Serves: 10 – 12

Time:  1 ¼ hours plus cooling

INGREDIENTS

For the cake:

• 220g Salted Butter – softened, or soft margarine
• 220g Caster sugar
• large orange – zest only
• 1 lemon – zest only
• 1 tsp Almond extract (use vanilla if you prefer)
• 4 Medium eggs – lightly whisked
• 250g Self raising flour

For the frosting:

• 150g Softened butter or margarine
• 300g Icing sugar
• 25g Cocoa powder – sifted
• 1-2tbs Double cream or milk
• 80g Bag of mini eggs
• Sprinkles

9 “ (23 cm) Loose bottomed cake tin plus a clean and empty baked bean tin (or any tin)

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 160C Fan (180C conventional)
2. Grease and line the cake tin, grease the baked bean tin and wrap with baking paper, place in the middle of the cake tin and weigh down with baking beans or rice.  This forms a ring tin.
3. In a large bowl place the softened butter, caster sugar, orange and lemon zest and almond extract, cream together to combine, no need to whip it for ages just until no bits of butter show.
4. Add the eggs and flour and beat for a minute.
5. Put mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 30-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted near the centre comes out clean.
6. When baked place on a cooling rack to cool, remove baked bean tin but leave the parchment, the tin should come out easily.
7. While the cake is cooling beat together all the frosting ingredients until smooth, if the mixture is too thick add a splash more cream, if too soft add some more cocoa.
8. When the cake is completely cold, place on a plate and cover with frosting and decorate with mini eggs and sprinkles.

NOTE

• If you have large eggs then increase the butter and sugar to 250g and the flour to 275g, the tin will take it but it will need a little extra time in the oven.
• If you want to make a sandwich cake then this recipe will make two 8” sponges and will take approx. 20 – 25 minutes to bake.
• If you want to be really indulgent cover in chocolate ganache, warm 200ml double cream and pour over 200g dark chocolate, leave for a couple of minutes to soften then stir until smooth.

Jane Beedle – Easter Inspired Chocolate Cake Transcript 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MRajEIDBIU&feature=youtu.be 

[Jane is stood in a kitchen with a chocolate cake placed in front of her] 

Jane Beedle: Hi guys, I’m Jane Beedle from the Great British Bake Off. I’m so sorry I can’t be with you at Bishop Auckland Food Festival this year, but I hope you’re all keeping safe and hopefully I’ll be back up there with you next year. 

I wanted to share with you a recipe for a really easy and delicious cake. 

[Camera pans down to the cake in front of Jane]

[Jane points to an Easter decorated chocolate cake]

[Janes pointing to a chocolate ring cake decorated with Easter egg nests] 

This is decorated for Easter, as you can see I’ve done it in a, well I haven’t done it in a ring tin but I’ll share my tip with you but it looks really pretty I think. But of course, you can decorate it for any time of year and you don’t have to use Easter eggs. 

The recipe will be on the website so don’t worry about taking any notes but I wanted to share with you my hack for making a ring tin if you don’t have one and you don’t want to go out and buy one just for a cake like this. 

[Jane picks up and displays the cake tin she will use] 

So, I’ve got an ordinary cake tin right here which I’ve baselined, it’s a spring lock one but doesn’t need to be. 

[Jane is holding an empty tin can]

Its baselined and lined around the sides and I’ve got here an old, I think it was a tomato tin but could be a baked beans tin. Any tin you’ve got, I use it quite a lot for this sort of thing. Well washed and empty. You mustn’t have it full of whatever it’s got in it. 

[Jane then wraps the can in parchment paper and places it in the middle of the cake tin] 

I’ve greased it and I’m just going to wrap it in some baking parchment and I’m going to place it in the middle. 

[Jane fills the small tin with baking beans]

Now that could move as it is so either weigh it done with some baking beans or some dried lentils or some rice or something like that. Centre it up as best you can and then fill it as normal. 

This cake for a 4 egg, 220 grams worth of butter recipe will take about 40 minutes in the oven. But you could use it for any recipe that you like, absolutely perfect. Bakes brilliantly in the middle. 

So give it a go, have some fun decorating it with the kids whilst you’re all in lockdown and hope I’ll see you next year at Bishop Auckland. 

Take care and stay safe. Bye bye