Easter Egg Nest Cake Recipe (2024)

I made this last weekend and, like one reviewer, ended up with speckled frosting, not acceptable for my Gourmet group dinner. I tried again, remembering something from the M. Bittman book on baking -- before folding to lighten the heavier component with the lighter component. So I folded some whipped cream into the warm melted chocolate before folding in the rest; result = no speckles! Thank you, Mark Bittman! I may become something of a baker after all!

This my go to Easter cake, but it can be an anything cake... just change the eggs to cocoa almonds , chocolate shards or just about any thing. Leave the whipped cream plain and vanilla flavored too, and add sprinkles or edible flowers. Everyone is surprised and delighted by this cake.

The instructions for the topping do not work- you need to chop up the chocolate into small pieces, put them in a bowl. Then bring the cream to a gentle boil, pour over the chocolate and let stand for a minute. Stir until blended, refrigerate ( overnight is best) then whip it up! This way the chocolate melts, the other way it just hardens in streaks when added to the whipped cream.

Line your round pan with parchment paper cut to fit. When cake is out of oven, let it cool for 10 min. Run a sharp knife around rim. When cake is totally cooled, invert onto a round cake board or plate, peel off parchment, and invert again onto another cake board or plate to go right side up. You don't need a spring form pan. I do this with cheesecake too.

For those of you who have no patience (me), melt the chocolate, let it cool for 10 mins, combine with am additional 1/4 cup heavy cream, like fully combine. It will look like deluxe chocolate pudding when you're done. Then fold that mix together with the whip per instructions. No wait. No refrigeration. No hassle. Just nice, smooth, chocolatey whip. So good. Thank you Ms Lawson :)

Frosting terrible! Cake delicious.
Cooled chocolate would not mix with whipped cream.
Made a second batch with my standby recipe for whipped cream frosting. One cup of heavy cream, 3 Tbls unsweetened cocoa and 1/3 cup of sugar. Excellent.

This is the recipe that Nigella developed for The Times back in 2003 for this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/16/dining/at-my-table-easter-lunch-withou... We haven't changed it, but it's possible Nigella made some changes for the version on her website. I think our version probably works best with a milder, sweeter chocolate i.e. 60% or <.

others struggled with the chocolate and whipped cream, but I let the chocolate cool a bit first and it mixed with the cream easily- excellent.

I made this for my husband's birthday and added a splash of bourbon instead of vanilla to the whipped cream. I also used raspberries instead of candy eggs and it was really good! The cake was mousse-like and the raspberries actually helped cut the richness. Definitely a re-make!

Made this for Easter dinner dessert. Everyone loved it. Light yet rich chocolate flavor. I made the cake a day ahead and left it out and in the pan - no problem. I let the melted chocolate cool a bit before adding to the whipped heavy cream. The two mixed beautifully. My finished cake looked exactly like the picture. I will make this again.

Do you think these would work as cupcakes aka many small nests instead of one large?

Made this the day before Easter, refrigerated overnight. It was a hit. Next time I might make the cake ahead, but make the topping and decorate the day of--if you use Cadbury Mini Eggs, as pictured in the recipe photo, they lose all color when refrigerated overnight.I, too, had the "speckled topping" problem, despite following the Bittman tip listed below. But because this is a ~rustic~ cake, the inconsistency in color didn't really matter or make it any less tasty. A keeper.

Wonderful! Luscious chocolate cake topped with chocolate mousse.To avoid problems other people had, take your time and let things cool. Let the melted chocolate cool before stirring it into the batter. Let the other batch of melted chocolate cool before folding it into the whipped cream. Let the cake completely cool before topping it with the whipped cream. This will become my new signature dessert.

I made this for Easter. It was beautiful and delicious! I made the cake a day ahead. Baked at 325 in convection oven. Followed suggestion to add 1/4 cup cream to cooled melted chocolate and THEN add that to the whipped cream. I got the dreaded speckles at first but as I continued to fold, they all blended in so my cake looked just like the photo. Thanks for a great recipe!

I love this cake. Instead of the chocolate ganache topping I spread the top with good quality cherry preserves, a stabilized whipped cream frosting (a little cream cheese whipped with added heavy cream) and shaved dark chocolate. It’s a very good cake. You will want two slices.

I find 72% chocolate works best for this recipe, and I beat my egg whites close to stiff peaks to prevent the cake from completely collapsing in the middle. I find with the topping, the cake is far too sweet, and instead, I do a classic whipped cream (1 cup heavy cream, tablespoon granulated sugar, teaspoon vanilla) and top with raspberries.

I had no problem at all with the topping. Maybe my kitchen was warm and there was not so much of a heat difference between the melted chocolate and the whipped cream. One thing I learned was to let the cake sit out for a while before serving so the topping is light and fluffy. When served right from the refrigerator, the topping is hard and dense. True for the leftovers too.

Added double the amount of butter by accident (two sticks). Dripped out of the springform pan, but some foil on the bottom solved the problem. The cake still tasted great….brownie-like consistency. This is just a VERY chocolatey cake. Duh, I know. But it was too much for my crew. Maybe just plain vanilla whipped cream…

Made the frosting with a store bought dairy-free whipped “cream” to accommodate a lactose intolerant family member. After thawing the frozen whipped cream substitute for a few hours in the fridge, I stirred in a bit of the melted and cooled bittersweet chocolate, then folded into the whipped topping and it mixed beautifully. Not that I’d recommend this over real whipped cream when not catering to dietary restrictions, but end result was still delicious.

Cake and frosting failed pretty horribly, don’t really know what went wrong. The cake rose but then sunk in on itself leaving the top separated. After the frosting failed I just whipped some cream with chocolate and put it in between the separated cake and top and then placed the cake in the freezer like a makeshift ice cream cake. This was a delicious move. Highly recommend. Fudgey and the whipped cream kind of acted like an ice cream. So yummy.

Wonderful! Luscious chocolate cake topped with chocolate mousse.To avoid problems other people had, take your time and let things cool. Let the melted chocolate cool before stirring it into the batter. Let the other batch of melted chocolate cool before folding it into the whipped cream. Let the cake completely cool before topping it with the whipped cream. This will become my new signature dessert.

Melt in your mouth cake!

I made this cake for our Easter dinner. It was excellent, but the one mistake I made was putting the topping on before the cake had cooled. The eggs sunk into the topping. I put the cake in the refrigerator, and it solidified nicely. It was well recieved by our guests and wasn't difficult to make.

In a 10” spring form I pan this only took 25min baking time. For the topping I made a ganache with half the cream and the chocolate. I whipped the other half to soft peaks and folded it in to the cooled ganache and it came out perfectly. So cute and so delicious to bring for Easter dinner to impress my young niece and nephew

Frosting did not work. Tried to lighten it first, didn’t work. Melted it down and re chilled, whipped again, separated. Added more whipped cream, looked nice at a low speed but wouldn’t hold a peak, separated at a higher speed. Gave up and used Jan, frosting recipe, one cup heavy cream, 3tblsp unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/4c sugar, and worked beautifully!

Made cake one day ahead. Be sure to grease the inside of the springform ring for easy release (I didn’t but will do for next time). Next time, I will make whipped cream same day instead of a day ahead. It really stiffened in the fridge overnight. I added a few splashes of cold cream to make it soft and spreadable again. Will also skip the chocolate in the cream and go with it plain whipped cream with vanilla. Too rich even for this crowd of chocoholics!

I, too, am curious about refrigeration after preparing. I decided to refrigerate but will remove about an hour before serving.

Why are we whipping egg whites by hand like it’s 1920, use a mixer.

I had the same experience as many of the bakers here- my chocolate seized in the whipped cream. I had done some research online and could not find another recipe that recommended this method… but because I saw a couple of people were successful here I gave it a shot. I did cool my chocolate first and was careful not to overwhip the cream. But now I have a streaky mess I’ll have to toss.