Easter Cake

Recipe and photos by Yasmin

I understand completely that this is being posted a few days after Easter, but this is when I had time to make it. Also, I understand that I am going completely against my rule that this blog would contain no traces of chocolate whatsoever, however, Easter isn't really Easter without some chocolate. So here is my main Easter recipe that is a little bit naughty but a whole lot of fun. I guarantee that you will enjoy making and serving this dessert because it is full of life and the joy of Easter.

Ingredients:

Coffee cake batter:

• 2 tblsp margarine or butter
• 1 cup self raising flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla flavouring
• 2-3 tsp instant coffee dissolved in 3 tblsp boiled water

Decorations:

• chocolate icing
• melted cooking chocolate
• sugar coated mini chocolate eggs
• cellophane and miniature chicken

Method:
For Coffee Cake; Grease a fluted cake tin. Heat oven 180'C fan forced. Melt butter in a medium sized bowl. Add all other ingredients and beat until smooth. Put in prepared cake tin. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Once cooked turn out onto a wire rack. Prepare chocolate icing while cake is cooling.

For Chocolate icing see Icing and Sauces Page on blog.
Once cake is cooled, ice.

Leave the cake to set. Once set, arrange the cellophane in the middle of the cake to fill majority of the hole. Cover cellophane with sugar coated chocolate eggs. This arrangement of decorations should look like eggs in a nest.

Melt 2-3 tblsp cooking chocolate or cooking choc chips in a plastic zip lock bag (be careful not to burn the chocolate - melt on a low heat). Using scissors, snip a pin prick sized hole at one end of the zip lock bag to create a mess free piping bag. Pipe long lines from left to right until the cake is covered with chocolate lines (as seen in the photo below).

For the finishing touches, place a miniature yellow chicken in the nest near the eggs - giving the Easter and mother hen effect.

Serve.