Celebrate Easter with this rich and indulgent Easter chocolate cake recipe with dreamy chocolate buttercream. Take your cake to the next level by adding the optional tempered chocolate Easter cake decorations.

Ingredients

Serves: 10

Preparation time: 1 hour

Cooking time: 30 minutes

You will need:

• Two 6-inch cake tins
• Large mixing bowl
• Heatproof bowl
• Thermapen thermometer
• Non-stick baking paper
• Chocolate egg moulds

For the Easter chocolate cake

• 180g plain flour
• 50g cocoa powder
• 260g caster sugar
• 1 ½ tsp bicarbonate soda
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• ¾ tsp fine salt
• 1 tsp instant coffee
• 90ml vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 180ml buttermilk
• 180ml hot coffee

For the buttercream

• 250g unsalted butter
• 400g icing sugar
• 60g cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 100ml double cream

For the chocolate tempering (advanced option)

• 300g 80% dark chocolate, chopped

Decorating your Easter chocolate cake

This chocolate cake is special enough on its own, but if you want to decorate it in true extravagant Easter fashion, this recipe includes the option to make your own tempered chocolate decorations.

Alix has included step-by-step instructions for how to temper your chocolate, with all the temperatures included. An accurate and fast-reading thermometer like the Thermapen is essential for this to make sure you get them spot-on.

Fancy a simpler Easter cake decoration? Skip the tempering steps and add your own pre-purchased cake toppers. 

Directions

To make the Easter chocolate cake

• Preheat the oven to 170 °C and line the 6-inch cake tins with non-stick baking paper.
• Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate soda, baking powder, salt and coffee powder together in a large bowl and set aside.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, egg and vanilla until frothy, then add the buttermilk and mix until combined.
• Pour the wet egg mixture into the dry flour mixture and fold until just combined, then add the hot coffee and continue folding gently until everything is evenly mixed. The batter will be very wet and loose.
• Divide the cake batter between the lined cake tins and bake for around 30 minutes, until well risen and the internal temperature is between 96 and 98 °C.
• Leave the cakes to cool in the tins before decorating.

For the buttercream

• Mix the icing sugar and cocoa powder together in a bowl.
• Beat the butter in a large bowl to soften, then gradually add tablespoons of the cocoa/icing sugar mixture, beating well in between each addition.
• Add the vanilla and double cream and mix it well to loosen the mixture, so it's easily spreadable.

To assemble

• Lay one cooled cake out onto a cake stand and spread ¼ of the buttercream across the cake evenly.
• Top it with the other cooled cake and sandwich them together, then add the remaining buttercream on top and smooth it over as evenly as possible.
• Serve the cake alone, or take your baking to the next level with some tempered chocolate decorations.

To make the Easter chocolate cake decorations (advanced option)

• Add 200g of dark chocolate to a heatproof bowl and melt it gently over a pan of simmering water.
• Using a Thermapen, melt the chocolate until it reaches 45-55 °C, take the bowl off the pan and place it onto a work surface.
• Pour 150g melted chocolate into a new mixing bowl and leave the remaining 50g somewhere warm.
• Mix the 150g melted chocolate continuously using a rubber spatula whilst adding the remaining 100g dark chopped chocolate.
• Continue mixing the chocolate to cool it down to 28 °C, then add the warm 50g dark chocolate to heat it up to 33 °C.

• Fill chocolate Easter egg moulds with half the mixture and leave aside somewhere cool to set.

To make the chocolate nest cake cage:

• Prepare a sheet of non-stick baking paper measured to the cake's circumference and to a height slightly taller than the cake.
• Lay the prepared baking paper onto a cool work surface. Add half the tempered chocolate to a piping bag and carefully pipe out drizzles of the chocolate diagonally across all of the baking paper, then diagonally back across, and repeat to create a crisscross nest effect.

• Leave the chocolate until it's semi-set but still pliable, then gently pick up the baking paper and place it chocolate-side down against the buttercream cake.
• Push the chocolate against the cake to ensure it sticks to the buttercream, then slowly peel away the baking paper to reveal the chocolate nest cage.
• Remove the chocolate egg halves from their moulds, then add them to the top of the cake and fill two with small chocolate eggs before serving.

Alix Carey

Food Blogger & Author

@mykitchendrawer

"I'm so thrilled to be working with Thermapen as it has fast become one of my favourite kitchen drawer tools. Most, if not all bakes require or benefit from temperature testing so having the Thermapen to hand is the secret ingredient to perfect creations every time!"