Description
Delight in this beautifully decorated Easter Cake featuring soft vanilla layers, a rich and creamy buttercream frosting tinted with a touch of blue, and topped with toasted coconut flakes and pastel-colored speckled Easter eggs. Perfect for festive celebrations, this cake combines classic flavors with eye-catching decoration.
Ingredients
Scale
Cake
- 1 Vanilla Cake, 3 layers (or other 20cm/8″ cake of choice, Note 1)
Buttercream Frosting
- 340g (3 sticks) unsalted butter, 1.25cm / ½” cubes, softened to 18°C/64°F (Note 3)
- 750g (1.5 lb or 6 cups) soft icing sugar / powdered sugar, sifted
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 – 2 drops blue gel food colouring (or 1 – 2 tsp blue food colouring, Note 4)
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder (unsweetened or sweetened, doesn’t matter)
- 3 tbsp boiling water
Toppings
- 2 cups coconut flakes (or shaved coconut)
- 200g (7oz) small Easter eggs (pastel coloured speckled ones, Note 5)
Tools
- Toothbrush (or basting brush)
Instructions
- Level: Trim the top of the cake layers if necessary to create flat, even surfaces for stacking and frosting. This step enhances the appearance and stability of the finished cake.
- Chill: Place the leveled cake layers in the refrigerator until they are thoroughly chilled. Chilling helps prevent crumbs from mixing into the frosting during assembly and makes frosting the cake easier.
- Toast Coconut: Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F (140°C fan). Spread the coconut flakes evenly on a baking tray. Bake for 6 to 10 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes to ensure even toasting. The coconut should turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely.
- Prepare Buttercream: In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter until creamy. Gradually add the sifted icing sugar and continue to beat until smooth and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla extract and blue gel food colouring to achieve a soft pastel blue hue.
- Add Cocoa Mixture: In a smaller bowl, combine the cocoa powder and boiling water, stirring until fully dissolved and smooth. Slowly add this mixture to the buttercream along with the salt, and beat everything together to combine evenly. This gives the frosting a subtle chocolate undertone and balanced flavor.
- Assemble & Decorate: Remove the chilled cake layers from the refrigerator. Spread a layer of buttercream between each cake layer and stack them carefully. Coat the entire cake with a thin crumb coat of buttercream and chill briefly to set. Apply a final thick layer of frosting to the cake, smoothing it out evenly. Using the toothbrush or basting brush, lightly brush some toasted coconut flakes onto the cake sides and top. Finish by decorating the cake with the small pastel Easter eggs placed evenly around and on the top of the cake for a festive look.
Notes
- Note 1: You can use a homemade vanilla sponge cake or a store-bought vanilla cake layered and trimmed to 20cm/8″ diameter.
- Note 3: Softened butter should be at room temperature (around 18°C/64°F) for best buttercream texture.
- Note 4: Gel food coloring provides more vivid color without thinning the frosting; use liquid coloring if gel is unavailable.
- Note 5: Small pastel colored speckled Easter eggs add festive charm; feel free to substitute with mini chocolate eggs or edible Easter decorations.
