Easter Chocolate Cake!
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Rich, chocolate, and gooey chocolate fudge cake with Matchmakers, Mini Eggs, and DELICIOUS chocolate buttercream frosting! Perfect Easter chocolate cake!
EASTER!
So, its March, and EVERYTHING IS EASTER. Well, not really, but there is daily Mini Egg eating going on, and I am not complaining. I posted my Creme Egg cookie bars the other day, so I thought it was time for a bit of Mini Egg goodness on the blog, with an Easter chocolate cake.
Easter chocolate cake
I thought this year, as I had posted my Mini Egg drip cake a couple of years ago, I would do another Easter themed cake because everyone loves them. Honestly, my Mini Egg drip cake has always been hit because its a bit different, but I thought I would go a bit more chocoholic this time.
I’ve seen a few variations of these sort of cakes, and you can make them with pretty much any sweet you like. Jelly Beans, Smarties, Creme eggs, Toblerone pieces and more. Literally ANYTHING you like can go on the top, because it will look awesome.
Decoration
I went for some Matchmakers to decorate the sides of this cake because I think it looks awesome. I think it almost looks nest like because of how they’re basically stick like, but you can use anything else thats long and thin. For example, I have seen people use Cadburys Fingers, or any alternative!
I do recommend using something to basically keep the cake together however, especially as some peoples frosting can naturally be runnier than mine. I’m not sure why it happens, but I’m quite sure it has something to do with different ingredients and such, but using the ribbon does help just incase! Also, it looks cute. (I may need to work on my bow skills however…)
Mini Eggs
I had an image in my mind when I started to sketch out this recipe idea, and I knew I wanted to use Mini eggs.. in colour order. It’s not something I am going to deny, but it made me VERY satisfied once it was complete.
I was slightly annoyed I only managed to fit one row of the pink ones, but at least they still had enough of each colour in the packets! I did use two of the ‘family pack’ size bags, but there were left overs which I used in some Mini Egg cookie bars.
Cake
The cake recipe that I use for this particular show stopper is such a dreamy chocolatey fudgey delicious treat that its HEAVEN in a bite. I will say it is quite rich, its quite gooey, and you probably don’t need a massive slice… but you will want one. Think of the two layers of sponge, the dreamiest and best frosting in the world, the matchmakers and then the mini eggs… not for the faint hearted.
Coffee
I will say that a lot of people fear this recipe because it has coffee in it, but the taste doesn’t come through. It enhances the taste of the chocolate, and it makes it dreamy. It’s so important to use it, along with DARK chocolate in the base of the cake, but it still makes an incredibly light and delicious sponge so there is no need to worry. I promise you, its a tried and tested cake that is loved by many, so enjoy!
Easter Chocolate Cake!
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients
- 225 g dark chocolate
- 225 g unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp instant coffee granules
- 175 g plain flour
- 25 g cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 200 g golden caster sugar
- 200 g light brown sugar
- 4 medium eggs
- 75 ml buttermilk
Chocolate Frosting
- 250 g unsalted butter
- 500 g icing sugar
- 50 g cocoa powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 100-125 ml evaporated milk
Decoration
- 2-3 packets Matchmakers
- Lots of Mini Eggs
Instructions
For the Cake!
- Preheat your oven to 160C/140C fan and grease & line two 8″/20cm cake tins – leave to the side.
- In a heatproof bowl, microwave the dark chocolate & butter until melted – mine takes two minutes! Pour the coffee granules into 125ml boiling water and mix – add the coffee to the chocolate/butter mix and stir well until smooth!
- In a separate large bowl add the plain flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, golden caster sugar, and light brown sugar and mix well so the ingredients are all mixed with each other well!
- Mix the eggs with the buttermilk – add the chocolate mix & the egg mix to the dry ingredients and stir together, try not to over mix it – it should be thick but runny when finished and no flour lumps!
- Pour the mixture into the two tins and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes (can take a little longer in some ovens). Once baked leave to cool in the tin and remove afterwards, or leave for 10-15 minutes and cool on a wire rack for a softer cake.
For the Chocolate Frosting!
- With an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until its very smooth and supple (couple of minutes).
- Gradually add the icing sugar & cocoa powder alternatively with the evaporated milk until all is incorporated and then add the vanilla essence – beat for a couple of minutes so its extra smooth & creamy.
- The more evaporated milk you add the more runny it’ll be, and I have found about 100ml-125ml is perfect for me!
For the Decoration!
- Add one of your sponges to a plate, and slather on some of the frosting. Add on the second sponge, and slather on some frosting again.
- With the rest of the frosting, cover the sides evenly.
- Add the Matchmakers round the edge next to each other. However, you have to do it quite quickly so that the frosting is basically the glue! You can use whatever flavour you like, and I used just over two packets.
- Once the matchmakers are covering the sides, use a ribbon to keep the cake in place, and basically help make it set.
- Decorate the top with Mini Eggs - I obviously went in colour order but this is optional.
Notes
- I recommend putting the cakes in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour before trying to decorate with buttercream on the sides as the sponge is so lovely and light it might crumble a bit if you don’t!
- If you can’t access the buttermilk, you can make it yourself by using 75ml of whole milk, with 1tbsp of lemon juice and whisking together
- You can also use double cream in the frosting, but I would 100% recommend the evaporated milk over it – it makes such a yummy frosting I would just sit and eat it all with a spoon if I could.
- This cake will last for 3 days in an airtight container!
- I used two 'family packs' of Mini Eggs to find the right amount of colours, but you don't have to obviously. I just think it looks very satisfying!
- You could use Cadbury's Finger biscuits instead if you like, but I think Matchmakers look a bit more 'nest like' for Easter!
- Cake recipe Inspired by BBCGoodFood
Find my other recipes on my Recipes Page!
Hiya, can you do a normal chocolate cake instead of the fudge cake receipt but still do the chocolate frosting all over to be able to decorate it with matchmakers? Looks lovely the cake will definitely be trying it out 😊
Yes definitely!! And thank you! X
My Mum made me this cake for my birthday a couple weeks back and it was absolutely gorgeous. I love rich flavours and this most definitely did not disappoint. The buttercream was delicious!
Since sharing my cake to friends and family, we already have a request from an Aunt who wants this baked for her birthday!
Thank you Jane for your recipe! I am set to bake ypur black forest cake next!
Hi! Love this cake. I’m going to make it for my birthday, just adapting the decoration. If I can’t get hold of buttermilk, is there an alternative I can use.
Thank you x
You would need to make your own as it’s needed. You can whisk 1tbsp of lemon juice into whole milk, and let it sit for 5 minutes before using.
Hi what percent of cocoa in dark chcolate do you use? I’m worried of it being bitter
You should always use 70% or darker – but don’t worry, it definitely doesn’t taste bitter!
Hi! I’m making this cake again this year (because it is simply the best) for Easter but with the current situation I could only get hold of large eggs. Can you please suggest how many to use?
Thanks
I would use 3 large!
I absolutely love this cake, I’ve made it the last two years for Easter. I’m just about to make the sponge for this year’s cake, but I’ve just found I don’t have enough plain flour 🙁 (and none in the shops either). Could I use self raising and leave out/adjust the amount of baking powder and bicarb?
It should be alright – but it may have a different texture as the raising also comes from the buttermilk and so on!
Hi! I love this recipe as I’ve stated before. Just wondering if you could make this with white chocolate instead of chocolate buttercream? Would you know how much melted white chocolate to use?
Thanks
Sould the skewer come out clean or is it more of a brownie type cake
Thanks
It should come out clean! Sometimes can take longer to bake in some ovens!
Jane absolutely perfect recipe! Thanks! Made it for my work colleagues and it went very quickly with some people coming back for seconds! All your recipes that I have made have turned out perfectly so I use your website every time I want to bake! Thanks x
Jane, do I have to add the coffee to this. I can’t stand the taste of coffee, not even a hint but really want to make this for Easter Sunday.
Thanks
Yes, you do, to get the bake right. As mentioned in the post, you CAN’T taste the coffee, it just makes it much more chocolatey.
I absolutely love your recipes! I would like to make this as a center piece for a family Easter gathering. Can I please ask what size cake tins you used? X
8″/20cm as mentioned in the method 🙂 x
Looks amazing! Just wanted to double check did you use an electric whisk at only point? I know fudge cake is quite dense, but worried if I try make a sponge without whisking loads of air into it it’ll be really close textured and solid.
I only used a mixer for the frosting – never for the cake.