Renuka’s Spaghetti and Meatballs

Cake 

1. Preheat oven 180 degree Celsius 
2. Grease 2 x20 cm cake tins . Apply a piece of nkn stick paper to the bottom of the pan
3. In a bowl sift together flour, baking powder and salt. 
4. Microwave butter and chocolate in a bowl in short bursts until melted
5. Add milk to butter and chocolate and mix
6. Now Add sugar, coffee powder, oil, vanilla, caramel essence and eggs to chocolate mixture. Use a whisk to mix together.
7. Add sifted dry ingredients into wet mixture and fold to combine.
8. Lastly add hot water and gently mix to get a smooth runny batter. Don’t be tempted to overmix. 
9. Divide into two baking tins and bake for 35 minutes until a skewer comes out clean when inserted.
10. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before inverting onto cooling rack

Raspberry compote for inside cake 

100 grams fresh raspberries 
25 grams castor sugar
1 and ½ teaspoons corn starch
1 and half teaspoons lemon juice
1 to 2 tablespoons water

1. In a saucepan Add raspberries,  sugar, lemon juice
2. Heat until sugar melted. 
3. In a small bowl mix water and cornflour and add to saucepan. Mix gently and allow raspberries to melt and syrup to thicken.
4. Remove from heat and set aside

Raspberry compote (Illusion Meat sauce)

Raspberry compote (meat sauce)
100 grams fresh raspberries 25 grams castor sugar
1 and ½ teaspoons cornstarch
1 to 2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 to 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1. In a saucepan Add raspberries,  sugar, balsamic vinegar
2. Heat until sugar melted. 
3. In a small bowl mix 1 tablespoon water and cornflour and add to saucepan. Mix gently and allow raspberries to melt and syrup to thicken.
4. Mix the remaining water with the cocoa powder and add to Raspberry compote to darken the colour of the sauce.
5. Remove from heat and set aside

Ganache for inside the cake:

1/3 cup dark chocolate (can use milk chocolate) chopped
¼ cup fresh Clover cream

1. Heat cream until warm but not boiling.
2. Add hot cream to chopped chocolate.
3. Leave for 2 minutes then mix to combine

Buttercream:

1 cup softened Clover butter
3 cups icing sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla essence
Splash of Clover milk or cream 
Yellow food colour

1. Add butter to mixer and whisk until fluffy and light in colour
2. Add sifted icing sugar and vanilla essence and whisk again until buttercream is fluffy 
3. Add a dash of milk or cream to loosen buttercream if it is too stiff.
4. Remove a small bowl of buttercream which will be used to cover the cake layers
5. For the remaining buttercream add a small drop of yellow egg colour to make the buttercream colour as close to the colour of pasta

Cake Pops (Meatballs)

One of the cake layers crumbed
Some buttercream
Walnuts chopped
Melted dark or milk chocolate 

1. Trim away the sides and tops of the cake. 
2. Crumbled the cake in a bowl. Add just enough buttercream and mix together until a smooth consistency is firmed.
3. Roll into balls using an ice cream scoop as a measurement. 
4. Roll into chopped walnuts
5. Place in freezer to harden. Roughly 10 minutes
6. Take out chocolate balls and dip into a mixture of chocolate and nuts
7. Leave to set

Assembly

1. Use one cake layer, cut in half, fill with compote and ganache
2. Place second layer of cake ontop
3. Use some buttercream and crumb coat the cake.
4. Leave in fridge to set for a few minutes
5. Remove from fridge. Fill a piping bag fitted with a round tip nozzle with the highly coloured yellow buttercream.
6. Pipe spaghetti shapes all1 round the cake
7. Add meat sauce on top of the spaghetti 
8. Add cake pops (meatballs)
9. Brush some of the Raspberry compote on pieces of the spaghetti buttercream

Enjoy