Cook Time: 32-37 minutes
What you need
For the Sponge
- 300g Odlums plain flour
- 320g white sugar
- 60g cocoa powder, sifted
- 1 tbsp Odlums baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 225g butter, very soft
- 180ml buttermilk, room temp
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tbsp Goodalls vanilla extract
For the Chocolate Fudge Frosting
- 75g 70% dark chocolate, roughly broken
- 75g butter, cubed
- 340g icing sugar
- 80ml milk
- 1 tsp Goodalls vanilla extract
To Decorate
- About 240g mini chocolate Easter eggs
Recipe Steps
- For the cake, pre-heat oven to 170°C / 150°C fan assisted, then grease and line a 23x30cm (9×13 inch) cake tin or oven dish with parchment paper.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl or bowl of your stand mixer.
- Add the remaining sponge ingredients and mix just until the batter is smooth and uniform in colour, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Spoon batter into the prepared dish then spread and smooth the top with a spatula.
- Bake in the pre-heated oven until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. If using a cake tin, between 32-37 minutes. (Thinner roasting dishes or glass may take longer, up to 45 minutes.) Remove from the oven and place on a wire cooling rack and leave to cool completely in the dish before decorating.
- Do not start on the fudge frosting until the sponge is cool, as the frosting needs to be spread while still slightly warm.
- To make the fudge frosting, place all the ingredients into a medium sized saucepan over low heat, stirring until the chocolate and butter has melted.
- Remove from heat and beat with an electric mixer, starting on a low speed then slowly working up to a medium speed, until the fudge frosting starts to cool and thickens to a spreadable consistency that just holds its shape. This can take up to 10 minutes. Tip 1: To speed up the process, you can transfer the hot fudge frosting into another heat proof dish so that you’re not mixing in the hot saucepan and set it on a cold counter. Tip 2: For the consistency, rather have the fudge frosting a little too soft and warm than hard and cooled, as it will cool fast and crust over very quickly when you start to spread it on the cake.
- To decorate your cake, spoon the fudge frosting on top of the cooled sponge, then using the back of a spoon or small spatula, spread it evenly over the top of the cake, then create lovely swirls in the frosting. Tip: If your frosting was still a little too warm, just keep creating swirls as this will help it to cool until you get the pattern you like that holds.
- Immediately decorate with mini chocolate Easter eggs as the frosting will start to crust over.
- Use a sharp knife to cut into 5×4 for 20 portions, or 6×4 for 24 portions.
- Store in an airtight container and room temperature for up to 3 days.
