Leamington and Warwick Living Mar - Apr 2022

SPECKLED EASTER
CHOCOLATE CAKE
Celebrate Easter in style with a gorgeous, speckled cake that you can master at home!
EQUIPMENT
9” Springform Cake tin
Grass tip nozzle
Flower tip nozzle
Mixing bowl
Sieve
Wooden spoon
Spatula
INGREDIENTS
Sponge
250g plain flour
60g cocoa powder
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
290g golden caster sugar
200ml vegetable oil
250ml buttermilk
2tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs – beaten
BUTTERCREAM
300g slightly salted butter
675g icing sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
4tbsp milk
Food gels (pink and green used here)
SPECKLED SPLATTER
1tsp cocoa powder
1tbsp vanilla extract
MERINGUE CHICKS
1 large egg white – approx. 40g
80g caster sugar
yellow food gel
edible pens
Chocolate nest (optional)
100g milk chocolate
Balloon
Grass tip and piping bag
METHOD
SPONGE
1. Preheat oven to 160 fan
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 mins or until a skewer comes out
clean. Leave cake to cool.
4. Trim top if needed and slice cake in
half.
BUTTERCREAM
1. Beat butter until light and fluffy then
add half of 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.
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.
MERINGUE CHICKS
1. Heat oven to 100 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.
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 tom with meringue chicks, mini
eggs.
7. Slice and enjoy!
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