Despite the fact that we’ll have barely recovered from the sugar fest that was our eldest’s 9th birthday at the end of March, I’ll still be making my annual Easter cake. It just wouldn’t be Easter without it, so I thought I'd share it with you in plenty of time...
It’s the same recipe that my mum made for years all through our childhood after hearing it on the radio many years ago. It really is the easiest recipe to follow and great to make with the kids.
The secret ingredient is mayonnaise rather than eggs and butter/margarine... so here goes:
Ingredients
For the cake:
10oz (285g) of self raising flour
8oz (225g) caster sugar
7oz (200g) mayonnaise (full fat is better, but I have done it successfully with low fat too...)
4 tablespoons cocoa powder melted into 8fl oz boiling water
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
For the topping:
2 teaspoons instant coffee (decaf is fine if you don’t want the kids on the roof after one slice)
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
2 tablespoons very hot water
3oz (85g) soft butter or margarine
8oz (225g) icing sugar
Mini eggs to decorate
Method:
Preheat your oven to 170c
Grease and line the bottom of a loose bottomed, deep, 7 inch cake tin.
Now for the tricky bit... Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix gently until a smooth batter is achieved. Told you it was tricky...
Pour/spoon into your tin and pop in the oven. It will take around an hour to cook – I usually check from about 50 mins. Insert a skewer into the centre to make sure it comes out clean before removing from the oven.
Allow the cake to cool slightly before removing it from the tin and allow it to cool completely.
In the meantime, make the icing. Combine the coffee, cocoa and hot water to melt the powder and mix with the softened butter and icing sugar to create the frosting.
Once the cake is completely cool, cover it entirely with the frosting and then top with mini eggs.
It’s so simple, keeps really well (not that it lasts long!) and is a firm Easter favourite in our house.
Enjoy!