Easter Egg Nest Cake

By Nigella Lawson

Easter Egg Nest Cake
Jim Wilson/The New York Times
Total Time
1 hour
Rating
4(1,053)
Comments
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It is, I hope, the acceptable face of culinary cute: a chocolaty flourless cake that falls on cooling. The sides crack, forming the outside of the nest, and into the cake's sunken cavity you spread a soft, voluptuous mixture of whipped cream and melted chocolate. And on top of this you drop small, sugar-coated candy Easter eggs.

It's ease itself — especially as you can make the cake the day before, and given that the cracks and crevices are part of its charm, you don't need to be filled with perfectionist angst. And if not complying with the traditions of this holiday, you can fill the crater instead with cream whipped with a teaspoon of vanilla, and dust the top, cappuccino-style, with some cocoa pushed through a strainer.

I've used both bittersweet and semisweet chocolate in this cake. Either way it works, either way it seduces. It has the denseness of a chocolate cake, but the lightness of a mousse. Even those who customarily push dessert away, smugly claiming not to eat sweets, will be coming back for second helpings.

Featured in: AT MY TABLE; Easter Lunch Without a Scramble

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Ingredients

Yield:8 servings

    For the Cake

    • 8tablespoons/114 grams (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, softened
    • 8ounces/226 grams chocolate, melted
    • 6large eggs: 2 whole; 4 separated
    • ½cup/113 grams plus ⅓ cup/75 grams superfine sugar
    • 1teaspoon vanilla extract

    For the Topping

    • 1cup/240 milliliters heavy cream
    • 1teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 4ounces/113 grams chocolate, melted and cooled
    • Approximately 1 cup small candy eggs like robin's eggs
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

600 calories; 42 grams fat; 24 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 13 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 52 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 48 grams sugars; 11 grams protein; 111 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform cake pan with parchment paper.

  2. Step 2

    For the cake: Stir butter into chocolate, reheating mixture to incorporate butter if needed, and let cool. In a medium bowl, whisk 4 egg whites until foamy. Gradually add ½ cup sugar and whisk until whites hold their shape but are not too stiff. Reserve.

  3. Step 3

    In a large bowl, whisk 2 whole eggs and 4 egg yolks with ⅓ cup of sugar and vanilla until combined. Stir in chocolate to mix.

  4. Step 4

    In three additions, fold whites into chocolate mixture. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cake rises, cracks and center is no longer wobbly.

  5. Step 5

    Cool cake on a wire rack; middle will sink and the sides will crack. Carefully remove cake from pan and place it on serving plate.

  6. Step 6

    For icing, whip cream with vanilla until it is firm but not stiff. Fold in melted chocolate. Fill top of cake with icing, easing it out gently toward edges. Arrange Easter eggs on top.

Ratings

4 out of 5
1,053 user ratings
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Comments

Beetleinthekitchen

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!

Lb

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 :)

holly

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.

Cooking neuroscientist

Big hit with the guests. The only issue is getting the frosting right, and the other comments provide the correct advice. Would be good to update the recipe accordingly

Susan R

Made this cake as a combination Easter and birthday cake. It was fantastic. I used a combination of Guitard chocolates-bittersweet for the cake and semisweet for the whipped cream icing. Used 1/4 cup of whipped cream heated to melt with the icing chocolate, as was suggested by others. Helped a lot in adding the chocolate to the whipping cream. Thought the instructions were a bit confusing, and had to read them 3-4 times before understanding what I should do in each step. I’m usually not so thick but this recipe on first read, seemed a bit vague. Make this cake! It doesn’t disappoint!

Jan

I love Nigella’s breezy approach to cooking and baking, and this cake is no different. I found it easy to make with a parchment paper circle on the bottom of a regular cake pan and a liner of trimmed parchment around the circumference. I made regular old whipped cream with two TBS of bourbon thrown in and chocolate shavings on top. Lovely Easter or anytime dessert.

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