Chocolate Easter Egg Cheesecakes

This is a fun way to present a lemon vanilla cheesecake at Easter time. I have left out the traditional biscuit base, but you could always add that in if you wanted to, and add a layer of it in the bottom of the Easter egg.

I have made this filling dairy free but I will add both versions below so you have a choice. For my son's (the dairy free version) I also made  the chocolate egg as well using a mold I had at home anyway. I melted dairy free chocolate and  built up layers of the melted chocolate, chilling between layers. This recipe is so easily made dairy free and it tastes delicious!

Chocolate Easter Egg Cheesecakes

Serves 3 medium sized half-eggs (double the recipe for more)

Ingredients:

• 170g cream cheese (or dairy free version)
• 100ml double cream (or Elmlea plant double cream)
• 40g icing sugar, sifted
• 1t vanilla
• juice of 1/4 lemon
• 3 x half easter eggs
• decorations - such as marshmallows, mini eggs, mini creme eggs, sprinkles - whatever you have or would like to use.

Method:

1. Combine the cream cheese, sugar, lemon and vanilla in a bowl, whisking until it is smooth and well combined.
2. In a different bowl, whip the cream until it is thick with soft peaks and then fold it carefully into the cream cheese mixture until it is fully combined (you can whisk it briefly too).
3. Spoon into the chocolate Easter eggs, decorate and set in the fridge for 2-3 hours but preferably overnight.

 

Rocky Road (Easter edition)

 

A well-loved family favourite has been given an Easter makeover this year. You can, of course, adapt your decorations to suit what you have available, such as mini eggs, mini creme eggs etc.

I would normally make this into one batch in a 20cm x 20cm lined tin, but today I decided to split it between 3 trays to give as gifts to friends (we kept one for our family). It's always lovely to share the goodies!

If making these outside a celebration time, finish the batch off with a sprinkling of icing sugar over the top to decorate.

ROCKY ROAD

Serves 16

Ingredients:

• 200g rich tea biscuits 
• 300g dark chocolate
• 45mls golden syrup (3 x 15ml spoons)
• 125g butter
• 100g mini marshmallows

Method:

1.  Place the biscuits onto a ziplock bag and use a rolling pin to crush them into a combination of crumbs and small pieces. Tip the biscuits into a large bowl. 

2.  In a saucepan, combine the chocolate, butter and golden syrup and melt over a low heat. Take out 125ml of the melted mixture and set aside.

3. Pour the larger chocolate mixture into the biscuits and mix to combine. Add the marshmallows and mix until almost all coated and then pour this mixture into the lined pan (20cm x 20cm if making one batch). Spread evenly and smooth the top with a spoon.

4. Pour the remaining chocolate mixture over the top and spread it out to create a smoother layer. Add any decorations and then refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.  If adding icing sugar on top, do so once it has set in the fridge.

5. Remove from the pan and slice up into 16 pieces. Store in an airtight container, preferably in the fridge.

Triple Layer Chocolate Cake

I was looking for a good chocolate cupcake recipe recently, and asked out on my facebook page if anyone could recommend one. I had quite a few choices but decided to go with one from my sister-in-law, Bec. It's one she uses all the time. I read through the recipe and decided to go for a whole cake rather than cupcakes - this recipe has a tag line saying it's 'the best chocolate cake recipe ever'. Okay. We shall see.

It was super easy to make, using normal ingredients you'll find in your cupboard and it's even DAIRY FREE!

I made some slight changes to it:

• I used coconut milk from the carton (not can) instead of cow's milk - this was to cater to my allergic son (there is no coconut taste at all in the cake)
• I left out the coffee - I'm one of those odd people who doesn't like coffee.
• I put raspberry jam between the layers as I don't like too much buttercream.
• And I cheated and used a tub of Betty Crocker's Chocolate Fudge buttercream, as it is dairy-free, really tasty and much nicer than making buttercream with dairy free 'butter'.
• So, if dairy is not a problem for you, then follow the recipe as it is (It will probably be even nicer!)
• I used 3 x 8 inch (20cm) pans, rather than the 2 x 9 inch in the recipe.

Is it the best chocolate cake ever, I'm not sure, but it is really, really nice. The texture is moist and soft, and it feels really luxurious.

You want the recipe, don't you?

Okay well, it's not mine, so I will send you directly over to the site. You'll also find at the bottom of the page a link to her cupcake recipe, but it looks to me like it is pretty much half of this recipe.

From: Add a Pinch:   Best Chocolate Cake (ever)

Enjoy! Kris x

Chocolate Cake with Marshmallow Frosting

This long weekend I wanted to make a special cake from one of my new cookbooks, but I ran out of time to do the extra special effort I wanted. So I reverted back to an old favourite cake, my chocolate bundt cake, without the orange added. I did, however, want to make Sweetapolita's marshmallow frosting to go on top as something different to a ganache, glaze or buttercream.

The marshmallow frosting is so dreamy. It adds a lightness to the cake and a sweetness that is offset by the relatively un-sweetness of the cake.

I was surprised at how much frosting this recipe made - I had made two cakes and was going to make a different colour for the second, but there was so much frosting it covered both cakes so I left them both a pale blue. If you just had one cake, you could also fill layers, or top cupcakes as well from this one batch of frosting. I ended up having to quickly fill the bowl with water and detergent to stop myself licking every left over morsel from inside it!

Chocolate Bundt Cake with Marshmallow Frosting

• Servings: 12+
• adapted from Brooklyn Homemaker and Sweetapolita

For the Cake:

1 1/4 cups water

3/4 cup cocoa powder

2 1/4 cups sugar

1 teaspoons salt

2 1/2 teaspoons bi carb soda (baking soda)

2 whole eggs

1 egg yolk

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

1 cup sunflower oil - or a similar neutral oil

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 3/4 cups plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted

For the Frosting:

4 large egg whites (180g)

1 3/4 c caster sugar

2 tablespoons (45g) glucose syrup (light corn syrup)

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract

a few drops of coloured food gel

sprinkles to top

Instructions:

For the cake:

1. Place an oven rack in the centre of the oven and preheat to 180 degrees C.

2. Liberally butter a 10 to 12 cup Bundt pan and set aside. I actually use cake release spray and it works a dream every time. Today I had run out of this, so brushed on melted butter.

3. Whisk water and cocoa powder in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, whisking frequently. Remove from heat and let come to room temperature.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, mix together sugar, salt, baking soda, eggs and egg yolk on low for just one minute. Add the milk, oil and vanilla extract and mix on low again for another minute.
5. Add the flour and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes more.  Add the cooled cocoa mixture and mix on medium speed for 3 minutes. The batter will seem quite loose and liquid.  Pour into the prepared cake pan no more than three quarters full and bake for 55-65, or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean. If you have extra mixture because your tin is smaller, then pour into another cake tin and cook it as an extra bit of cake.

6. Let the cake cool completely in the pan and then invert onto a cooling rack. Once cooled you can trim off the uneven top to make it level, or just leave it as I did this time.

For the frosting:

1. Wipe the bowl and the whisk attachment with paper towel and a little lemon juice to remove any traces of grease. Add egg whites, sugar, glucose syrup, cream of tartar and salt to the bowl and simmer over a pot of water (not boiling), whisking constantly but gently until it reaches 130˚F (54˚C) on a candy thermometer.

2. Return the bowl to the stand mixer, and beat on low speed for 2 mins, then increase the speed to medium for 2 minutes. Increase the speed to high and mix until thick and glossy - about 5 mins. During this time  add the vanilla and colour and whisk until combined and even.

3. This is best used right away (and tastes best of the day it is made). But it can be kept covered for an hour - this gave me enough time to col my second cake and frost it.
4. To cover the cake, work from the top down, using an offset spatula and swirl with that or the back of a spoon.
5. Sprinkle your choice of decorations on top, dive in and enjoy!

Chocolate Bundt Cake

It's been a while since I blogged some of my recipes properly, so you my be inundated as I have been doing a lot of baking lately. This cake is one I made for my son's 6th birthday yesterday. I wanted something simple, but fun, that I could transport to a restaurant in London (on the train!) So it needed to be robust, but tasty.

This is the second time I have made this cake now, the first being for Halloween last month.

My bundt tins are new, my first from the Nordic Ware range and I've really enjoyed using them. For this type of tin, I think you need a fairly stable cake. This recipe, I have to say, is just delicious. It's a Martha Stewart one, and I know I will use it again and again.

Just a few notes for when you are using this recipe and this style of tin. For the Halloween 'pumpkin' cake, I made two cakes separately, trimmed the tops on both to make them flat and the 'sandwiched' them together with a simple orange buttercream in between. I topped that one with some passionfruit icing. The green 'stalk' is just an icecream cone painted with slightly watered down food colouring - I popped it back into a low temp oven to dry out. This is the 12 cup sized tin.

For the blue birthday cake, I used the smaller tin so I also had spare mixture which I used to make some cupcakes with. I didn't trim the top on this one, just turned it over and let it cool. The icing is just very simple, icing sugar and water and I tried out my new gel colours from ProGel. This was turquoise, although looks sky blue really. Still, it's nice to use the tubes to control the amount you use. You let it dry for a few minutes before sprinkling on the 100s & 1000s. This is the 6 cup sized tin.

This really is a delicious chocolate cake, not too sweet and if making it for a more grown up occasion, drizzling chocolate ganache over the top would be perfect.

Chocolate Bundt Cake

Ingredients:

•  1 cup (220g) unsalted butter, plus more for pan      
• 2 1/4 cups (320g) self-raising flour
• 3/4 cup (75g) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1  1/2c (375mls)  milk (or milk alternative)
• 1 1/2 cups (350g) caster sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:                 

1. Make the cake: Preheat oven to 180degrees C. Butter and flour (or use a cake release) a 12-cup Bundt pan.
2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, and salt. 
3. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition; add vanilla. If the egg mixture looks like it is having trouble combining properly, you can add a tablespoon of the flour mix to help it come together.
4. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until just combined.
5. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top with an offset spatula.
6. Bake until a cake tester comes out clean, about 50-55 minutes. (40 mins is using the smaller 6 cup tin).
7. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool for about 10 mins in the tin, before tipping the cake onto the cooling rack. (Cake can be stored at room temperature, in an air tight container up to 7 days).

Give it a try and let me know if you make the cake!

Kris

UPDATE - May 2023: I quickly make this with King Charles III Coronation sprinkles tonight. Covered in a delicious chocolate ganache made with dark chocolate and Emlie Plant cream. This is just for my family.