This Easter Egg Cake is a delicious rich chocolate fudge cake filled with chocolate buttercream and crushed mini Easter eggs and frosted with more chocolate buttercream, making it the ultimate chocolatey Easter dessert.
My local supermarkets had Easter eggs on display right after Valentine. Each time I walked past the eggs I had to resist the urge to grab one, but I kept saying to myself …. ChiChi hold on until Easter. Now I have no reason to hold on. It’s EASTER!!!!!!!!!
After seeing all that chocolate for weeks, my brain has been screaming chocolate cake, chocolate cake. A very chocolatey chocolate cake. And this Easter Cake can’t be any more chocolatey. See how many times I used chocolate in this paragragh. *Inserts thinking face emoji*
My usual chocolate cake recipe contains cocoa powder and oil. I switched uo the recipe by adding melted dark baking chocolate and swapping oil for butter. Baking chocolate is unsweetened or very lightly sweetened chocolate which contains 50% cocoa solids and cocoa butter. You can find baking chocolate in the baking section of supermarkets.
The addition of melted chocolate to the cake batter results in a rich, moist chocolate fudge cake. Result!!!
Now the chocolate buttercream. It is creamy, silky, rich and very chocolatey. For the buttercream, I used regular chocolate. I always use chocolate I enjoy eating to make ganache or buttercream as the flavour of the chocolate will affect the taste of it.
As I wanted a rather tall cake, each layer of cake was split into two. Then filled with chocolate buttercream and crushed Easter eggs. At first I tried chopping the eggs with a knife but that didn’t work, so I used a marble pestal to crush them.
Cutting through the layer of this cake is a bit tricky because of the crunchy shell of the mini Easter eggs. You will meet some resistance. But that should not deter you from making this delicious cake. It is so worth it.
Happy Easter everyone.
Ingredients
- 180 g unsalted butter, room temperature
- 400 g caster or granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 125 ml sour cream
- 250 g (9 oz) melted dark baking chocolate
- 240 g plain flour
- 60 g (2 oz) cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 240 g unsalted butter, room temperature
- 95 g trex
- 500 g icing sugar
- 120 g cocoa powder
- 200 g (7 ounces) dark chocolate
- 60 ml whipping cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- Easter eggs, crushed
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees celcius. Grease and dust the bottom and sides of 3 X 6 inch baking tin with flour.
Beat unsalted butter and sugar for 5 minutes until light and fluffy.
In a mixing bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Set aside.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition occasionally scrapping down the sides of bowl. Mix in sour cream and then melted chocolate.
With the mixer on low add the flour mixture and beat until mixed.
Divide the chocolate cake batter equally between the three tins.
Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in centre comes out clean. Leave to cool tin on wire racks for 10 minutes, then invert onto rack gently and leave to cool completely.
Wrap cakes in cling film and chill in the fridge for 1- 3 hours.
Place chopped chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and melt at 30 second bursts in microwave, stirring with a rubber spatula after each time, until completed melted. Set to one side.
In bowl of a stand mixer beat butter and vegetable shortening on medium speed until light and creamy, about 5 minutes.
Turn down the speed of thr mixer to low and add sifted icing sugar a cup at a time, then add cocoa powder and beat well until combined. Mix in whipping cream and melted chocolate.
Add vanilla extract and a pinch of salt and beat until frosting is light and fluffy.
Using a serrated knife, level each cake by cutting the domed top. Then slice cake layer into two.
Spread a thin layer of icing on your cake board. Place one layer of cake, flat side down on top. Plop a big dollop of chocolate buttercream in the middle. Spread the frosting carefully. Sprinkle the top of the buttercream with crushed mini easter eggs. Use the back of a spatula or a spoon to press the crushed easter eggs into the buttercream. Stack the second cake, flat side down. Do the the same for the remaining layers of cake. Spread another generous amount of buttercream, crushed easter eggs and then place final cake, flat side down.
Spread a thin layer of frosting on the side and then top of cake. It helps to use a turntable when frosting a cake. Hold a scraper flat against the side of the cake and then turn the turntable and scraper to make a nice, smooth coat of icing. Smooth the top of cake with scraper, drawing the peaks o the top edges of cake into the centre.
Chill crumb coated cake in fridge for 30 minutes until buttercream is nice and firm.
Spread a thin layer of frosting on the sides and then top of cake. It helps to use a turntable when frosting a cake. Hold a scraper flat against the side of the cake and then turn the turntable and scraper to make a nice, smooth coat of icing. Smooth the top of cake with scraper, drawing the peaks o the top edges of cake into the centre.
Chill crumb coated cake in fridge for 30 minutes until buttercream is nice and firm.
Drop a big dollop of the chocolate buttercream on the top of your cake and using your spatula to smooth out over the top of the cake and down the sides. Spread buttercream on the sides of the cake and then use a scarper to smooth the edges of the cake,(wiping off any excess buttercream) spinning your turn table at the same time.
Transfer some of the chocolate buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a large open star tip. Pipe swirls around the top edge of the cake and top the swirls with mini easter eggs.
I’m in heaven! This looks so rich and fudgy! Can’t wait to try!