Description
Easter Speckled Egg Drip Cake is a festive three-layer vanilla cake with pastel pink, purple, and yellow sponge, filled and frosted with duck egg blue vanilla buttercream, decorated with a chocolate ganache drip, cocoa speckles, and mini eggs.
Ingredients
Scale
- 500 g baking spread, softened
- 500 g caster sugar
- 9 large eggs
- 3 tbsp milk
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- 500 g self-raising flour
- Pink food colouring, as needed for 1 cake layer
- Purple food colouring, as needed for 1 cake layer
- Yellow food colouring, as needed for 1 cake layer
- 550 g unsalted butter, softened
- 1.1 kg icing sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 5 to 6 tbsp milk, or more as needed
- Blue food colouring, as needed for buttercream
- 140 g passion fruit curd, lemon curd, or jam (optional)
- 1/4 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp water, added gradually as needed
- 65 g dark chocolate
- 75 ml double cream
- 16 mini eggs (about 50 g)
- Chocolate strand sprinkles, as needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160C fan / 350F / Gas Mark 4. Grease and line three 8-inch cake tins.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the baking spread and caster sugar together for 3 to 5 minutes until pale and fluffy.
- Add the eggs, 3 tsp vanilla extract, and 3 tbsp milk, then whisk until fully combined.
- Add the self-raising flour and mix until no streaks of flour remain.
- Divide the batter evenly into three bowls. Colour one bowl pink, one purple, and one yellow, keeping the shades pastel.
- Transfer each coloured batter into its own prepared tin. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool completely.
- To make the buttercream, beat the unsalted butter until smooth. Add the icing sugar, 2 tsp vanilla extract, and 5 to 6 tbsp milk, then mix until creamy and spreadable. Tint with blue food colouring to create a pastel duck egg blue shade.
- Level the cooled cakes if needed. Place the first sponge on a cake board or stand, spread with buttercream, pipe a border around the edge, and add half of the optional curd or jam inside the border.
- Add the second sponge and repeat with more buttercream and the remaining curd or jam. Top with the final sponge.
- Apply a thin crumb coat of buttercream over the entire cake and chill for 30 minutes.
- Cover the cake with a second, thicker layer of buttercream and smooth it well. Chill again for 30 minutes.
- Mix the cocoa powder, 1/4 tsp vanilla extract, and enough water to make a thin paint-like liquid. Dip a food-safe paintbrush into the mixture and flick the bristles to splatter speckles all over the chilled cake.
- Make the chocolate ganache by gently melting the dark chocolate with the double cream, stirring until smooth. Let it cool slightly so it thickens a little.
- Transfer the ganache to a piping bag or squeeze bottle and pipe drips around the top edge of the cake. Spread the remaining ganache over the top and chill for 30 minutes to set.
- Pipe swirls of the remaining buttercream around the top edge, then decorate with mini eggs and chocolate strand sprinkles. Slice and serve.
Notes
- Use room temperature eggs, butter, and milk for the smoothest batter and buttercream.
- Weigh ingredients for the most accurate results, especially when making layer cakes.
- Chilling the cake between layers of buttercream helps create a clean finish and better ganache drips.
- Add the water to the cocoa speckle mixture gradually so it does not become too thin.
- Let the ganache cool slightly before piping so the drip does not run too fast down the sides.
- Store the cake in an airtight container in a cool place for 3 to 4 days.
- The sponge layers can be frozen once cooled and wrapped well.
- Lemon curd or jam can be used instead of passion fruit curd for the filling.
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: British
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 1081 kcal
- Sugar: 105 g
- Sodium: 536 mg
- Fat: 60 g
- Saturated Fat: 37 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 21 g
- Trans Fat: 2 g
- Carbohydrates: 130 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 8 g
- Cholesterol: 239 mg