Peeps Nest Cake for Easter

A springy welcome to Red Couch Recipes!  Peeps and Easter just go together, don't you think?  I made this cake with my favorite chocolate whole wheat cake, but you could buy a chocolate cake and adorn it with a chocolate nest, Peeps, chocolate shavings, and candy chocolate eggs and in minutes you could have a cute dessert to serve for Easter. 

Here's a top view of the cake.

Recipe for Nedra's Whole Wheat Chocolate Cake and Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

1 cup butter

2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

2 -1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup cocoa

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

7/8 cup boiling water

Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan or 2 (8-inch round cake pans). In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar. Then add 2 eggs and beat well. In a medium, and separate, bowl, add the whole wheat flour and cocoa together. In a small bowl, add the buttermilk and vanilla together. Then add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture to the creamed butter and sugar mixture. alternately, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Add to mixture the baking soda. Finally, add the 7/8 cup boiling water all at once and mix thoroughly. Pour immediately into prepared pan(s) and bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes if using a 13 x 9 x 2 pan or 25 to 30 minutes if using the 8-inch round pans. Frost with Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting.

Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting

Blend together 3/4 cup room temperature butter, 4 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 3-4 tablespoons water. You may need to add extr

a water, depending on how thick you want it. You may have extra frosting.

For the chocolate nests, just blow up a balloon and melt some chocolate in the microwave and then spread it on the blown up balloon and invert the balloon on something so that it can dry.  Remember when you are melting chocolate in the microwave, be very careful because chocolate can burn quite easily.  Just melt in 10-15 second segments and then stir inbetween.  For the top of the cake, make sure you don't blow up the balloon too large; you just need a small nest. We just used semi-sweet chocolate chips.

To make the chocolate shavings, just use a vegetable peeler.

Hold the peeler in your hand and make the chocolate into curls.  We used a Hershey chocolate bar.  In the little town we live in, we can't find quality dipping chocolate.  The Hershey's bar worked out fine for small curls. 

Thanks for sitting a bit on my Red Couch where you are always welcome!

Posted with the following:  On the Menu Monday