We are doubly reminded to manage our weather expectations at
Easter because we got married on the 27th March which was an Easter
Monday. It was a very windy but dry day,
so windy in fact my veil turned into a sail and we had to have the photographs
taken inside the church. Last March, our
anniversary meal comprised of lunch at a smart restaurant and we sipped
cocktails on a sunny, warm terrace (I wore a sleeveless dress!) and this year
(Jade, number 35), I wore boots and it snowed!
We are visiting some friends on Easter Sunday and Jay has a
houseful of folks. She has asked me to
contribute to the larder by making a cake which I am delighted to do because
baking at home has to err on the ‘plain’ side nowadays - otherwise our waistlines overflow our
trousers. And let’s face it, I am not
busy in the garden planting seed potatoes.
I am more likely to cook them for dinner!
So I thought an Easter themed cake is a must so I nipped
down to the village to buy extra eggs and some mini chocolate Easter Eggs to
decorate the top of my cake. Apparently,
there has been a last minute rush to buy mini chocolate eggs. No-one is in the garden and everyone is
baking a cake. Typical!
Anyway, after visiting two more shops I sourced mini eggs and
they could have been golden ones, such was my pleasure at managing to find
some. So in the interests of sharing,
here is my recipe for Easter Chocolate Cake – and mini chocolate eggs are
compulsory!
175 g (6 ozs) caster sugar
175 g (6 ozs) butter, softened in
the microwave for a few seconds
175 g (6 ozs) SR flour with 2 rounded
tablespoonfuls of it removed
3 large eggs
1 ½ tsps baking powder
2 rounded tables cocoa powder
Drop of milk
Method: Put all the ingredients into a mixing bowl
and beat with an electric hand mixer until smooth and light. The mixture should fall of the spoon easily
so if it is a little stiff, add a drop more milk. Divide
the mixture between 2 x 7 inch (18 cm) round cake tins lining with baking
parchment. Bake in a pre-heated oven 180
C, 350 F, Gas mark 4 for 25-30 minutes until springy and slightly shrinking
away from the sides of the tin. Cool the
cakes on a wire rack.
Chocolate Icing: Put 50 g (2 ozs) butter and 2 rounded tablespoons
each of cocoa powder and milk into a saucepan.
Heat gently but don’t let it get too hot. Remove from the heat and stir in 225 g (8
ozs) icing sugar and a few drops of vanilla essence. Beat well and cool slightly, until it is
thick enough to spread without running all over the place. Use the chocolate icing to sandwich the two
cakes together and spread the rest on the top.
Swirl it about and decorate with grated white chocolate, chocolate mini
eggs (!) and an Easter chick or two.
We love rich chocolate cake but it is not everyone’s choice
so I have also made a lemon drizzle loaf which is much lighter and has a zingy,
refreshing taste. I expect Doc will have
a slice of both cakes. Actually, so will
I!
Lemon Drizzle loaf
175 g (6 ozs) caster sugar
175 g (6 ozs) butter, softened in
the microwave for a few seconds
175 g (6 ozs) SR flour
3 large eggs
1 ½ tsps baking powder
Finely grated rind of 3 lemons
Drop of milk
Method: Line a
large 2 lb loaf tin with baking parchment and pre-heat the oven to 170 C, 325
F, Gas mark 3. Put all the ingredients
into a mixing bowl and beat with an electric hand mixer until smooth and
light. The mixture should fall of the
spoon easily so if it is a little stiff, add a drop more milk. Spoon into the loaf tin and bake in the oven
for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle, comes out
clean.
Put 175 g (6 ozs) granulated sugar into a saucepan and add
the juice of the 3 lemons used above.
Boil the syrup for a minute or two and pour over the lemon loaf whilst
it is still hot, in its tin. Leave to
cool for half an hour and then turn out on a wire rack to cool completely. You can just mix the lemon juice with the sugar and pour over the cake. It makes a lovely crunchy topping, however, since the lemon juice is not cooked, the cake
will not keep as long. Though to be
fair, we have never kept a lemon drizzle cake longer than a couple of days
anyway......
Happy Easter!
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| Daffodils rescued from the snow |
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