I hesitated to publish my Easter recipe since we’re in May, but after all, the recipe is very good and once the little bunnies are removed, it’s a recipe you can make again for any occasion 🙂 It’s my first layer cake, but also the first time I worked with sugar paste. I wanted something new for Easter, and there’s so much inspiration online that I wanted to give it a go!
For the chocolate layer cake recipe, I picked the recipe from the blog Bonne Table. The photo was simply mouth-watering! I then made a cocoa crumble and decorated this all-chocolate layer cake with a few sugar paste characters (I followed the tutorial from Macaronnette et cie).
I’m delighted with this cake; I was able to impress my little nieces and my in-laws, and I really liked the chocolate mascarpone cream. The sugar paste modelling takes a bit of time (to be done the day before), but it’s great fun to do and, to my great surprise, I really enjoyed working with sugar paste.
Ingredients & preparation
5 components · Full recipe
Fondant Decorations (to make the day before)
Ingredients
- None
Preparation
1
I’ll refer you to the Macaronnette et cie tutorial — I followed it closely to make the rabbits, the carrots and the grass.
Sponge Cake
Ingredients
- 203 g (7.2 oz) eggs
- 32 g (1.1 oz) egg yolks
- 135 g (4.8 oz) sugar
- 21 g (0.7 oz) glucose
- 1 g (0 oz) salt
- 32 g (1.1 oz) neutral oil (grape-seed)
- 28 g (1 oz) unsweetened cocoa
- 106 g (3.7 oz) flour
- 1 g (0 oz) bicarbonate of soda
Preparation
1
Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F.
2
Butter and flour a 20 cm (7.9 in) springform tin.
3
Put the oil and cocoa in a saucepan and melt over a low heat. Turn off the heat once the mixture is smooth.
4
Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the eggs and egg yolks with the sugar, then add the liquid glucose. The mixture should triple in volume.
5
Add the flour and bicarbonate of soda all at once and beat briefly until the flour is fully incorporated.
6
Add one third of this batter to the cocoa and oil mixture in the saucepan. Mix well to loosen the batter. Add the contents of the saucepan back into the main batter (you should still have two thirds left). Mix well.
7
Pour the batter into the tin and bake for approximately 35 minutes. Keep an eye on it.
Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients
- 250 g (8.8 oz) dark chocolate
- 1 tbsp Nutella (or praline)
- 60 g (2.1 oz) icing sugar
- 170 g (6 oz) softened butter
- 400 g (14.1 oz) mascarpone
Preparation
1
Break the chocolate into pieces and melt in a bain-marie. Add the Nutella (or praline) and mix.
2
Beat the softened butter and icing sugar together until smooth and creamy.
3
Add the melted chocolate and mix well. Finally, add the mascarpone, which you will have first worked until smooth and pliable.
Chocolate Crumble
Ingredients
- 60 g (2.1 oz) softened butter
- 60 g (2.1 oz) caster sugar
- 30 g (1.1 oz) flour
- 60 g (2.1 oz) ground almonds
- 30 g (1.1 oz) unsweetened cocoa
- 1.5 g (0.1 oz) fleur de sel
Preparation
1
Reduce the oven temperature to 150°C / 300°F.
2
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl until you obtain a sandy, crumbly texture.
3
Scatter onto a baking-paper-lined tray, crumbling with your hands as you go.
4
Bake for 10–15 minutes. Leave to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
Assembly
Ingredients
- 2 packs of dark chocolate Finger biscuits
- fondant paste (white, pink, green and orange)
Preparation
1
Cut the sponge into 3 layers of equal height (make sure the sponge is completely cool before slicing, or it will crumble).
2
Spread a layer of chocolate frosting between each sponge disc and smooth with a palette knife.
3
Cover the outside of the cake with a thin layer of chocolate frosting.
4
Arrange the Finger biscuits around the cake (they will stick to the frosting easily). To prevent them from toppling, tie a ribbon or piece of string around the cake.
5
Scatter the chocolate crumble over the top of the cake, covering the frosting layer completely.
6
Gently place the fondant paste figurines on top.
7
The little Easter garden is ready 🙂
Gallery
