Lemon and white chocolate cake with Easter nest

We bring you a lemon and white chocolate cake that, with a butter frosting and a beautiful decoration in the form of a white chocolate nest, is a real beauty to bring to the table on Easter Day, or the day you want to make an anniversary cake.

This is an easy cake to make, as it is nothing more than a lemon sponge cake, but beautifully served. The combination of lemon flavour with white chocolate is always a success, and it becomes a very moist and melting bite when you eat it with that soft buttery coating.

I encourage you to prepare this cake for your celebrations, you will see that everyone will fall in love with it. And I think that this recipe also has two great virtues:

• It is an easy mona to make and lighter than traditional stuffed monas.
• It's a great way to get the most out of your shallow saucepan , as it's a great demonstration that your non-stick saucepans are also perfect moulds: they are oven-safe and in fact, due to their construction, they distribute heat wonderfully well throughout the dough, so you can use your shallow saucepan to bake pastries without any fear.

Let's get on with the recipe! Happy celebrations with this lemon cake covered in love.

Le Creuset shallow saucepan with lid

Ingredients

For the cake

• 235 g unsalted butter
• 235 g of sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 lemon, grated and squeezed
• 235 g baking flour
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 4 XL eggs
• 100 g white chocolate, chopped

For the buttercream

• 50 g unsalted butter
• 100 g of lemon cream
• 250 g icing sugar

• 100 g white chocolate
• 50 g vermicelli noodles (Chinese or rice noodles)
• 100 g mini chocolate eggs

To decorate

• White chocolate chips
• Lemon zest

Le Creuset Large Spatula , Le Creuset Spoon Spatula , Le Creuset Ceramic Bowl and Le Creuset Ceramic Mini Cocotte

Elaboration

Prepare the lemon cake base:

1. In your KitchenAid mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.
2. Add the lemon zest and juice and blend again for 30 seconds; the mixture will separate, but this is normal.
3. In a bowl, sift the flour and baking powder. Crack an egg and add it to the lemon and butter mixture, along with a tablespoon of flour. Beat vigorously for about 20 seconds until all the ingredients are incorporated into the mixture. Repeat with the rest of the eggs.
4. Sprinkle in the remaining flour and beat until well combined.
5. Add the chocolate: Use a spoon to slowly add the white chocolate.
6. Using butter or release spray, lightly grease the Le Creuset shallow casserole dish before pouring the pie crust inside.
7. Place the pan in the oven, preheated to 190ºC, and bake for 35 - 40 minutes, until a knife inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. If the cake is browning too much and not cooked through, simply cover it with aluminium foil and return it to the oven for the remaining time.
8. Once baked, remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool completely with the pan placed on a cooling rack.

Prepare the buttercream frosting:

1. To make the buttercream, simply put all the ingredients in a bowl or in the KitchenAid and mix with the balloon attachment or whisk until you obtain a light and fluffy mixture.
2. Store in the refrigerator to set.

To make the edible nest

1. Melt the white chocolate in a bowl in a bain-marie , or do so in short intervals in the microwave.
2. Once melted, break the noodles into pieces of about 10 cm and pour the chocolate over them until they are completely covered.
3. Line the inside of a small bowl with cling film. Spoon the noodles into the bowl, spreading them out well along the sides to create a nest shape, making sure there is a hollow in the centre for the eggs. Place in the fridge to chill.

Note: If you want to make a completely smooth, noodle-free nest, you can blow up a balloon and spread the chocolate all around the bottom, making the part you form out of chocolate into a bowl shape. Let the chocolate cool and when it's cold, pop the balloon, leaving you with a perfect chocolate nest bowl.

Assembling the cake:

1. When the cake is baked and ready to be assembled, spread the lemon buttercream over the top of the cake, smoothing it out with a spatula.
2. Sprinkle the entire edge of the cake with chocolate shavings and lemon zest.
3. Remove the nest from the bowl where you cooled it and remove the cling film. Place the nest in the centre of the cake and finish by placing the mini chocolate eggs inside.

Note: Make sure the cake is completely cool before decorating, or the butter and nest will melt or lose consistency. It will take at least a couple of hours to completely lose heat, so bake the cake a little ahead of time.

Le Creuset shallow saucepan with lid