Weekend Bake | Skinny Chick Easter Nests

A no-cook Easter Weekend make for the family, to get you in the chocolate spirit. This recipe is adapted from Nigella Lawson's How To Be A Domestic Goddess:

Ingredients (Makes 12):

400g dark and milk chocolate (adapt the ratio of bitter/sweet chocolate to taste)

100g Shredded Wheat (about 4 nests of Shredded Wheat)

2 packs of Milkybar Mini Eggs (enough for about 3 or 4 eggs per nests)

1 tablespoon Golden Syrup

25g unsalted butter

Method:

1) Place 12 muffin, cupcake or fairy cake cases in a muffin tray.

2) Break up 100g of Shredded Wheat in a large bowl.

3) Melt all of the chocolate and butter in a smaller bowl, by placing over a saucepan of boiling water.

4) Stir the melted chocolate and Golden Syrup into the Shredded Wheat until fully combined (NOTE: This needs to be done quickly, before the chocolate is too set to cover the Shredded Wheat fully).

5) Place blobs of the mixture in the muffin cases and decorate with chocolate eggs (I used white chocolate Milkybar eggs) and Easter chicks.

Spring Citrus Sponge | Lemon Cake Recipe

I'm a cake addict. Have been for as long as I can remember. Sometimes the mood takes you and nothing but a dangerously indulgent combination of sugar and fat, in the form of cake, will do. My favourite is usually the toxic 50:50 fat:sugar ratio found in cheesecake. For those who hanker for the citrus in moments of weakness, a light lemon sponge cake is the ticket. Why not try this sponge laced with lemon zest and topped with a sugar/lemon glaze.

Ingredients

4 large eggs, room temperature

8oz sifted flour

8oz caster sugar

8oz unsalted butter, room temperature

Zest of 2 lemons

For the butter icing/topping

Juice of 2 lemons

100g caster sugar

50g icing sugar

100g unsalted butter

Method

1) Preheat your oven to Gas Mark 4, 180oC or 160oC fan, and line 2 large round shallow cake tins with parchment paper.

2) Cream together the caster sugar and butter until combined and fluffy.

3) Beat the eggs together separately and add to the mixture gradually.

4) Fold in the flour and grated lemon zest until the mixture is fully combined.

5) Use a tablespoon to divide the mixture equally between the 2 cake tins and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

6) When ready, take the cakes out of the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.

7) Whilst still warm, spread a mix of half of the lemon juice and all of the sugar over the top half of the cake with a egg or pastry brush.

8) Make the butter icing by combining the other half of the lemon juice, the icing sugar (sifted) and the butter. (Be careful not to add too much lemon juice as it makes the icing runny!)

9) When both halves of the cake are cool assemble the cake by filling the middle with the butter icing and spreading any leftover lemon and sugar glaze over the top.

To see the Mary Berry Lemon drizzle cake recipe that inspired this post:

http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/534232