Chocolate is traditionally eaten at Easter in the form of Easter eggs, cakes and other desserts. Make this chocolate nest to hold your chocolate cream eggs.
Ingredients
5oz (150g) high quality semi sweet (plain) chocolate
3oz (75g) butter
1/2 cup (4oz/95g) fine-grained (castor) sugar
4 large eggs, separated
1/4 cup (1-1/2oz/40g) cake (self raising) flour
Frosting/Icing
4oz (100g) high quality semi sweet (plain) chocolate
1/2 cup (5fl oz/150ml) crème fraiche
1/2 cup (4oz/95g) fine-grained (castor) sugar
3oz (75g) unsalted butter
1tsp vanilla extract
Decoration
4oz (100g) high quality semi sweet (plain) chocolate
tiny easter eggs
Method
1. Preheat oven to 300 deg F (150 deg C). Lightly butter a cake ring mould, diameter 10 inches (25.5cm).
2. Melt the chocolate and butter over barely simmering water (see Techniques).
3. Whisk together the sugar and egg yolks until they are thick and creamy. Strain (sift) the flour then fold into the mixture.
4. Allow the chocolate and butter to cool slightly then stir into the egg yolk mixture.
5. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Carefully fold in one tablespoon of the cake mixture. Fold the remainder of the mixture into the stiff egg whites. Use a metal spoon and make sure it is well mixed without losing too much of the air from the egg whites.
6. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake mould and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. When cooked, turn it out of the mould on a cooling rack, then, when cool, put it on a serving plate.
Frosting (Icing)
7. Put the crème fraiche and sugar into a saucepan and bring to the boil. As soon as it boils, turn it down to a bare simmer and leave it for 6 minutes, stirring as needed.
8. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate, broken into small pieces. Stir the mixture until the chocolate has melted.
9. Add the butter and beat the mixture until the butter has also melted, then add the vanilla extract.
10. Put the pan into a large bowl half filled with ice cubes. Beat the mixture until it thickens, about 5 minutes. Make sure no water gets into the mixture while you are doing this.
11. Now put the frosting on the cake, covering it completely. If you have put it on a serving plate, to keep thing tidy, cut out non stick paper to go around the edge and in the centre to catch drips of frosting.
12. The finished frosting should not be smoothed, rather you should use a fork to give it a knobbly look - it’s supposed to look like a bird’s nest.
13. To decorate it, shave a bar of chocolate, you can do this with a potato peeler or a knife, then sprinkle the shavings all over the top of the cake, they should look like little twigs. Finally, place the little Easter eggs in the centre.
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