Chocolate Easter Cake

Can you believe it's a week till Easter? I know it's early this year but it still seems to have come out of nowhere. I have great plans for Easter baking but I'm not sure if I'll get round to all of it! Thankfully I have an Easter themed cake to share with you today and will definitely be baking a few more in the next week! This cake is a chocaholic's dream and is sure to impress both adults and children. It has a light chocolate sponge sandwiched with chocolate buttercream, surrounded by Kit Kats and is topped with mini eggs and a chocolate bunny and a chocolate duck made from Belgian chocolate. I bought the chocolate figures from my recent trip to Belgium and they taste as good as they look. For my cakes next week I'm going to use Lindt chocolate bunnies, Cabdury milk bunny and a Cadbury Chick. 

I'm sending this to several blog challenges this month.

AlphaBakes hosted by myself and Caroline from Caroline Makes. The letter this month is C for Chocolate. 

We Should Cocoa guest hosted by Linzi from Lancashire Food on behalf of Choclette from Tin and Thyme. The theme this month is eggs. There's real eggs in the cake and chocolate mini eggs in the decoration! 

Simply Eggcellent hosted by Dom from Belleau Kitchen. As mentioned there are real eggs in the cake and lots of mini eggs on top! 

Tea Time Treats hosted by Janie from The Hedgecombers and Karen from Lavender and Lovage. The theme this month is Easter.

#FoodYearLinkUp hosted by Charlotte from Charlotte's Lively Kitchen. This cake is definitely for Easter!

  Chocolate cakes, chocolate frosting, Kit Kats, mini eggs and chocolate figures 

 Spread a thick layer of frosting on top of the cake 

 Add another layer of cake on top and cover the cake - top and sides with frosting. Don't worry if it look messy as it will all be covered in chocolate candy. 

 I love these Chocolate figures I bought from Belgium - so cute! 

 Add Kit Kat Bars around the edge to form a fence. Place the chocolate figures in the centre then scatter mini eggs on top making sure to cover all the gaps and finish with a ribbon round the cake! 

 delicious! 

For the cake

220g plain flour

300g caster sugar

85g cocoa powder

1.5 teaspoon baking powder

1.5 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

2 eggs

1 cup/250mls milk

1/2 cup/ 125mls vegetable oil 

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water, slightly cooled 

For the icing

150g butter
160g icing sugar
25g cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
115g dark chocolate, melted
2 tablespoons double cream (optional)

For the decorations
Approximately 38 Kit Kat fingers
250g mini eggs
Chocolate figures

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Grease and line 2 x 18cm sandwich tins. 
• Mix all thedry ingeredients for the cake in an electric mixer. 
• Add in the eggs, milk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract.
• Beat well then add in the boiled water. The batter will be very liquid - don't worry!
• Divide the batter evenly between the 2 cake tins and bake in the pre heated oven for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
• Allow to cool for 5 mins in the tin before turning out to a wire rack to cool completely.
• To make the frosting, beat the butter and icing sugar until smooth. 
• Add the cocoa powder and mix well.
• Add vanilla extract and melted chocolate and beat until smooth.
• Finally add in the cream if using. 
• To decorate the cake, place a small dab of frosting in the centre of a cake board.
• Place one cake bottom side up on the cake board.
• Spread a generous layer of frosting and even the top with a palette knife.
• Place the second cake on top and spread frosting on the top and sides of the cake.
• Don't worry if its a little messy and you get cake crumbs in the frosting.
• Use the Kit Kats to create a fence around the cake as shown. 
• Place the chocolate figures in the centre or wherever your choose and press down gently.
• Scatter the mini eggs on top, pressing lightly to secure them to the cake. 
• Finish the look by tying a large ribbon around the cake. 

Hot Cross Buns

If you read my blog regularly you will see that I love baking cakes, cupcakes and cookies. I've started to bake more with pastry recently which includes trying different types of pastry and I even had a go at hot water pastry but that's for another post. Bread baking is a different matter and I've tended to stray away from baking bread or dough.  

J has been asking for hot cross buns since before Easter. It's traditionally eaten on Good Friday in the UK and in many other countries. Unfortunately I didn't get round to baking it and Easter flew by in the blink of an eye.  A week after Easter and J was still asking for his hot cross buns so I decided to give it a go. 

I used a Paul Hollywood recipe from BBC Good Food and followed it exactly. As it's my first time baking hot cross buns I decided not to stray from the recipe. The dough needed to prove 3 times and by the time I finished baking this it was almost dinnertime! Luckily we had a busy day doing some home improvements and did not have a chance to have lunch so these were a welcome treat with a cup of tea. I also gave some to our lovely neighbours next door and to our new neighbours who moved in a few weeks ago. 

They were very impressed with the homemade hot cross buns and so were we. The buns were soft and fruity and tasted so much better than the shop bought ones. We had them warm from the oven with lashings of butter and they tasted heavenly. We also had them toasted the next day with some homemade marmalade (from a friend) and it tasted just as good. 

I'm sending this to Bready, Steady, Go! hosted by Jen from Jen's Food and Michelle from Utterly Scrummy Food For Families.  Both Jen and Michelle are keen bread bakers so they've decided to host this challenge together. I think it has a great challenge name which was chosen by one of Michelle's daughters. 

It's also going to Treat Petite hosted by Kat from The Baking Eplorer and Stuart from Cakeyboi. The theme this month is Hello Spring. 

Food Year Link Up hosted by Charlotte from My Recipe Book. These are of course for Easter.

Finally to Let's Cook for Easter hosted by Nayna from Simply Food.

 bread flour with salt, yeast and sugar 

 the dough is soft and crumbly...

 ...but becomes smooth and glossy after kneading 

 adding in the fruit after allowing the dough to prove 

 looks delicious!

 I weighed each bun as suggested to ensure even cooking 

 The cross is made from a flour and water paste 

 The glaze gives it a really nice shine 

 Lashings of butter! 

Recipe from BBC Good Food 

Cinnabunnies for Easter

Another quick and easy recipe for Easter. This will be a hit with both adults and children alike. The kids will have fun making and eating these and there's still time to get the ingredients before Easter Sunday. I saw this reipe online from Pillsbury. It's an American brand and I wasn't sure if I would find the equivalent here so I was really pleased when I saw this Jus Rol Cinnamon Swirls in the supermarket. One box makes 6 swirls which is 3 bunnies as you need 2 per bunny. You also need some raisins and almond flakes for decoration. It's really simple and looks so cute! The pastry was really flaky and you can definitely taste the cinnamon. It also comes with a little tub of icing sugar - just add water and drizzle over the pastry. This is brilliant for when you don't have time to make cinnamon buns from scratch.

 flaked almonds, raisins, box of Jus Rol cinnamon swirls 

 It comes in a can and the dough looks like this. Cut into 6 even slices. 

 You need 2 swirls - one for the face and one for the ears. Place one swirl on your baking tray then unravel the second swirl as shown. Turn it around so the cinnamon filling is facing downwards. 

 Push the middle of the top pastry on to the swirl and tuck both ends under to look like bunny ears. Pinch the adjoining ends to ensure that it bakes in 1 piece. 

 add 3 raisins per bunny - two for eyes and one for the nose and 2 almond flakes for the teeth. Press firmly in the dough before baking. 

 Bake in the oven according to the box instructions. 

 I tried drizzling the icing and only putting the icing on the ears - which do you prefer? 

I'm sending these super cute Easter Cinnabunnies to a few blog challenges this month...

AlphaBakes hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes and myself on alternate months. The letter ths month is B for Bunny!

Treat Petite hosted by Kat from The Baking Eplorer and Stuart from Cakeyboi. The theme this month is Hello Spring. 

Food Year Link Up hosted by Charlotte from My Recipe Book.

Cook Blog Share hosted by Lucy at Supergolden Bakes

Credit Crunch Munch guest hosted by Michelle from Utterly Scrummy. The challenge is run by Camilla from Fab Food 4 All and Helen from Fuss Free Flavours. This recipe uses ready made ingredients which cuts down on time. It's also quite cost effective as I bought the box of cinnamon swirls for £2 and it makes 6 swirls which is a cost of 33p each or 3 bunnies at 66p each. The raisins and almond flakes were store cupboard ingredients.

Passionfruit and Cream Cheese Filled Chocolate Easter Eggs

Happy Friday everyone! Life has been so crazy and hectic lately I'm really pleased that it's a long bank holiday weekend. There's lots planned for the weekend but at least I get to have a lie in and hopefully a chance to bake a few Easter themed treats. I saw this recipe on pinterest and immediately bookmarked it.  Last year I baked chocolate easter eggs with a twist which I also baked back in 2012 so I wanted something a little different this year. This recipe was perfect as it's a really quick and easy no bake treat which looks very impressive. 

You need to get hollow easter eggs - larger eggs will be easier to work with as you can just spoon the filling in. I bought these mini eggs so I used a piping bag to fill the eggs. The cheesecake mixture is really quick and easy to make and tastes great on its own. My favourite part is the 'yolk' which is a passionfruit and apricot curd. I also made some chocolate spoons to go with the eggs using my chocolate spoon mould. 

I'm sending this to a few blog challenges this month. 

Treat Petite hosted by Kat from The Baking Eplorer and Stuart from Cakeyboi. The theme this month is Hello Spring. 

Tea Time Treats hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage and Jane from The Hedgecombers. The theme this month is Chocolate! 

We Should Cocoa hosted by Choclette from Tin and Thyme. The theme this month is No Bake which is really fortuituous as I made these before finding out what the challenge was for this month. 

The Biscuit Barrel Challenge which is guest hosted by Alexandra from The Lass in the Apron on behalf of Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than... The theme this month is candy so I'm hoping that these ready made easter eggs will count! 

Food Year Link Up hosted by Charlotte from My Recipe Book.

Recipe of the Week hosted by Emily from A Mummy Too

Cook Blog Share hosted by Lucy at Supergolden Bakes

Bookmarked Recipes hosted by Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes. I bookmarked this as soon as I saw it and patiently waited until Easter to try it out.

Let's Cook for Easter hosted by Nayna from Simply Food.

 chocolate spoon moul, cream cheese, double cream, apricot jam, butter, passionfruit and mini chocolate eggs 

 making the 'yolk'  (This is a double recipe which is why the amount looks more than stated) 

 cut the tops of the chocolate eggs. I left the foil wrapping on so that the eggs don't melt into the container and make a mess. Plus it's quite nice unwrapping the egg and eating it. I used a quails egg tray to hold the eggs. If you have larger eggs then a regular egg carton should suffice. 

 Fill with cheesecake filling 

 Pipe the 'egg yolk' on top 

 This is a half filled chocolate egg (well one that I broke but waste not want not) 

 Happy Easter! 

Recipe from raspberri cupcakes 

Makes enough to fill 18 mini eggs plus extra to eat

For the cream cheese filling 

150g cream cheese

30g icing sugar

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

125mls double cream

For the 'egg yolk' 

1 passionfruit - sliced and sieved to get the juice only

1 tablespoon apricot jam

15g butter 

For the chocolate spoon (optional) 

chocolate from the tops of the chocolate eggs

approximately 75g milk chocolate 

• Prepare the chocolate eggs by peeling off the top bit of foil and cutting the tops off with a sharp knife.
• Place the eggs in a suitable tray and place in the fridge.
• (I melted the tops of the chocolate eggs plus some extra chocolate to make my chocolate spoons so there was no wastage) 
• Make the 'egg yolk' by placing the pasionfruit juice, apricot jam and butter in a small saucepan over a low heat. 
• Whisk continuously until the butter has melted and the mixture is smooth. 
• Allow to cool completely then place in the fridge to set. 
• Now make the cream cheese filling by placing the cream cheese, icing sugar, lemon juice and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl and beating until it's smooth and fluffy. 
• Beat the cream in a separate bowl until stiff peaks form.
• Scoop the beaten cream into the cream cheese mixture and beat until smooth. 
• Place the cream cheese mixture in a piping bag and pipe into the chocolate shells.
• Place in the fridge to set for about 15-20 minutes.
• Place the chilled 'egg yolk' mixture in a piping bag and pipe on top of each filled egg.