Easter Egg Cake Food

EASTER EGG CAKE WITH STRAWBERRY FROSTING

Steps:

• Make the cake:
• Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 350°F. Butter and flour cake pans. Mix egg whites, milk, malted milk powder, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Whisk baking powder, salt, and remaining 2 1/4 cups flour in another medium bowl.
• Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat sugar and remaining 3/4 cup butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low. Add milk mixture in 3 additions, alternating with dry ingredients in 2 additions, beginning and ending with milk mixture.
• Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake cakes until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 45-50 minutes. Let cool in pans 5 minutes. Run a sharp knife around edges of cakes and invert on a wire rack. Let cool completely before frosting, at least 3 hours.
• Make the frosting:
• Preheat oven to 300°F. Toss strawberries, salt, 2 Tbsp. sugar, and 2 tsp. water in a small baking dish. Bake until sugar is dissolved and strawberries are bubbling and roasted, 12-15 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes.
• Transfer to a blender and pulse until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl (you should have about 1/2 cup). Whisk in malted milk powder and vanilla until smooth.
• Lightly whisk egg whites and remaining 1 cup sugar in a medium heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water until hot to the touch or a candy thermometer registers 140°F.
• Pour hot egg white mixture into bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until very fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Fit stand mixer with paddle attachment. Reduce mixer speed to medium-low and beat, adding butter 1 cube at a time, until mixture is smooth and glossy. Continue to beat until mixture begins to look light and fluffy.
• Add 1/2 cup strawberry purée and food coloring, if using, and stir to combine.
• Assemble the cake:
• Using a sharp knife, cut chocolate into thin shards, then chill until ready to use.
• Place 1 cake layer on a cake stand or platter. Using an offset spatula, spread 1/2 cup frosting evenly over top. Arrange an even layer of sliced strawberries on top, pressing to adhere. Place remaining cake, domed side down, on top. Spread top and sides with 1 1/2 cups frosting; chill 10 minutes.
• Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake, smoothing evenly. Chill at least 15 minutes or up to overnight to let frosting set.
• Arrange white chocolate shards in a round, nest-like shape on top of cake. Place chocolate eggs in center of nest. Slice and serve.
• Do Ahead
• Cake can be made 3 days ahead; wrap tightly in plastic and chill, or freeze up to 2 weeks.

EASTER EGG CAKES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 250 degrees, with a rack in the center. Generously butter the wells of an egg-cake pan, and dust the wells with flour; tap out any excess. Set pan aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine butter and granulated sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla and lemon zest; beat to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture. Beat until just combined. Spoon batter into each of 6 wells in the cake pan, filling to within 1/2 inch of the rim. (If you are using an egg-cake pan with more than 6 wells, alternate between the filled and empty ones.)
• Bake the egg cakes for 10 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees, and bake until the cakes are golden, 10 to 12 minutes more. Transfer egg-cake pan to a wire rack, and let cool slightly. While the cakes are baking make the first batch of glaze.
• Invert pan, and remove cakes. Using a serrated knife, trim the cakes to resemble eggs sliced in half. (To make trimming easier, place the eggs in resealable plastic bags, and transfer to freezer for 45 minutes.) Using a melon baller, scoop out a 1-inch-diameter hole in each cake. Set a wire rack over a baking sheet. Place the cakes flat-side down on the wire rack. Working quickly, pour the colored butter glaze over 3 cakes, completely coating the outside of the cake. Make second batch of glaze, and glaze remaining 3 cakes. Let glaze set completely, about 1 hour.
• Turn the glazed cakes over, and trim away any excess glaze with a paring knife so glaze is flush with the flat side of cake. Wash and dry wire rack.
• Place cakes glazed-side down on the clean wire rack; generously dust flat side with confectioners' sugar. Fit a pastry bag with a coupler, and fill the bag with lemon curd. (Alternately, the curd can be carefully spooned into the hole.) Fill each hole with lemon curd until it resembles a slightly rounded egg yolk.
• In a large bowl, combine fruit and Grand Marnier, and toss to coat. On each dessert plate, make a nest of fruit, and place a decorated cake in the center. Garnish with mint leaves, and serve.

EASTER EGG CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Spray egg molds (or two 9-inch cake pans) with nonstick spray and lightly coat with 1½ teaspoons flour each (knock off any excess). If using egg molds, place metal stands on rimmed baking sheet and set molds on stands to stabilize.
• In large bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, milk, and almond extract.
• In second large bowl, whisk together baking powder, baking soda, sugar, salt, and remaining 3 cups flour. Add flour mixture to olive oil mixture and whisk to combine. Fold in toasted almonds.
• Divide batter between pans and bake until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 50 to 65 minutes (35 to 40 minutes for 9-inch cakes).
• Let cakes cool in pans 20 minutes, then gently run offset spatula along edge of cakes to loosen and invert onto wire rack to cool completely, about 2 hours.
• Ice and decorate as desired (instructions below).
• Place sugar and water in small saucepan and carefully cook on medium-high. Stir occasionally until it comes to a boil. Attach candy thermometer and continue to boil, without stirring, until syrup reaches 250°F.
• Place egg whites in bowl of stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment and beat on medium speed until frothy. Add salt and cream of tartar and continue to beat on medium until medium-stiff peaks form.
• Increase speed to medium-high and slowly stream hot syrup into egg whites. Increase speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form.
• Place bowl of egg white mixture inside bowl of ice water to cool, draining and adding ice as necessary. (It's important to cool the mixture completely before adding butter so it doesn't melt.)
• Return bowl to mixer and, on medium speed, beat in butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, until frosting is light and creamy, 10 to 12 minutes.
• Place dab of frosting on 12-inch cake stand, and nestle 1 cake half, rounded side down, onto frosting to secure in place.
• Add ¼-inch layer of frosting on top of that cake half and top with other cake half, flat side down, to create egg shape; refrigerate 30 minutes.
• Using offset spatula, frost entire cake.
• Fill pastry bag fitted with #21 star tip with frosting. Hold bag at a 30° to 45° angle with tip along edge of base. Squeeze and let frosting fan out to ¾-inch balloon, then relax pressure while dragging tip back toward you to form tail. Start next shell at base of tail and continue with shell border around entire base.

EASTER EGG CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325°F.
• Combine wafer crumbs and butter; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan.
• Beat cream cheese, sugar, honey, lemon zest and lemon juice in large bowl with mixer until blended. Add 4 eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Pour over crust.
• Bake 55 min. or until center of cheesecake is almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool completely before removing rim.
• Refrigerate cheesecake 4 hrs.
• Beat whipping cream in medium bowl with mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. Add marshmallow creme; beat until stiff peaks form.
• Spoon marshmallow creme mixture over cheesecake to within 1/2 inch of edge, then use back of spoon to make 3-inch-diameter indentation in center to resemble a bird's nest.
• Sprinkle marshmallow creme mixture with coconut; fill center with chocolate eggs just before serving.

EASTER EGG CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Oil a 20cm deep springform cake tin and line with baking parchment. Tip the digestive biscuits into a food bag or the bowl of a food processor and crush or blitz to a fine crumb. Mix with the melted butter, then press into the base of the prepared cake tin and chill for 30 mins.
• Roughly chop half the chocolate mini eggs. Beat the soft cheese with the icing sugar and vanilla until just combined using an electric whisk. Clean the beaters, then beat the double cream to stiff peaks in a separate bowl. Gently fold the whipped cream into the soft cheese mixture along with the chopped chocolate mini eggs. Spoon the cheesecake mixture over the biscuit base, then smooth the surface with a palette knife or spatula. Chill overnight.
• The next day, carefully release the cheesecake from the tin (you may need to run a cutlery knife around the edge to loosen it) and top with the remaining whole chocolate mini eggs to decorate.

EASTER EGG HUNT CAKE

Steps:

• Special Equipment Needed:.
• Gel food coloring (I use Americolor gels in the Electric color line); set of nine round cookie cutters in graduated sizes; piping bags; Ateco piping tips #48 (ideally 2-4 of these) and #199; a silicone egg mold.
• Bake Your Cake:.
• Preheat your oven to 350°C Prepare eight 6-inch-round, 3-inch-deep (6"x3") cake pans by greasing with shortening, placing a baking paper round on the base, greasing again, and flouring. If you only have four that's fine, you can do your baking in two rounds; just divide your recipe listed above in two and make two rounds of batter.
• In a medium-size bowl, combine your egg whites, whole eggs, 1/2 cup of your milk, and vanilla and whisk to combine. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine your cake flour, sugar, optional whole milk powder, baking powder, and salt and mix on low speed for a few minutes until combined.
• Add in your butter and keep mixing to begin moistening your dry ingredients for about 20 seconds. Stream in your remaining 1 1/2 cups milk, half a cup at a time, continuing to beat on the lowest speed. Raise the speed to medium and continue to beat for about 1 minute.
• Scrape your bowl, and then return the batter to low speed. Add your egg mixture in three batches, allowing each to incorporate fully before adding the next. Scrape again and mix briefly.
• Divide your cake batter into four portions, with two portions being slightly larger and two slightly smaller. Color the larger portions light blue and pink, and the smaller portions a deeper blue and yellow. I use Americolor Electric Blue, Electric Pink, and Electric Yellow in small amounts to create soft but vivid pastel colors.
• Split your light blue batter between half of your pans, alternating large spoonfulls of it with spoonfulls of your dark blue batter. Run a toothpick or a skewer through the batter, swirling gently. Repeat with the remaining cake pans using your pink and yellow batter.
• Bake your cakes for roughly 30-35 minutes, but keep an eye on them starting at minute 25. You'll know they're baked through when you press down in the center of each cake and it springs back. You can also insert a cake tester, and it should come out clean with at most a few moist crumbs clinging to it.
• Remove your cakes from the oven and allow to come to room temperature on a rack. Then, I like to wrap them up in plastic and put them in the fridge for at least half an hour, preferably overnight before I remove them from the pans. The cakes should be cold all the way through before attempting to trim them!
• Prepare Your Layers:.
• Level and torte each of the 8 small cakes into ½ inch layers.
• The best way I found to create the embedded egg shape within the cake was to label my round cutters with numbers 1-9 (1 being the largest cutter, 9 the smallest) to keep organized. The shape is created by punching holes in the blue cake and filling the holes by inserting equally sized rounds of pink cake, some of which get a further hole cut in them to create the hollow we're filling with jelly beans. I created the layers of the cake as follows:.
• Layers 1-3: Just regular blue cake layers.
• 4th Layer: Blue cake layer with cutter #7 used to create the pink insert.
• 5th Layer: Blue cake layer with cutter #3 used to create the pink insert, then the pink insert hollowed with cutter #8.
• 6th Layer: Blue cake layer with cutter #1 used to create the pink insert, then the pink insert hollowed with cutter #5.
• 7th Layer: Identical to layer six.
• 8th Layer: Blue cake layer with cutter #1 used to create the pink insert, then the pink insert hollowed with cutter #7.
• 9th Layer: Blue cake layer with cutter #3 used to create the pink insert.
• 10th Layer: Blue cake layer with cutter #5 used to create the pink insert.
• 11th Layer: Blue cake layer with cutter #9 used to create the pink insert.
• 12th Layer: Regular blue cake layer.
• 13th-14th Layer: Blue cake layer hollowed with the #1 cutter.
• Stack Your Cake:.
• Layer your cake in the order listed above, starting with Layers 1-3 to form the base and then working your way through to the 14th. As a rule of thumb, use blue buttercream to cover blue cake between layers, and pink buttercream to cover pink cake. You can be more precise if you use piping bags to lay down your buttercream.
• Once you get to the final layer where the pink has been hollowed out, layer 8, fill the cavity you've created in the cake with jelly beans, pushing them down lightly to make sure you can fit in as many as possible. Continue with your layering until you reach the top.
• Pipe a thin wall of blue buttercream along the inside of the lip of cake you've formed at the very top of the cake with your two hollow blue layers, just to give them a little extra stability. Smooth it out and place your cake in the refrigerator to firm up.
• Ice Your Cake:.
• Once your cake has had 15-20 minutes to chill, trim the caramelization off the sides. Apply a crumb coat of white buttercream and return to the refrigerator to allow it to firm up.
• Fit four pastry bags with couplers and fit two of those with Ateco #48 small basketweave tips (if you have four #48s, go ahead and fix them to all four bags). Fill the bags with pink, white, green, and yellow buttercream.
• Pipe your basketweave around the outside of the cake by creating vertical stripes alternating between pink and yellow all the way around the cake. Use your green and white to create alternating bands of buttercream "woven" into the stripes to create your basketweave look.
• Cap the basketweave with a blue piped rope border using a small open star tip of your choosing-I used an Ateco #199. Refrigerate the cake.
• Make Chocolate Eggs:.
• Melt your candy melts in the microwave, stirring frequently until no lumps of chocolate are left. Using a paintbrush, paint thin strokes of chocolate into your silicon egg mold's egg-shaped cavities, vertically or horizontally, then freeze for at least 5 minutes to allow to firm up. Fill each cavity with a different color of chocolate all the way, or add just a dollop and paint that color in to create a 1/8th inch shell. Freeze again until firm, and if you've created hollow shells, fill these with jelly beans and dollop chocolate over the top to seal the candy inches Freeze until ready to use.
• Finishing Touches:.
• Pop your chocolate eggs out of their molds by pushing firmly from the bottom until they come free.
• Pipe dollops of blue buttercream into the depression at the top of the cake and place 4-5 of your chocolate eggs inside, then sprinkle with more jelly beans to create a fun basket of candy.
• When you're ready to cut the cake, remove your eggs first, then cut straight down halfway through the cake and remove the front half to reveal your hidden candy egg inside!