Easter means a chocolate overload and this cake is no exception. But it’s gorgeous, fun to make, and very serviceable as an occasion chocolate cake if divested of the Cadbury decorations.
Where are they now?
Don’t disdain those cheap and cheerful sweets! In the world of Lindt, Hotel Chocolat, Tony’s Chocolonely and even Green & Blacks our childhood favourites are frowned upon and slipping into the forgotten zone. Maltesers are just about holding fort, but who these days asks for a Wispa or Terry’s Chocolate Orange? Flake still stands thanks to Mr Whippy. Smarties can’t compete with M&Ms ever since the Blue’s demise. And Curly Wurly – ‘curly what now?’ Exactly.
Unfair and unjustified. I’ll agree that those products are not exactly 70% pure and fair trade cocoa, that they might contain less cocoa butter and more ‘nasty’ palm oil, especially ever since being taken over by Kraft. But nostalgia is responsible for at least a quarter of the taste experience, and even a Neuhaus bar is not exactly health food.
Cadbury mini eggs are gorgeous
My all-time favourites were always and always Cadbury mini crème eggs. I even produced a replica confection myself. But recently – and, interestingly, much later than the Kraft takeover – their taste has changed and not in a good way. The thickness of the (never so nice) chocolate increased, the filling has shrunk and it now tastes like a paste of icing sugar, chalk and water.
But amazingly the mini eggs, the solid chocolate ones in pastel-coloured crunchy coating, have actually improved. For my egg cake testing I obviously bought quite a few family sized packs of mini eggs, and shortly afterwards they were all gone! Which also proves that this cake is completely and thoroughly enjoyable.
The cake
The cake batter is the simplest ever chocolate cake and it’s deliciously soft, moist and tender. I swiped this element off Mr Ottolenghi’s devil food’s cake which as a whole is far more elaborate albeit well worth trying.
It’s the ‘dry-to-wet-ingredients’ type of cake and it’s easy to mix and bake. The addition of coffee as the main wet ingredient is brilliant: you don’t taste coffee in the finished cake but it deepens the chocolate flavour.
In this recipe I baked it as one cake, to be sliced in half for filling. That’s because jam alone, which is the filling here, wouldn’t gel the two separate cakes as well as it does cut surfaces. For another occasion, you can bake the same amount in two smaller, separate cake tins if you’re planning on filling it with cream or buttercream.
For slicing the cake in half you can use a wire cake cutter if you own one. But it’s really quite easy done with a large, sharp kitchen knife. Carefully take the top half off onto a board prepared on the side, cut side up if you manage but it’s not crucial. Brush both, or just the bottom surface with the leftover coffee, and if you blank forgot to leave some, don’t worry. Just spread the jam generously over the base, then slide the top back on and gently press to gel.
The ganache frosting
It is chocolate ganache: the nicest and ridiculously easy frosting ever. Ganache is a simple mix of chocolate and double cream, and it can be made with dark, milk or white chocolate. Depending on the proportions of chocolate to cream, it will turn out thicker, for example for truffles, or runnier, for a glaze or a sauce.
In this case the ganache is medium-thick so it spreads easily but then sets semi-solid.
Ganache is made by melting the chocolate with warmed up cream, then amalgamated by whisking. The simplest method, and my favourite, is to bring the double cream to a boil in a microwave and pour it over broken up chocolate chunks. Let it sit for a minute, then whisk into shiny, glossy perfection.
Use it to frost the cake straight away, and arrange the mini eggs over the surface before the ganache sets.
More Easter baking recipes
Best hot cross buns ever: wholemeal, with tons of raisins, piped crosses and delicious sticky honey glaze. There’s no better spring breakfast than a buttered hot cross bun.
Simnel cake with icing instead of top marzipan layer is so much easier to make! You can keep or skip the marzipan layer inside. Traditional English Simnel cake originates from medieval Mothering Sunday and these days is baked for Easter.
Sedgemoor Easter biscuits, aka Somerset biscuits are traditional English Easter treats originating from West Country. Lightly spiced, studded with currants, with simple vanilla icing, they are a welcome variety amongst all the chocolate eggs!
More easy chocolate cake recipes
Samin Nosrat’s chocolate cake, aka midnight cake is one of the easiest and the nicest chocolate cakes in the world. It is an old, revived Betty Crocker recipe, and I finish it with a mixed dried fruit salad topping for a citrusy tang.
The easiest chocolate yogurt cake with no butter and no need to melt chocolate; this is a quick fix, skinny chocolate cake ready to bake in 5 minutes. With not much added sugar, this chocolate yogurt cake is almost healthy.
White chocolate kladdkaka recipe - ‘sticky cake’ in literal translation. Kladdkaka is a Swedish sticky chocolate cake, made with white, dark or milk chocolate. This is my white chocolate kladdkaka version and one of the best cakes ever.