With chocolate and chicks this gorgeous, speckled cake will make a stunning Easter centrepiece!
Serves 10-12
INGREDIENTS
FOR THE SPONGE
- 250g plain flour
- 60g cocoa powder
- 11⁄2 tsp baking powder
- 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 290g golden caster sugar
- 200ml vegetable oil
- 250ml buttermilk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs, beaten
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM
- 300g slightly salted butter
- 675g icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 tbsp milk
- Food gels (pink and green used here)
FOR THE SPECKLED SPLATTER
- 1 tsp cocoa powder
- 1tbsp vanilla extract
FOR THE MERINGUE CHICKS
- 1 large egg white – approx. 40g
- 80g caster sugar
- Yellow food gel
- Edible pens
FOR THE CHOCOLATE NEST (OPTIONAL)
- 100g milk chocolate
- Balloon
- Grass tip and piping bag
METHOD
FOR THE SPONGE
1 Preheat oven to 180 ̊C/Gas Mark 3 and grease and line a 9” cake tin
2 Put flour, cocoa, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and caster sugar in a bowl. Add oil, buttermilk, vanilla and eggs and mix well.
3 Pour mixture into cake tin and bake for 45-55 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave cake to cool.
4 Trim top if needed and slice cake in half.
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM
1 Beat butter until light and fluffy then add half the icing sugar and beat well. Add remaining icing sugar, vanilla and milk and beat until smooth.
2 Remove a spoonful of buttercream and place in a bowl with pink food gel for the flowers. Pop in piping bag with flower tip.
3 Remove a spoonful of buttercream and place in a bowl with green food gel for the leaves. Pop into piping bag with leaf tip.
4 Colour the remaining buttercream pastel pink.
5 Place one piece of sponge on a cake stand and spread over some pink coloured buttercream. Top with another layer, then cover the whole cake and use a large palette knife to make it nice and smooth.
FOR THE SPECKLED SPLATTER
1 Mix the cocoa powder and vanilla extract together in a small bowl and use a little brush to create little splatters all over the cake to make it look like a speckled egg shell.
FOR THE MERINGUE CHICKS
1 Heat oven to 100 degrees fan. In a mixer, whisk egg white until frothy and dry, then add the sugar a spoonful at a time until all sugar is used up and the meringue is thick and glossy. Add a little yellow food gel and place in piping bag.
2 Snip the end and pipe small triangular shapes onto baking paper and bake for 30-35 minutes.
3 When dry, draw some eyes, a beak and some feet onto the meringues with edible pens to look like little chicks.
FOR THE CHOCOLATE NEST (OPTIONAL)
1 Melt milk chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.
2 Blow up a little balloon and balance it on a bowl.
3 Place the melted chocolate in a piping bag with grass nozzle and pipe roughly over the balloon.
4 Leave to set and place in the fridge.
5 Pop balloon and place next on top of cake, securing with a little chocolate icing.
6 Pipe chocolate buttercream inside nest and top with meringue chicks, mini eggs.
7 Slice and enjoy!
Recipe by Tala