A three-layer Mini Egg drip cake with chocolate sponges, Mini Egg themed buttercream frosting, a chocolate drip and Mini Eggs! Heaven in every Easter bite!
Preheat your oven to 180ºC/160ºC Fan and line three 20cm/8" tins with parchment paper!
Beat your butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add in your eggs, flour, cocoa powder and vanilla and beat again until smooth!
Split evenly between your tins and bake for 30 minutes - check after 25 minutes, as they can take up to 35 minutes!
Once baked, leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, and then on a wire rack to cool fully.
For the Buttercream
Make sure your butter is at room temp.
Beat your butter on its own for several minutes until it's really smooth and supple.
Add in the icing sugar a bit at a time, beating fully each time!
One the sugar is in, add in your vanilla and beat again.
IF your buttercream is very stiff and you have been beating for a while, add in 1-3tbsp of boiling water, to smooth it. Add one spoonful at a time, and beat very well before adding another so you don't add too much.
Reserve 200g of buttercream for your crumb coat.
Split the rest between three bowls - about 430g each. Colour one purple, and one pink, and leave the third as it is.
Get your first cake onto your cake board, and stick down with a little buttercream.
Spread over a couple tablespoons of purple buttercream and smooth over. Add on the second cake and repeat with the pink buttercream. Add on the third sponge.
Using your crumb coat, smooth it around the edges to fill in any gaps of the buttercream and to keep all the crumbs in! I use a small offset spatula and a cake scraper. Put in the fridge till firm - about 30 minutes.
Using piping bags, or whatever you fancy, pipe circles of purple buttercream frosting around the first layer, then pink around the second layer, and then finally the yellow for the third layer and the top.
Using a cake scraper, smooth the cake around to create a flat and smooth ombre buttercream. Once smooth, put in the fridge till firm - about 30 minutes
For the Ganache
Add your chocolates and cream to a microwave proof jug/bowl, and heat for 30 seconds. Stir well, and microwave on 10 second bursts till the ganache is smooth, stiring each time.
Add your ganache to a piping bag, and take the cake out of the fridge.
Snip a small amount off the end of the piping bag and pipe drips down the side of the cake, and then fill in the top and spread it over. Put in the fridge - about 30 minutes
For the Decoration
Pipe any leftover buttercream on top, I used my 2d closed star piping tip, and then decorate with Mini Eggs! I used some whole for on top of the buttercream, then filled in the middle with some whole, and some chopped.
This cake is large, which is why there are so many ingredients! If you want to make a two layer version, follow the same method but use...
For the cake - 250g butter and sugar, 200g flour, 50g cocoa powder, 5 medium eggs, 1tsp vanilla - split between two 8" tins.
For the buttercream - 325g of butter, 650g of icing sugar, 1tsp of vanilla.
The decoration is completely optional, but this is the way I have done it!
I use milk and dark chocolate for my ganache so you don't struggle with the dark chocolate ones being too thick. Feel free to swap to just dark, but if you use just milk you will need to use less cream. 2:1 ratio.
This will last at room temp for 3-4 days.
If you prefer to keep it in the fridge, it may dry out, especially if it's been cut into.