Now this is a centrepiece chocolate cake. With a lightly sweetened brown sugar mascarpone filling, covered in a smooth salted dark chocolate ganache, decorated with a spun sugar nest filled with eggs of your choice. Best of all, you can get the kids to help decorate too.
INGREDIENTS
- Chocolate cake:
- 150g Westgold butter
- 150m dark chocolate 50%, chopped
- 2 ¼ cups caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
- 2 ¼ cups milk
- 2 cups flour
- 2 ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup cocoa
FILLING
- 400g mascarpone
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 25g dark chocolate, chopped
- 2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
CARAMEL SAUCE
- ¾ cup caster sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 1/3 cup cream, warmed
- 2 Tablespoon butter
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt flakes
GANACHE
- 250g 70% dark chocolate, chopped
- 175ml cream
- a few extra cubes of butter (10-20g) to add glossiness
TOFFEE NEST
- ¾ cup caster sugar
- 1/3 cup water
- ¼ teaspoon vegetable oil to grease bowl
- selection of colourful easter eggs
METHOD
TO MAKE THE CAKE
Preheat the oven to 165 deg C. Put eggs, sugar and vanilla in a food processor and whizz until well mixed. Add all the other ingredients and pulse gently until mixed, being careful not to overmix.
Pour mixture into 2 x 20cm paper lined cake tins. Bake for 40-45 mins. Test with a skewer to make sure it is cooked in the centre (the skewer should come out fairly clean). Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
FOR THE FILLING
Put all ingredients into a bowl and whisk together until smooth. Refrigerate until needed.
FOR THE GANACHE
Heat the cream in saucepan until almost at boiling point (as soon as you see any signs of bubbles). Turn off the heat. Pour in the chopped chocolate and leave to melt for a few minutes. Stir until smooth. Add the extra cubes of butter and stir through while the mixture is still warm. Leave to cool until the right consistency to pour over the cake, it should be slightly thick.
FOR THE CARAMEL SAUCE
In a heavy based saucepan, put sugar and water. Put on a high heat and swirl the pot until sugar starts to melt. Boil until the sugar turns to a rich caramel colour. Remove from the heat and carefully add the cream a little at a time, stirring with a whisk. It will bubble up so be careful. Whisk in the butter and salt. Leave to cool.
FOR THE TOFFEE NEST
In a heavy based saucepan, put sugar and water. Put on a high heat and swirl the pot until the sugar starts to melt. Boil until the sugar turns to a light caramel colour. Take off the heat and sit the bottom of the pot into a bowl of cold water for a few seconds to halt the cooking process. Leave to cool for a few minutes until the consistency is like runny honey. Choose a porcelain or metal bowl for your nest mould, about 12cm size. Grease the outside with vegetable oil to stop the toffee from sticking. Dip a spoon into the toffee and dribble the toffee over your bowl mould, around and around in a thin stream, building up the layers over and over until it will hold together. (You can watch our video on Facebook to see how we did it). If the toffee starts to get too thick, heat it up again. Tap the toffee gently with your finger to ensure its set (should be hard) and very, very carefully remove the nest from the bowl mould and store in an airtight container until needed, preferably with some moisture. absorbing sachets. These nests start to dissolve after a short time (depending on the moisture in the air) so add to the cake just before serving.
Note: any spare toffee can be poured onto greased baking paper and used for praline.
TO ASSEMBLE CAKE
Spread the mascarpone filling onto 1 of the cakes. Drizzle over the caramel sauce, you can pool dollops around the edge of the cake to get the dome of the caramel sauce dripping down the sides. Place the other cake on top. Spread over the ganache and let it dribble over the edge. We find it easiest to spread the ganache starting from the centre, then smoothing end evening out to the edges. Place the toffee nest on the top and fill with easter eggs. Serve.