Easter Egg Nest Cake

Easter Egg Nest Cake

I love to bake a flourless chocolate cake when we have guests over, and this Easter Egg Nest Cake is an extra chocolatey version which is perfect at Easter time if you are entertaining family and friends. It’s also a great way to use up some of the many Easter eggs at this time of the year!

What is particularly beautiful about this Easter Egg Nest Cake are the pretty pastel colours, thanks to the sugar-coated chocolate Easter eggs.

What is an Easter Egg Nest Cake?

This Easter Egg Nest Cake is a flourless chocolate cake, topped with a whipped chocolate cream and decorated with sugar-coated chocolate Easter eggs.

Easter Egg Nest Cake Recipe

The recipe for this Easter Egg Nest Cake is a variation of the Flourless Chocolate Cake here on my website, and the recipes for both are adapted from Nigella Lawson.

I make this Flourless Chocolate Cake quite often when we have guests because:

• It’s a fairly easy and foolproof recipe;
• You can decorate it in many ways. Leave it plain with whipped cream for an elegant dessert, or top with raspberries and/or blackberries if they are in season.
• Kids and adults enjoy this cake!

Gluten-Free Easter Cake

Whether you are making the original or Easter version, this is the perfect cake to make for anyone who has a gluten intolerance as it does not contain any flour. Hence, this Easter cake recipe is gluten-free.

The absence of flour also guarantees that the cake will be tender and moist within, rich with chocolate flavour.

How to Make Easter Egg Nest Cake

Step 1

Melt the butter and chocolate in a bain-marie (a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water), or on low power in the microwave. Set it aside to cool slightly.

Step 2

Separate 4 eggs into two large mixing bowls. Whisk the 4 egg whites until they are foamy.

Step 3

To the egg whites, whisk in the 75 g (1/3 cup) of sugar gradually, until the mixture is thick and glossy.

Step 4

In the mixing bowl with the egg yolks, whisk in the remaining 2 eggs, together with the 100 g (1/2 cup) of sugar.

Step 5

Add the cooled, melted chocolate to the egg mixture, together with the vanilla extract.

Step 6

Fold in the egg whites, one-third at a time, taking care not to deflate the mixture. Once you have added all of the egg whites, the mixture should look like chocolate mousse.

Step 7

Pour the batter into a 23 cm/9 inch springform cake pan which has been lined with baking paper (but do not grease the pan).

Bake the cake at 180°C/356°F for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the cake has fully risen and the centre of the cake does not wobble when you shake the pan gently. I don’t recommend testing the cake with a skewer because it will leave a visible hole in the centre of the cake, but this is fine if you plan to cover the cake later.

Step 8

Leave the cake to cool and set in the cake pan over a wire rack. The cake will start to sink as it cools, and the crust will also crack.

Use a small palette knife to carefully remove the cake from the edges of the pan. Transfer the cake to a plate for serving.

Sugar-Coated Easter Eggs

When I first made this cake, which was many years ago, I was living in the US at the time. The Cadbury’s Mini Eggs in the US are a mix of blue, pink, yellow and white eggs, as shown in the photo below.

However, the Cadbury’s Mini Eggs in the UK are a speckled pink, purple, yellow and white, and are also generally more muted in colour (shown in the main photos here).

If you can’t find the same sugar-coated Easter eggs where you live, you could try using other types of locally produced Easter eggs, such as marzipan-coated chocolate eggs or praline-coated eggs, to name a few. Otherwise, some raspberries or chopped strawberries would look just as welcoming.

Tips For Making Easter Egg Nest Cake

• Best quality chocolate. Both the cake and frosting uses a lot of chocolate, and I recommend using a high quality chocolate for this recipe. This doesn’t mean buying the most expensive chocolate – look for chocolate with 60-70% cocoa content.
• Make it ahead of time. This Easter cake happens to be perfect for entertaining as it can be made the night before serving, remaining moist and even improving during this time.
• Room temperature ingredients. When making the chocolate cream, make sure that the melted chocolate has not cooled too much, otherwise it will seize upon making contact with the cream and will not incorporate properly.
• Keep leftovers in the fridge. Owing to the cream topping, you should keep any leftover cake in the fridge.

Update

This recipe was first published on 9 April 2012. It has been updated with more comprehensive recipe notes and new photos.