Easter Cake : Easy vanilla cake with two ingredients chocolate frosting
Today I thought I'd share the cake I made for Easter last year : a vanilla cake with a two ingredients chocolate frosting. Yes, you read that right, two ingredients chocolate frosting, that can even be made in the microwave !
I decorated the cake using pastel mini confetti sprinkles (similar
here), gold pearl sprinkles (Mine were "Soft Gold Pearls" from Dr Oetker, but it looks like they've been replaced by
Chocolate Gold Pearls), mini meringue candy (or "Petit Jésus" here in France, usually found in stores around Easter and Christmas. They're often shaped like, well, baby Jesus. See
here ; do you have those where you live ?) and chick and eggs picks (I didn't find anything similar, as mine were originally decorating a plant and I just re-used them. I did include pastel bunny face
picks in my
Easter Party Moodboard.)
The cake is almost a génoise. A génoise only requires flour, sugar and eggs to make, but the ones I bake always end up tasting like eggs. One day I was looking for a baking powder free cake recipe and found
this one. I tried it even though the ingredients are almost the same as a génoise, hoped it wouldn't taste like an omelet, and it didn't ! This recipe is now the one I use for every birthday cake I bake. It's the perfect base for any kind of frosting, the cake is light and soft, you can add any flavoring you want, or none at all and it still tastes great !
As for the frosting... well, it's the most simple frosting ever. No need to cook egg whites or soften butter. Just two ingredients, a microwave (or bain-marie if you're feeling fancy), a handmixer, and voilà ! Frosting !
FOR THE BAKING POWDER FREE CAKE :
Ingredients :
5 eggs
220g of sugar
150g of flour
100mL of milk
1 tsp of vanilla extract (optional)
Instructions :
Preheat the oven.
Separate the egg whites for the yolks. Beat the egg whites until firm, set aside.
Beat the yolks with the sugar, until the mixture has whitened in color.
Mix in the flour, then add in the milk and vanilla extract.
Gently fold in the egg whites.
Transfer the batter to the cake pans, and bake for 50 minutes to an hour (180°C/350°F), until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool before frosting.
FOR THE 2 INGREDIENTS CHOCOLATE FROSTING :
Ingredients :
250g of unsalted butter
250g of dark chocolate
Instructions:
Cut up the butter and break the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl.
Microwave for 1 minute, whisk, and microwave again for 30 seconds. Repeat until the butter and chocolate are completely melted and whisk to combine.
Set aside and let cool completely.
Once the frosting has cooled, beat on medium speed using a hand or stand mixer. The frosting will lighten in color and fluff up.
Keep in the fridge until ready to use (Beating again on low speed if the frosting isn't soft enough to spread.)
ASSEMBLY :
Put the first cake layer on the cake board or serving plate.
Spread a little frosting on top of the cake and put the second cake on top of the frosting.
Spread a thin coat of frosting all around the cake, and allow to set in the fridge for about 15 minutes.
Once the crumb coat has set, spread the remaining frosting all around the cake.