Ai-I would’ve thought something similar if my mum hadn’t told me! Thankyou!
Hi Katherine-Yes once you knew it was safe it was quite amazing! Thankyou!
Hi felicia-I haven’t tried their chicken wings-yet!
I love the princess torte 
Thankyou! The book is genius isn’t it!
Hi Juliana-Wonderful!
Hi Jacq-Thankyou! Hehe cool, that’s great! Hehe yes I can imagine that it would have looked quite spray tanned!
Hi Chefspiration-Why thankyou!
Hehe I tried that once but I think sweet still works better for cupcakes 
Hi PenelopePitstop-Thanks so much!
Hehe what a cute idea! That sounds great 
Thankyou so mcuh!
Hi Arwen-Like caramel licorice!
Hi Betty-Thankyou!
I know, I can never resist so I always try and go hungry 
Yes I wonder if any amatur filmmakers made one? 
Hi yaelian-It was really crazy! Thankyou!
Hi Akila-Thankyou! It really did I agree!
Hi Iron Chef Shellie-Why thankyou! No I think they use a piping bag? But when you’ve got ready made spaghetti here…
It sure was!
Hi Elaine-Thankyou so much!
Hi grace-Yes it’s pretty once you know it’s not the end of the world
Thankyou so much! 
Hi Christie-Why thankyou!
Hi Karen-Hehe well I have been known to do things like that
Haha yes sounds like Mr NQN!
Hi arista-Isn’t it funny!? Sadly I didn’t, I think we had just gone out to lunch. I almost hope it happens again! With windows closed of course
Hi Ffichiban-Haha who knows!? It’s just caramel licorice
Hi Yas-Haha thankyou! That’s the best compliment
Yes I’m sur eyou weren’t the only one! 
Hi nora-Thankyou!
Hi stephchows-Hehe thankyou so much!
Hi The Asian Pear-Wonderful! I can’t wait to see it
Hi Julie-Yes indeedy!
Oh cool! I love visiting there 
Hi Blond Duck-Haha thankyou!
Hi fat mum slim-Hehe I must have a reputation for doing weird things!
Aww thankyou! X
Hi Helen-I wish we had that here!
Thankyou 
Hi Palidor-Thankyou so much!
It’s lots of fun isn’t it!
Hi lindsey clare-Aww thanks
Hi Jessica-Haha how clever!
What a great aunt you are!
Hi 5 Star Foodie-Thankyou!
Hi Jamie-I love the Swedish stuff! I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad item there yet
Yes indeed!
Hi pigpigscorner -Aww thankyou so much!
Aww no, the panda can be hard to do 
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