Only made once a year because it's not (ahem) exactly healthy.
Equipment:
9x13-inch baking pan
Baking spray or baking parchment
Small offset frosting spatula (or butter knife)
Large pastry bag with small round pastry tip or opening (the diameter of cooked spaghetti)
Microplane or other small-toothed grater
Mixer (either hand held or stand alone works)
Mixing bowl
2 small bowls and 2 spoons (for the jam and the grated white chocolate)
Ingredients:
1 standard yellow cake mix and its specified accompanying ingredients (eggs, oil, etc.)
Buttercream recipe (see below)
1 medium-sized jar strawberry jam (low sugar or fruit juice sweetened)
18 Ferrer Rocher chocolate balls, unwrapped (on sale now for Easter and Passover)
a bar of white chocolate (you'll only use a little)
Easy Buttercream:
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temp
5 cups powdered sugar, sifted after measuring
1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 cup (approx) whole milk
(optional: small pinch ground turmeric)
Mix and bake cake according to package directions, using a 9x13-inch pan. Let cool, then cut into nine pieces. Slice each piece in half horizontally to make a total of 18 slices. Set aside.
Make buttercream frosting by whipping butter until creamy, adding powdered sugar and extracts (and optional turmeric for a more authentic pasta color) and beating again, then adding enough milk to make a frosting that is soft enough to pipe through a pastry bag, but firm enough to hold its shape.
Take approximately one third of the frosting and beat it in a separate bowl with enough additional milk to make it softer and more spreadable. (This will be your crumb coat layer that will seal each cake before piping the spaghetti on top.)
Place cakes on individual plates and frost the top and sides of each cake thinly with the softened frosting to seal the crumbs.
Place reserved firmer frosting in a large pastry bag and pipe spaghetti-like squiggles around all the sides, including over the outer edges of each top.
Spoon jam into a bowl and stir to loosen. Spoon a thin layer of jam on top of each
cake, letting a little drip down one or two sides for realism.
Place an unwrapped chocolate ball in the center of each cake.
Grate a little white chocolate into a small bowl (about 1/4 cup). Using a teaspoon (so the heat of your fingers won't melt the chocolate) sprinkle
a light dusting of the grated chocolate on the jam to resemble Parmesan cheese.