I am no baker, so I do love me a good easy cake hack.
If you’re not familiar with the term, a cake hack is when you buy a cake readymade and then decorate it yourself – typically, as simply as possible!
I was inspired by the pretty colours of the Cadbury mini Easter eggs, and decided to dye some real eggs to match. It made for quite an eye-catching cake topper, with a minimum of fuss. And that’s my sort of cake decorating.
To make this sweet and simple Easter egg cake, here is what I used.
You will need:
- 3 x readymade white chocolate mud cakes (I got mine from IGA)
- A tub of vanilla frosting – I used Betty Crocker
- Cadbury mini eggsCadbury mini eggs (1 packet would do… but make sure you buy 2 so you can eat the leftovers! Ha!)
- Eggs, hard boiled
- Food colouring
- White vinegar
First, you will need to dye your eggs. I used three mugs for the three different colours.
Pour 1/2 cup boiling water into each mug. Add a teaspoon of vinegar, then a few drops of food colouring to replicate the shade of the Cadbury mini eggs as closely as possible. You’ll need about 10-20 drops per colour.
Dunk the egg in the dye solution and let it sit for about 5 minutes or until you’re happy with the colour saturation. Lift it out with tongs or a slotted spoon, and drain on crumpled wax paper until it’s dried (so the dye doesn’t rub off.)
Next, spread a thick layer of frosting over your first cake, then stack another cake on top. Repeat with the third cake.
Now spread the remaining frosting thickly over the stacked cakes, and swirl it a little with your knife to create a loose, painterly effect.
Finally, decorate the top of the cake with a cluster of dyed Easter eggs and a scattering of Cadbury mini eggs.
If you wanted to create an even closer match between the Cadbury mini eggs and the real eggs, you could always speckle your dyed eggs – perhaps by flicking on a deeper food colouring (undiluted) with a toothbrush.
I didn’t bother with this, as I was happy with how it looked as-is.
My main frustration with Easter egg decorating is that it seems impossible to find white-shelled chicken’s eggs in Australia.
Anyone have tips for me? Why is this? Am I the only crazy lady who goes through at least 10 cartons at the store, looking for the whitest eggs? I’ve even been known to take some out and mix ‘n match the eggs to get the palest possible dozen. They’re still brown, though, whichever way you cut it.
Turns out that brown eggs are difficult to dye a nice clean yellow. But it was near enough to give a similar effect.
All in all, this is a super-simple Easter cake that really punches above its weight!
I love how stacking the cakes creates height and adds so much drama. And the colour-themed eggs makes for such a fun topper.
It’s sweet and simple, and the contrast of those pastel coloured eggs against the white frosting is really so pretty.
Now I feel like cake. And mini-eggs.
Would you try this easy cake hack for your Easter celebrations? Any white-egg sourcing tips for me? Inquiring minds want to know.
Wishing you a blessed Easter, friends!
