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5 from 8 votes

Chocolate Easter Nest Cake Recipe

This Easter cake is a decadent and moist chocolate layer cake, frosted with chocolate buttercream, and decorated with toasted shredded coconut and mini Cadbury eggs for a fun Easter nest look. It's much easier to make than you think, and the result is very impressive!
Author Diana
Servings 10 slices
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour

Equipment

  • 2 8" inch cake pans

Ingredients

Chocolate Cake

  • 1 ¾ cups (210 g) all-purpose flour
  • ¾ cup (75 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs 2oz each
  • 1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk or milk
  • ½ cup (120 ml) oil vegetable or canola
  • 2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon espresso powder optional
  • 1 cup (240 ml) boiling water

Chocolate Buttercream

  • ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter softened at room temperature
  • ¾ cups (75 g) cocoa powder
  • 3 cups (360 g) powdered sugar
  • 3 tablespoons (45 ml) milk you might need a little more
  • 1 teaspoon (5 ml) pure vanilla extract

Decorations

  • 80g Cadbury mini eggs
  • 75g shredded coconut

Instructions

Prepare and bake the cake

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C), or 160°C for a fan oven.
  • Prep 2 x 8-inch/20cm cake pans by greasing them with butter and lining them with parchment paper.
  • In a bowl sift the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt), add the sugar, whisk and set aside.
  • In a separate bowl, combine the eggs with the buttermilk or milk, oil, and vanilla extract. Mix well.
  • Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix to just combine (do not overmix, you don't want to work the gluten for a moist cake).
  • Stir in boiling water (mixed with espresso powder, if using) this will thin out the batter.
  • Pour the batter into the cake pans, and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
  • Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool in cake pans for 10 minutes. Gently turn out on a cool rack upside down, and leave them to cool completely.

Chocolate buttercream

  • In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until creamy for 3 minutes.
  • Add the cocoa powder, and beat at medium speed for 2 minutes.
  • Add the powdered sugar slowly, and beat for 2 more minutes at medium speed.
  • Add milk and vanilla extract and beat again for 1 minute.

Toast the coconut

  • You can either use shredded coconut or desiccated coconut to decorate the cake. In a dry pan over medium heat, add the coconut and keep stirring until it toasts (not so evenly). When you're happy with the color, remove the coconut from the pan immediately onto a plate so it doesn't toast further and burn. Alternatively, you can toast the shredded coconut in the oven at 320°F/160°C for 5 minutes.

Frost and decorate

  • Fill the cake with buttercream between the 2 cake layers, and frost it from the outside with a thin layer. This will lock in all of the crumbs and make the cake easier to frost.
  • Place the cake in the fridge for 20 minutes, this will harden the butter in the frosting and give it a solid shape. Frost again with the remaining frosting so the cake is fully covered with buttercream.
  • To decorate the cake, place Cadbury mini eggs in the center of the top of the cake. Then cover with toasted coconut on top and from the sides, pressing very gently for the coconut to stick.

Notes

  • This recipe makes 1200 grams of batter, use this as a guide to evenly divide the batter between 2 or 3 cake pans.
  • Use cake pans instead of springform pans as the batter of this cake is thin and might cause leakage. 
  • Before you start, make sure that your baking powder is active and not past its expiry date. To check, add half a teaspoon of baking powder to a bowl with 2 teaspoons of hot water. If the baking powder bubbles, then it's good to go. If not, then it's dead and you need to get a new one.
  • This cake makes 8 to 10 servings.
  • Storing: You can bake the cake and wrap it in parchment paper followed by plastic wrap and store it at room temperature for up to 2 days. Frosted cakes keep perfectly for 4-5 days covered at room temperature. If it's hot where you are, store it in the fridge but take it out of the fridge 1 hour before serving).
  • Nutrition: a rough estimate is calculated per slice of cake without the frosting or decoration.

Nutrition

Calories: 345kcal
Find it online: https://littlesunnykitchen.com/chocolate-easter-nest-cake/