speckled egg white chocolate bundt with mini eggs

… thank goodness for the long weekend… not only do I feel like i’ve neglected myself recently but i’ve definitely neglected my dear blog.  My dear, sweet blog who turned five years old this week.  I know I say this every year but I really cannot believe it’s been an astounding five years and i’m still here.  To be honest I feel both a little matronly in my maturity yet also like one of the cool kids on the block… I write a food blog for goodness sake.  On the internet… and i’m actually, for the first time in a long while, looking forward to spending time pottering in the kitchen, making a mess and experimenting with food I like and food i’m not quite sure about.  A time for me to enjoy the kitchen and enjoy the actual food i’m working with.  It’s so easy to forget, as we’re churning out the goods, why we’re here and the actual basic ingredients of good quality food that make us what we are.  Let’s raise a glass to good food this weekend!

speckled egg white chocolate bundt with mini eggs
I think the bundt cake was made for Easter… with its nest-like shape and hollow in the middle for filling with chocolate eggs or other goodies, it couldn’t be more perfect.  The bundt isn’t actually a traditional Easter cake at all but for the sake of dramatic effect let’s say it is… this cake is a very simple, clean and light white chocolate cake with a little bit of lemon zest to lift it away from being overtly sweet.  It’s a breeze to make and is the perfect antidote to too much dark and rich chocolate… but who are we kidding… Lent is over, Spring is here.  Let’s eat as much chocolate as we can.  End of…

for the sponge cake
100g white chocolate – broken into smallish pieces
200g butter – cubed
200g caster sugar
4 large free range eggs
200g self-raising flour
the zest of one large lemon

for the white chocolate ganache speckled egg icing
100ml single cream
200g white chocolate
100g butter
a little blue food colouring gel

grease well your bundt tin – one of those special release sprays should do it and pre-heat your oven to 160C fan

place the butter and white chocolate into a pan and gently warm it through.  It will need regularly stirring but you should be ok if you keep the temperature low.  Once it’s entirely melted, set aside till cool

in a large bowl beat the eggs and the sugar with an electric whisk for at least 3 minutes until it’s light and fluffy, then pour the cooled chocolate and butter into the bowl and beat again for another 30 seconds

fold in the flour and lemon zest until fully combined and the pour the batter into your bundt tin

bake for 20 – 25 mins until it is golden and risen and a skewer inserted comes out clean – set aside to cool on a wire rack for 5 mins then turn out and let it cool completely

to make the white chocolate ganache speckled egg icing simply heat the cream in a pan then take it off the heat and add the chocolate and butter and let it gently melt

add a teeny amount of blue food colouring gel until you get the desired egg shell colour and then set aside to cool until it reaches a thickish consistency for pouring

gently pour over the bundt and let it drip down the side, then place the cake in the fridge or a cool place to allow the ganache to set with a firm coating, then using a little cocoa powder and water to make a thin paste (the consistency of single cream) and a paint brush, tap the brush around the cake to create a speckled effect

fill the hole with eggs and you’re done

I am of course including this cake into my Simply Eggcellent link-up as it’s made with 4 gorgeous free-range eggs and plenty of chocolate… it’s also going off to Karen from Lavender and Lovage and her Tea Time Treats link-up which also has the theme of chocolate.

i’m also entering it into the brilliant AlphaBakes challenge hosted by Ros from The More Than Occasional Baker and Caroline from Caroline Makes as this is a bundt cake and the random letter is B…

eat and of course, enjoy!