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Loaf cakes are one of my favourite bakes as they are so easy to put together and relatively hassle free. For Easter, I've created this Mini Egg Chocolate Loaf Cake. It's a chocolate sponge and I've decorated it with a pastel coloured vanilla buttercream to match the colours of the Mini Eggs on top. The pretty pastel colours of Mini Eggs are so iconic, and they just scream spring time! I've used light brown sugar to make the chocolate cake extra rich and tasty, plus I added a little bit of coffee to increase the chocolatey richness. Don't worry, it doesn't add a coffee flavour, it just enhances the chocolate. Of course you don't have to add it if you don't want to! The method of piping the pastel colours together is easy to do too, scroll down to see the step by step photos and explanation.

Ingredient Tips & Equipment Information

Make sure all your ingredients (particularly the butter and eggs) are at room temperature before you start baking.
For the best flavour, make sure to use a good quality vanilla extract and not an essence.
You can use caster sugar instead of light brown soft sugar if you can't get hold of it.
I used a baking spread for the cake and unsalted butter for the buttercream.
The coffee intensifies the chocolate flavour - it will not make the loaf taste of coffee. If you want to leave it out, replace the coffee and the boiling water with 1 tbsp milk instead.
You will need to use a professional grade food colouring to get the same colour strength that you can see in my photos. Brands I recommend are Pro Gel and Sugarflair. Colour Mill and Americolor are also good quality brands.
You will need a 2lb loaf tin for this recipe (you can test the size of your loaf tin by seeing how much water the tin can hold, 2lb will hold about 2 pints/1100ml of water). If you have a 1lb loaf tin, simply halve the ingredient amounts.
For easy lining of the tin, use a loaf cake tin liner*.
Although I provide cup measurements, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients out using digital kitchen scales*. It is the most accurate way to measure ingredients and will ensure the best results. Digital scales are very low cost and can be purchased for around £12 ($16.50) .
For teaspoon (tsp) and tablespoon (tbsp) measurements, please use measuring spoons* and not the type of spoons you eat with. Again this will ensure accuracy and provide the best results.

For the full recipe with measurements, head to the recipe card at the end of this post.

How to make Mini Egg Chocolate Loaf Cake

To make the sponge, mix together light brown sugar and butter, then whisk in eggs and coffee. Next add self raising flour, cocoa powder and baking powder, and mix in gently.

Pour the batter into a loaf tin and bake it for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Make the buttercream by mixing icing sugar, softened butter, vanilla extract and milk together. Split it into three bowls and colour one with pink food colouring, another with purple and the third with yellow. Only use enough food colouring to get light pastel shades.

Spread the three different coloured buttercreams out onto some cling film. Then wrap the cling film up to create a sausage shape, snip off one end with scissors and then feed the buttercream "sausage" into a piping bag fitted with your chosen nozzle. Watch the recipe video if you're not sure how to do this. Pipe the buttercream on top of the cake and add the Mini Eggs to decorate.

How should this cake be stored and can it be frozen?

The cake will keep in an airtight container for 3 days in a cool place. You can freeze the sponge either alone, or decorated. Once the sponge is fully cool, wrap well with cling film or put it in an airtight container. You can freeze the buttercream on it’s own in a tub, or you can decorate the cake and freeze it fully assembled. To do this and avoid damage to the decoration, freeze it either in an airtight container. Or let it freeze solid on a cake board or plate, then wrap in cling film. Remove the cling film when you take it out to defrost it, if you don’t it could damage the decoration as it defrosts and softens. You can also freeze slices of the cake, again well wrapped in cling film or in airtight containers.

What is the best food colouring to use for the buttercream?

I recommend using a professional grade gel food colouring for the best results. You can buy these easily from many online shops, including Amazon. I used the brands Sugarflair and Pro Gel regularly, other good quality brands include Americolour and Sugarflair.

What size tin do you need for this recipe?

You will need a 2lb loaf tin for this recipe (you can test the size of your loaf tin by seeing how much water the tin can hold, 2lb will hold about 2 pints/1100mls of water).

Can you make this loaf cake with plain/all purpose flour?

Self raising flour, which is very commonly used in the UK where I am based, already contains a raising agent and a little salt too. Therefore if you want to swap it for plain or all purpose flour, you will need to add some additional baking powder and also a little salt if you like. Some people like to add salt to cake recipes and some don't, so I'll leave that up to you as it won't affect the bake. The general advice is to add 2 teaspoons baking powder (a measuring teaspoon, not the kind you stir your coffee with) per every 200g plain or all purpose flour. Please note, I have not tested this recipe using plain or all purpose flour.

Can this loaf cake be made gluten or dairy free?

Yes! For gluten free you can replace the self raising flour with a gluten free self raising flour blend. If you only have a gluten free plain flour blend, you will need to add baking powder. The general advice is to add 2 tsp baking powder per 200g flour. You may also like to add ¼ tsp Xanthan Gum to the cake for better texture. For a dairy free version, use a dairy free baking spread for the cake and the buttercream, and a dairy free milk for the buttercream. You will also need to use dairy free mini eggs, Doisy & Dam, Moo Free and Buttermilk all sell dairy free chocolate eggs.

More tips for making the Mini Egg Chocolate Loaf Cake:

You can spread the buttercream onto the loaf cake with a spoon if you don't want to pipe it, just add blobs of each colour alternately then gently swirl together.
You can decorate the cake with other Easter treats if you prefer!
If you don't want to decorate the cake with buttercream, I recommend drizzling some melted chocolate all over it!

Troubleshooting

If you have any questions about this recipe, or if something went wrong and you need help, please use the comment form below and I will get back to you. You can also get in touch with me on my Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. I'd love to hear from you!

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