Easter Nest Torte

This is something that I've been wanting to make since I got my Cadbury recipe book.  It just looked so cool and would be a little more challenging than my usual bakes.  I had to wait until Easter rolled around again though, since it is an Easter bake after all.  Then, as I've been back volunteering at Markinch Primary again I thought it would be nice to make it for the teachers there.  

The torte consists of a layer of chocolate cake topped with a layer of chocolate mousse,  surrounded by a collar of dark chocolate and then decorated with chopped milk chocolate and Mini Eggs to look like a nest.  The things I was most nervous about doing were the chocolate collar and the mousse.  I've never used gelatine before and the last time I tried to make a chocolate case, I couldn't remove the paper without them falling apart.  I did learn from my previous failure though and made sure that the chocolate was quite thick all along the length of the paper.  And it worked out perfectly.  I was very pleased.  The mousse also turned out to be no trouble at all.  I've had plenty of practice making custard and gelatine is surprisingly simple to use.  The only problem I had came from the fact that I didn't have a tin the right size and had to use a slightly smaller one.  This meant when I added the mousse, there was slightly too much for the width of the cake and the height of the collar.  But all things considered, that was quite good in terms of all the things that could have gone wrong.

The reaction I got to it was wonderful.  Everyone thought it looked amazing.  The mousse was deliciously creamy and smooth and the cake was very moist and chocolatey.  It did not last that long at all. 

And on a side note, today marks one year since I posted my first recipe on this blog.  Yay!

Recipe - adapted from Simply Cadbury's Chocolate

Cake:

•  75g/3oz self-raising flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 40g/1.5oz cocoa powder
• 125g/4oz unsalted butter
• 125g/4oz caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 4 tbsp orange juice
• 75g/3oz Cadbury's Bournville chocolate

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 and line a 23cm/9inch (or 20cm/8inch  like I used) round cake tin.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder into a large bowl.
3. Add the butter, sugar and eggs and beat together until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
4. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and level it out.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the cake has risen and the top is just firm.
6. Remove from the tin and allow to cool on a wire rack.
7. Once cool, transfer to the plate you intend to serve it on and then drizzle with the orange juice.
8. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water.
9. Meanwhile, use a piece of string or a measuring tape to measure the circumference of the cake.
10. Cut out a strip of greaseproof paper which is 1cm/0.5inches longer than the length you measured and 6cm/2.5inches tall.
11. Coat the strip with the melted chocolate, covering it right up to one short and one long side.  Leave the additional 1cm/0.5inches free of chocolate and along the other long side shape a wavy pattern which is about 1.5cm/0.75inches from the top.
12. Allow to firm up slightly, so that the chocolate has thickened and is no longer runny.
13. Carefully place the strip around the cake, with the wavy shape at the top.  Make sure the base of the strip touches the plate and the two short ends match up.  Press against the cake to make sure there are no gaps between it and the chocolate collar or the filling will escape.
14. Chill in the fridge.

Mousse:

• 2 tsp gelatine
• 2 tbsp cold water
• 3 egg yolks
• 50g/2oz caster sugar
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 300ml/10.5fl.oz milk 
• 200g/7oz Cadbury's Bournville chocolate
• 300ml/10.5fl.oz double or whipping cream

1. Place the water in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatine over it.  Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl beat the egg yolks with the sugar, cornflour and a little of the milk.
3. Heat the remaining milk in a saucepan until it just reaches boiling point.
4. Slowly pour the milk over the egg yolk mixture and whisk together until well combined.
5. Put back into the saucepan and place over a gentle heat, stirring all the time until the mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of the spoon.  Do not allow it to boil or you'll end up with scrambled eggs.
6. Remove the custard from the heat and stir in the gelatine until it dissolves.
7. Break up the chocolate and add it to the custard.  Allow it to melt and then stir until smooth.
8. Turn into a bowl, cover with greaseproof paper and leave to cool until it starts to thicken. 
9. Whip the cream until you get soft peaks.
10. Remove the greaseproof paper from the chocolate mix and then fold the cream into it.
11. Pour the filling ontop of the cake and smooth out.
12. Chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours until it has set.

Decoration: 

• 150g/5oz Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate
• 40g/1.5oz Mini Eggs

1. Use a sharp knife to chop the chocolate into shards.
2. Remove the greaseproof paper carefully from around the cake's chocolate collar.
3. Place the chocolate shards around the edge of the top of the cake.
4. Cover the rest of the top of the cake with a pile of Mini Eggs.
5. Keep chilled until ready to serve.