Mini Egg Cake
Ingredients:
Mini Egg Ganache Filling
- 3/4 cup chocolate petite eggs, chopped
- 3 tablespoons dairy-free milk
Milk Chocolate Cake
- 3/4 cup chocolate petite eggs, chopped
- 3 tablespoons dairy-free milk
- 3/4 cup dairy-free chocolate milk, room temperature
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cup cake flour, sifted
- 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 2/3 cup dairy-free salted butter, room temperature
Mini Egg Buttercream
- 2 cups dairy-free salted butter, room temperature
- 6 cups icing sugar
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup chopped chocolate petite eggs
- 1/2 cup sprinkles
Chocolate Ganache Drip
- 1/3 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
- 1 1/2 tablespoon dairy-free milk
Cake Decor
- Chocolate petite eggs
- Pink food colour
Equipment List (Baking)
- 6 inch round cake pan x 4
- Parchment paper
- Stand mixer or electric handheld mixer
- Spatula
- Cutting board
- Kitchen knife
- Small microwave safe bowl
Equipment List (Decorating)
- Piping bags x 3
- Wilton 1M piping tip
- Cake board/plate
- Cake smoother
- Offset spatula
- Cake turntable *optional
Directions:
Mini Egg Ganache Filling
- In a microwave-safe bowl, heat the chocolate petite eggs and milk in 30-second intervals until fully melted and smooth. Stir between each interval.
- Allow the ganache to fully cool to room temperature and thicken before filling the cake.
Milk Chocolate Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F degrees and prepare four 6-inch round cake pans with non-stick baking spray and parchment paper.
- In a small mixing bowl gently whisk together the chocolate milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla extract. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer and with the flat beater attachment, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and give it a quick mix together for approximately 1 minute.
- Add in the butter, in small pieces, to the dry ingredients and mix on low until it looks like coarse sand.
- Slowly pour in approximately half the liquid mixture from step 2 and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Pour in the remaining liquid mixture and mix on medium for another 2 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl after the first 30 seconds of mixing and again when done.
- Divide the cake batter into the four prepared cake pans and bake for approximately 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The edges will be a golden brown and should pull away slightly from the cake pans.
- Allow the cake layers to cool for 10 minutes and then invert them on a cooling rack to fully cool.
Mini Egg Buttercream
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment cream the butter on high speed until light and fluffy. Approximately 10 minutes.
- Add the icing sugar, vanilla extract, and salt and mix on low until combined.
- Turn the mixer up to high and let mix for 5 minutes until smooth and creamy. Scrape the sides of the bowl when necessary.
- Remove approximately half of the prepared vanilla buttercream from the mixing bowl and set aside. This will be used for the inside of the cake and pink swirls on top of the cake.
- To the remaining buttercream add the chopped chocolate petite eggs and sprinkles and mix on low until combined. This will be used for the final coat on the cake.
Chocolate Ganache Drip
- In a microwave-safe bowl heat the chocolate chips and milk in 30-second intervals until fully melted and smooth. Stir between each interval.
- Depending on the kind of milk, the drip may require a touch more milk to thin or a bit more chocolate chips to thicken. *I always test my chocolate drips on the edge of the sink or glass to check the consistency before apply to the cake.
Cake Assembly
- Place one levelled layer of milk chocolate cake on a cake board or plate. Top with approximately 1 cup of plain vanilla buttercream.
- Pipe a vanilla buttercream border around the edge and fill with approximately 1/3 of the mini egg ganache filling.
- Repeat with the remaining layers and apply a thin coat of vanilla buttercream all over the cake. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. *if at any point the cake starts to feel unstable, stop what you are doing and place in the fridge or freezer for a quick chill.
- Cover the cake with a layer of mini egg buttercream and very roughly smooth the sides using a cake smoother. Refrigerate while the chocolate ganache drip is prepared. *the mini egg buttercream will never be fully smooth due to the nature of the chocolate petite eggs and sprinkles in it.
- On a well-chilled cake, with a spoon or a piping bag, drip the warm chocolate ganache over the edges of the cake and put it back in the refrigerator to chill.
- Decorate as you please. I coloured the leftover vanilla buttercream pink and piped some simple swirls with a Wilton 1M tip around the top border and placed chocolate petite eggs around the top edge border. Enjoy!
- Store leftover cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Notes:
The mini egg ganache filling can be made a day or two in advance. Simply store it in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use.
Thanks to @cakedbykatie