Cadburys mini eggs – Feasting Is Fun

Chocolate Mini Egg Sponge Cake

My Easter Chocolate Mini Egg Sponge Cake is a spectacular, yet easy to make cake that is the perfect centrepiece for Easter feasting and celebration. Rich chocolate sponge sandwiched together with whipped chocolate ganache and decorated with speckled Cadbury’s mini eggs. An Easter celebration cake.

Since Easter is only a week away it is impossible to miss the sheer quantity of chocolate and variety of eggs available in the shops. And having spotted the mini, micro eggs in Sainsbury’s last year which were used in these Chocolate Biscuit Base Mini Egg Brownies, I was delighted to see them in stock again this year for Easter baking! While Cadbury’s mini eggs are both beautiful and cute, the micro eggs are like their smaller cousins. Also, they are small enough to be used as the filling in a sponge layer cake.

FF Chocolate Mini Egg Sponge Cake — Easter Chocolate Mini Egg Sponge Cake

While this cake certainly has plenty of sweetness from the chocolate eggs, I decided to keep the frosting less sweet. Since chocolate ganache is simply chocolate and cream melted together and then cooled, it provides the perfect balance to the sweet vanilla coated, milk chocolate mini eggs. Also, it has the advantage of being whipped when cool. Resulting in a spreadable frosting that is also ideal for attaching eggs to the cake.

Futhermore, adding 6 whole, large eggs to the cake batter ensures a rich, moist chocolate sponge. Once filled and decorated this cake provides a real wow factor. So it is perfect for feasting, sharing and celebrating Easter.

Recipe: Easter Chocolate Mini Egg Sponge Cake serves 10-12

For the cake:

300g/10.5oz Unsalted Butter softened at room temperature plus extra for greasing tins

1/2tsp Sea Salt (halve if using free flowing) – I use Maldon

175g/6oz Dark Brown Muscavado Sugar – I use Billingtons

125g/4.5oz White Caster Sugar

2tsp Vanilla Extract – I use Nielsen-Massey

6 Large Free Range Eggs

200g/7oz Plain White Flour

100g/4oz Cocoa Powder – I use Callebaut

2tsp Baking Powder

For the icing and decoration:

250ml/9fl oz Double Cream (heavy cream)

250g/9oz Good Quality Dark Chocolate minimum 70% Cocoa Solids

2 x 328g Cadbury’s Mini Eggs or similar – this quantity is sufficient to fill and top the cake if needed

1 x 100g Mini Chocolate Micro Eggs available from Sainsbury’s

Method: Preheat oven to 160C/140C fan, 325F, gas mark 3

For this recipe you will need 2 x 20cm (8in) sandwich tins at least 5cm (2in) deep.

Making the chocolate cake sponges

First of all grease both sandwich tins and line the base with baking parchment.
Into a large bowl add the butter, salt and both types of sugar.
Whisk together until the mixture is uniform in colour. Whisking time approximately 5 minutes.
Add the vanilla extract and whisk to combine.
Crack 6 large eggs into the bowl.
Sieve the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder into the bowl.
Whisk all the ingredients together. Scrape the side and base of the bowl with a spatula and continue whisking until thoroughly combined.

Divide the cake batter evenly between 2 tins, smoothing the surface.
Place the cake tins in the centre and lower part of the oven and bake for 50 minutes – 1 hour.
The cakes are baked when pressed they spring back from a light touch. Also an inserted skewer comes out clean.
As soon as the cakes are baked remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes in the tin.
Turn the cake out of the tin, carefully peel away the baking parchment. Leave to completely cool on a cooling rack.

While the cakes are cooling make the chocolate ganache.

Creating the chocolate ganache

Place a small saucepan containing 2.5cm/1” of water over a low heat. Allow the water to come up to a very gentle simmer over low heat.
Use a heatproof bowl and place on top of the saucepan ensuring the base does not touch the water.
Add the cream and chocolate to the bowl and stir.
As soon as the chocolate has completely melted remove the bowl and set to one side to cool. Placing on a windowsill with the window slightly open will help the ganache cool more quickly.
When cooled whisk the ganache until thickened to spreading consistency.

Filling and decorating the Easter cake

Place a cooled chocolate sponge, flat side down, on to a plate or board.
Spoon half of the chocolate ganache on to the cake and spread to cover to the cake edge.

Use micro eggs (alternatively use Cadbury’s mini eggs) and place around the edge of the cake, pressing into the ganache to secure them.
Fill in the surface of the cake with the remaining eggs.
Place the second sponge, flat side down, on top of the decorated bottom sponge.

Spoon the remaining ganache on to the top of the cake. Spread the ganache so that it covers evenly.
Cover the top of the cake with Cadbury’s mini eggs. Let your creative juices flow! Most of all ensure the eggs are pressed firmly into the ganache to secure.

Place the cake into a fridge for an hour to firm up the ganache.

Slicing the cake is easier once it has been chilled.

Slice with a sharp knife dipped in a jug of hot water and wiped dry after each cut. Doing so creates cleanly cut slices of cake, ready to be served.

Store any remaining cake wrapped well in cling film and refrigerated. Eat within 3 days.

The cakes can be made a day ahead and stored wrapped in baking parchment in an airtight container.

If you have enjoyed this recipe for Easter Chocolate Mini Egg Sponge Cake you may also like these:

Mini Egg Millionaires Shortbread

Golden Egg Chocolate Sponge Cake

Mini Egg Marbled Traybake

An Easter marbled traybake bake decorated with Cadbury’s mini eggs. — Mini Egg Marbled Traybake

Easter Sunday, for me is about remembering and celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, following His death on the previous Friday. If you would like to know more about this see Important Stuff .Although creating a cake that looks like a celebration is not that difficult to do. Yet, using pretty mini eggs with their speckled shells on top of this Easter Chocolate Mini Egg Sponge Cake makes decorating so easy. Especially as the eggs themselves represent new life. Both in the natural world of new birth in Springtime and through the love freely given to us in Jesus Christ.

So, whatever you are making, baking and creating this Easter, have fun preparing and sharing your feast.

Sammie xx

No part of this post may be reproduced or duplicated without the written permission of the owner. Please see my Disclosure Policy.

Chocolate Biscuit Base Mini Egg Brownies

Easter weekend is finally here. Four days holiday for most people. Enjoying the good weather, lawns are mowed, kitchens prepare treats for the weekend, while teenagers prepare for upcoming exams. Whatever you and your family are doing my Chocolate Biscuit Base Mini Egg Brownies Easter bake is sure to bring about a smile.

The base of these brownies is a chocolate biscuit. Rather like a slightly harder version of the soft, squidgy brownie on top. So the advantage is that with a firmer base these brownies are easier to pick up and hold. While developing this recipe my thoughts were directed by practicality.

Single Easter Mini Egg Brownie — Easter Chocolate Biscuit Base Mini Egg Brownies

No matter how practical these brownies are, they absolutely had to be fun, as well as tasty. Since the addition of pretty, pastel Cadbury’s mini eggs was a necessity. So also were the party streamer, piped coloured chocolate drizzles. Resulting in a beautiful, yet fun, Easter treat.

FF Colourful Easter Brownies — Colourful Easter Chocolate Biscuit Base Mini Egg Brownies

An Edible Easter Mini Egg Work Of Art

While this may look like a complicated bake, it absolutely isn’t. First of all the biscuit base is made, then baked. Once cooled the brownie topping, is poured over. Followed by a generous sprinkle of chocolate mini eggs, another quick bake. Finally after cooling you can let your creativity run wild, decorating your bake.

A quick note: This bake will look and taste just as good if you’d prefer not to use coloured Candy Melts. Since this is your bake, feel free to add coloured sprinkles, chocolates or whatever you like. Most importantly, have fun!!!

Recipe: Chocolate Biscuit Base Mini Egg Brownies makes 24

For the Biscuit Base

225g/8oz Unsalted Butter

150g/5oz Light Brown Sugar

1 Large Free Range Egg

1tsp Vanilla Extract – I use Nielsen-Massey

75g/3oz Cocoa Powder – I use Callebaut

200g/7oz Plain White Flour

For the Brownies

200g/7oz Plain Chocolate – minimum 70% Cocoa solids

200g/7oz Milk Chocolate – minimum 35% Cocoa solids

225g/8oz Unsalted Butter

4 Large Free Range Eggs

225g/8oz Dark Brown Sugar

1tsp Vanilla Extract

1/4tsp Salt

75g/3oz Plain White Flour

1/2tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

Decoration:

1 x Family Pack (326g) of Cadbury’s Mini Eggs or the rough equivalent weight in smaller bags/tubes

75g/3oz of each of the following :

White Chocolate, Wilton or PME Candy Melts – Pink/Blue/Purple Candy Melts -available from Amazon

Any additional decorations that you like – I found a bag of really small mini eggs from Sainsbury’s.

Method: Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan, gas mark 4, 350F.

Making The Chocolate Biscuit Base

First of all grease a 33cm x 23cm x 5cm (13″ x 9″ x 2″) tin with a little butter. Line the base and sides with baking parchment.

Starting with the biscuit base, add the butter, salt and sugar to a large bowl. Beat until fully combined and free from lumps.
Next add the egg and vanilla, continue mixing until smooth.
Sieve the flour and cocoa powder into the same bowl. Starting at a slow speed mix the ingredients until combined.
Finally tip the biscuit base dough into the baking tin. Spread the dough, using the back of a spoon until it evenly covers the base of the tin.
Place the tin into the middle of the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes.
While the base is baking, make the Brownie topping.

Making The Brownie Topping

Break up the chocolate (or chop) into individual squares, dice the butter and place both into a heat proof bowl.Place the bowl over a simering pan of water (a double boiler) ensuring the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water.
Stir continuously until both the chocolate and butter are two thirds melted.
Carefully remove the bowl from the pan and continue stirring until the contents are completely melted.
Into another large bowl add the eggs, vanilla and sugar.
Mix together to combine.
While still slowly mixing pour the cooled chocolate mixture into the larger bowl.
Mix until completely combined – try not to incorporate too much air whilst mixing.
Sift the flour, bicarb. and salt into the bowl.
Using a large metal spoon, fold all the ingredients together.

FF Chocolate Biscuit Base Mini Egg Brownies — Creating and baking the layers of the **Chocolate Biscuit Base Mini Egg Brownies**

The biscuit base, once baked may still be a little soft to touch, however it will be darker than the uncooked dough.
Remove the tin from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Adding The Brownie Batter Topping

Pour the brownie batter over the biscuit base. Tilt the tin to ensure even coverage.
Follow by sprinkling 200g of mini eggs on to the brownie batter.
Place the tin back in the oven and bake for a further 20-25 minutes.
The brownie batter is baked when it has a sheen and does not wobble in the centre.
Remove the tin from the oven and allow to cool completely.
As soon as it is completely cooled remove the entire bake from the tin and place on a solid surface.
Cut centrally through the length and width with a sharp knife. Now cut each half into 12 even sized portions.

Decorating The Chocolate Biscuit Base Mini Egg Brownies

Place 75g of each coloured Candy Melt or chocolate into a separate heatproof, microwaveable bowl.
Heat the first bowl for 20 seconds at a time, stirring in between until the chocolate is fluid.
Spoon the liquid into a small, disposable, piping bag. Be careful, it will be very warm.
Snip the very end of the bag off and pipe whatever pattern you wish over the top of the bake.
Continue, in exactly the same way with the second colour.
Follow this by adding extra mini eggs or decorations, hold a few back.
Prepare and pipe the third colour, allowing some to cover the newly added eggs.
Finally finish with white chocolate, piped all over the bake and sprinkle any remaining decorations.

Place to one side to allow the chocolate to set.

Easter Mini Egg Brownie Bake — Chocolate Biscuit Base Mini Egg Brownies

Serve with a big smile and my preference, a glass of cold milk.

If you have enjoyed this Easter recipe for Chocolate Biscuit Base Mini Egg Brownies you may also like these:

Golden Egg Chocolate Sponge Cake

Chocolate Monster Mini Egg Cookies

Mini Vanilla Egg Nest Cupcakes

Since most of these recipes are designed specifically for Easter and for using left over chocolate, I hope that you will make them throughout the year. Although, that may not be a good thing for our bodies? Maybe the fun is in making them only during the Easter Holidays.

I wish everyone who reads this a very Happy Easter, please see Important Stuff.

Sammie xx

No party of this post may be reproduced or duplicated without the written permission of the owner. Please see my Disclosure Policy.

This month I am linking up with Stuart at Cakey Boi and Kat at The Baking Explorer who is hosting this month’s Treat Petite .

Vanilla Mini Egg Nest Cupcakes

Since Easter Sunday is tomorrow, I simply couldn’t resist one last Easter themed bake. So, here are my Easter Vanilla Mini Egg Nest Cupcakes.

Vanilla cupcakes, swirled with real chocolate buttercream, sprinkled with dark chocolate curls and chocolate mini eggs nestling in the centre.

So, delicious and easy to make, Easter Vanilla Mini Egg Nest Cupcakes have the perfect balance of cake, chocolate buttercream and Cadbury’s mini eggs.

RT Vanilla Mini Egg Nest Cupcakes — **Vanilla Mini Egg Nest Cupcakes** beautiful in tulip wrappers.

So, with ALL of the chocolate that is around over the Easter period, a vanilla cupcake to provides the perfect balance. While I love a deep chocolatey cake, like my Chocolate Sparkle Cake sometimes too much chocolate can be over powering!

Also, I adore the crisp, vanilla shell on Cadbury’s mini eggs and wanted to echo that in the cupcake. Likewise, a lighter chocolate buttercream, piped on these cupcakes, works with the mini eggs, rather than swamping them.

Homemade Easter Gifts

And these Easter Vanilla Mini Egg Nest Cupcakes are an inexpensive way of making a few packets of mini eggs go a long way and are great to give as gifts. Since I personally love homemade gifts, these would be a very welcome gift indeed.

Either wrap each cupcake in cellophane, tie with raffia or place in little cupcake boxes tied with ribbon, presentation is key. Now they are ready to be given as gifts. My niece made a version of these and gave them to her teachers at Primary School as an end of term, Easter thank you, where they are proving very popular!

Recipe: Makes 12 Easter Vanilla Mini Egg Nest Cupcakes

For the cupcakes

100g/4oz Unsalted Buter at room temperature

100g/4oz Caster Sugar

1tsp Vanilla Extract – I use Nielsen-Massey

1/8tsp – pinch Sea Salt – I use Maldon

2 Large Free Range Eggs

100g/4oz Plain White Flour – self raising can be substituted but don’t add the extra baking powder.

1tsp Baking Powder

For the Chocolate Buttercream

300g/11oz Icing Sugar – sifted

150g/5oz Unsalted Butter – softened

175g/6oz Milk Chocolate

2 packets of Cadbury’s mini eggs

Dark chocolate curls, or Cadbury’s flake (x2)

Method: Preheat the oven to 160C/140C, gas mark 3, 325F

Making And Baking The Easter Vanilla Cupcakes

First of all place the butter and sugar into a bowl and whisk/beat until pale and fluffy.
Add the vanilla extract and whisk/beat until incorporated.
Next add 2 eggs, the sifted flour, baking powder and salt.
Whisk/beat slowly until all the ingredients are just combined.
Using a metal spoon stir the mixture 2-3 times to ensure everything is combined.
Place 12 cupcake wrappers into a cupcake pan.
Scoop just under a dessert spoonful of cake batter into each cupcake wrapper.
Place the cupcakes into the centre of the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
The cupcakes are cooked when they are a golden brown colour and spring back from a light touch.
As soon as they are baked remove the cupcakes from the oven.
If using tulip cupcake cases, as I have, allow to cool completely in the tin, if not cool for 5 minutes in the tin and then transfer to a cooling rack.
Transfer cupcakes in tulip wrappers to a cooling rack once cold.

While the cupcakes are cooling make the buttercream.

Making The Frosting And Decorating The Easter Cupcakes

Break up the chocolate, place in a microwaveable bowl and heat on medium power for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until the chocolate is completely melted. Set to one side.
Whisk the sieved icing sugar, butter and vanilla extract until pale and smooth.
Add the cooled chocolate, whilst whisking. Continue whisking until you have light, fluffy, buttercream.
Fit a piping bag with a large star tip.
Fill the piping bag with the chocolate buttercream.
Pipe a single swirl around the outside edge of each cupcake.
Repeat, piping another swirl on top of the previous one.

Sprinkle dark chocolate curls, or broken up Cadbury’s flake around the swirls of chocolate buttercream.
Add mini eggs to the centre of the cupcakes.
My mini egg colours were kept the same, for impact, however, they also look very natural when the colours are mixed – let you creative juices flow!

These Easter Vanilla Mini Egg Nest Cupcakes are such an easy bake, yet look professional enough to give as gifts.

A Savvy Purchase

Finally, a quick note about the tulip cupcake cases. Since they can be quite expensive, so I buy mine in bulk from Amazon UK. where the price per wrapper is much cheaper than alternatives found in supermarkets. Alternatively, get together with a baking buddy and split the package and cost. I bought 100 wrappers a couple of years ago and still have plenty left!

FF Vanilla Mini Egg Nest Cupcakes — Easter Mini Egg Nest Cupcakes

A delicious gift for anyone at Easter time, taking around an hour to make, bake and decorate. Yet there is still time to make these before tomorrow.

As I said at the start of this post, Easter symbolises new birth. For me, as a Christian, that happened when I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. If you would like to know more please see Important Stuff.

How you ever considered the true meaning of Easter and what it means to you?

If you have enjoyed these Easter Vanilla Mini Egg Nest Cupcakes here are some other mini egg recipes:

Chocolate Monster Mini Egg Cookies

Mini Egg Millionaires Shortbread

Chocolate Mini Egg Brownies

Mini Egg Bundt Cake

Mini Egg decorated Bundt Cake — Mini Egg Bundt Cake

I love reading your comments, so please keep them coming and seeing all your makes and bakes on Twitter/Instagram. Please pop a photo up and tag me in?

Wishing you all a very happy, healthy and blessed Easter.

Sammie xx

No part of this post may be reproduced or duplicated without the written permission of the owner. Please see my Disclosure Policy.