Mini Eggs nest cake recipe

This Easter cake is so impressive topped with an edible bird's nest and filled with chocolate eggs.

It's much easier than you'd think to make this Mini Eggs nest cake - and quicker too. The basic recipe is a plain chocolate sponge topped with a rich buttercream icing. It only takes 25 minutes to bake, and you can make the nest while it's in the oven. Leave plenty of time for the chocolate to harden and set in the fridge before you place it on the cake. Before serving, though, let it stand at room temperature for a while, otherwise it might be too hard to cut into portions. For ease of cutting you can remove the whole nest from the cake before you portion it up. Otherwise, use a sharp knife and heat it gently before slicing.

Ingredients

For this Easter recipe you will need:

• 175g butter, softened
• 175g caster sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 175g self-raising flour
• 50g cocoa
• 1-2 tbsp milk

For the buttercream:

• 150g butter, softened
• 225g icing sugar
• 50g cocoa
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp milk

For the nest:

• 150g dark chocolate, chopped
• 1 tbsp golden syrup
• 75g pretzel sticks
• 1 x 90g bag Cadbury’s Mini Eggs
• Small plastic birds, to decorate

Method

1. Heat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/Gas 5. Grease and line 2 x 20cm sandwich tins.
2. Tip the butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, cocoa and milk into a food processor, and whizz until smooth and light. Spoon into the tins and bake for 25 mins until a skewer comes out clean.
3. Meanwhile, to make the icing, beat the butter, icing sugar, cocoa, vanilla and milk until smooth and creamy; set aside.
4. To make the nest, melt the chocolate and golden syrup in a bowl in the microwave. Stir through the pretzel sticks and pour onto a baking tray lined with clingfilm to shape into a nest, and leave to set.
5. Once cooled, cut a 6cm round out of one of the cakes and remove the centre. Spread the other cake with a third of the buttercream and top with the other sponge. Cover the cake with the remaining buttercream and top with the nest. Fill with Mini Eggs and decorate with little birds to serve.

Top tips for making this Mini Eggs nest cake

You can use other materials for the nest if you prefer. Pretzels have a nice saltiness to them that works well with the sweet cake, but if you prefer, use cornflakes or crushed Shredded Wheats, which are a little more mouldable. If you're having trouble getting the nest shape, place the clingfilm in a bowl so you can use the inside of it to mould the outside of the nest.

Mix up the topping by choosing mini Creme Eggs or Galaxy Golden Eggs instead of (or as well as) Mini Eggs.

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