Spaghettieis is a popular dessert that is served in German ice cream parlours.  It is, however, little known outside of the country having apparently been invented here.  As such, many visitors are not aware of it and do not know what it is.

To make Spaghettieis a portion of whipped cream is first placed on a plate or into a bowl.  Then vanilla ice cream is put into a machine or hand-held press which pushes it through a disc with holes in.  The ice cream passes through the holes and lands on the cream, giving it the spaghetti form.

After this, the ice cream “spaghetti” is covered in strawberry sauce and grated flakes of white chocolate are used for the final garnish.

The result looks like this:

Spaghettieis

Then, whilst you are eating the ice cream, the whipped cream sometimes starts to solidify, giving it an interesting texture.

A cross-section of a spaghettieis - the solidified cream is visible under the vanilla ice cream

Some shops also offer variations on the traditional Spaghettieis, such as:

• Kinderspaghetti – a smaller version for children
• Schokoladenspagetti – with chocolate sauce instead of strawberry
• Spaghettieis Spezial – garnished with slices of fresh fruit

and there are also other ice cream dishes created similarly to look like Italian cuisine:

• Pizzaeis – vanilla ice served on a plate with fruit toppings
• Lasagne – layers of ice cream

Finally, if you use bigger holes to push the ice cream through and serve the result lengthwise on a plate, it is supposed to look like Asparagus.

To make Spaghettieis at home, you can use a Spätzlepresse – normally used to make Swabian noodles.  You can buy these at specialist kitchen suppliers, eg. cookplanet.com

A "Spätzlepresse"

Gaudi am Tisch is the name of a dish for 4 people at the Brauhaus in Oberursel.

Served in a massive iron frying pan, it contains:

• Bratkartoffeln (fried potato)
• Salad
• Sausages (“Bratwurst” and “Nürnberger Art”)
• Kassler (smoked and salted pork)
• Sauerkraut (shredded cabbage)
• Fleischkäse (meat packed into a loaf and baked)
• Small Schnitzels (breaded meat)
• A leg of pork

At the time of writing (March 2010) there is a special offer on Saturdays: Gaudi am Tisch for 4 people includes a 300ml drink for each at 10EUR per person.

Gaudi am Tisch in the Oberursel Brauhaus

First make the basic recipe.

You will need (for 2-3 portions):

Pour the cream into a saucepan. Add the chives and the bacon. Stir.

Add the spätzle and mix well, transfer everything to an oven-proof dish and cover with grated cheese.

Bake at 200°C for about 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and golden colour.

Now serve.

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