Easter Chocolate cake with Bunny Ears

DECADENT DARK CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH BUNNY EARS

By Jodie Van Der Velden

Ingredients

Cake

• 300g Callebaut Dark Couverture Fairtrade Callets 54.5% chocolate
• 250g unsalted butter, chopped
• 300g caster sugar
• 6 large free range eggs, room temperature
• 100g plain flour, sieved

Ganache Topping

• 260g Callebaut Dark Couverture Fairtrade Callets 54.5% chocolate
• 100g unsalted butter
• 3 Tbsp thickened cream

Directions

Cake

1. Combine chocolate and butter in large microwave safe bowl, and melt on high heat, stirring every minute until melted (around 3mins) (or melt in bowl over saucepan of simmering water, stirring).
2. With a whisk, into the completely melted chocolate butter mix: add sugar til combined.
3. Add lightly beaten eggs til combined.
4. Fold in flour.
5. Portion cake mix into two 20cm dia round cake tins, greased and lined with baking paper on base.
6. Bake at 160 deg C, until cooked (skewer comes out with some sticky crumbs on it when poked into centre, but is not liquid). This might take around 45mins- one hour or more or less, depending on your oven.
7. Let cool in tin.

Dark Chocolate Ganache topping

1. Heat chocolate, butter and cream together in microwave, or in bowl over simmering saucepan of water, stirring regularly.
2. Let cool, giving a stir every few minutes, until ganache thickens enough to handle. Place some ganache on top of first cake, then place second cake on top, upside down so the base of the second cake becomes the top of the finished cake. Cover in remaining ganache, on top and sides, finishing with pallet knife.

Bunny Ears

1. Cut shaped ears from acetate (overhead projector plastic sheets or similar) Thinly spread tempered chocolate on acetate using pallet knife
2. Shape if desired, by placing ‘ear’ in slightly curved surface to set (like a bowl) and or curling over top of one ear before set and using sticky take to hold down folded section until it is holding its own shape.