Delicious Easter cake recipes to make at home

Easter is on the horizon, and it’d be a crying shame not to get busy in the kitchen and whip up an Easter cake or two.

We’ve put together some of our favourite Easter cake ideas, ranging from the very easy to the rather tricky, making it a perfect opportunity for bakers of all levels to get involved.

Image source: Olive Magazine

Cadbury Crème Eggs are usually only available to buy between January and April, making them a very welcome sight when they reappear on supermarket shelves.

Get your fill of these delicious chocolates with their white and yellow fondant centres while you have the chance by baking up some delectable Crème Egg cupcakes.

• 100g golden caster sugar
• 75g soft light brown sugar
• 175g unsalted butter, soft
• 3 eggs
• 125g self-raising flour
• 50g cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 50g soured cream
• A pinch of salt

• 200g unsalted butter, soft
• 400g icing sugar
• yellow food colouring
• 6 crème eggs, cut in half

• Heat your oven to 180°C if it’s fan-assisted, or 160°C for gas ovens.
• While the oven is warming up, take a bun tray and line it with 12 paper cases.
• Put the butter and two types of sugar into a bowl and use an electric whisk to turn them into a fluffy mixture.
• Add the eggs to the mixture individually, beating them thoroughly between each one.
• Sieve the flour and cocoa into the bowl and add just a pinch of salt. Fold everything in until the mixture is fully combined, then stir in the soured cream and vanilla extract.
• Place a dollop of the mixture into each bun case and pop in the oven for 20-25 minutes. The buns should be well risen and have a bounciness when gently pressed.
• When they’re ready, remove the buns from the tray and place them on a cooling rack until they’ve reached room temperature.

• Beat together the butter and icing sugar until it becomes a white, light and fluffy mixture.
• Divide the icing between two bowls, adding the yellow food colouring to one bowl so that it becomes the shade of a golden egg yolk.
• Fit a star nozzle to a piping bag, then lay the bag flat against a kitchen countertop.
• Spoon some white icing into the bag and then add some yellow icing beside it. The trick here is to line both icings up so that they can be squeezed out of the piping bag at the same time.
• Lift up the piping bag and squeeze it carefully – both types of icing should come out evenly, allowing you to pipe two-coloured swirls over the cupcakes.
• Gently push a halved Crème Egg into the centre of each of the cupcakes.

Now it’s time to serve these delicious cupcakes to your friends and family. You can also keep them in a cupcake carrier for up to three days, making it an Easter-themed cake that will last the full holiday (if you can resist temptation!).

Image source: Olive Magazine

The iced bun is a British bakery favourite and surprisingly easy to make. We’ve added a springtime twist to ours by popping in some zesty orange and lemon icing, making them the perfect Easter cake recipe. 

• 250g strong white bread flour
• 250g plain flour
• 125ml whole milk, warmed
• 1 teaspoon fast-action dried yeast
• 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
• 50g caster sugar
• 1 medium egg, beaten
• 1 blood orange, zested
• 1 lemon, zested
• 50g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for the bowl

• 300g icing sugar, sifted
• 1 blood orange, juiced
• 1 lemon, juiced
• Optional: edible flowers for Easter-themed cake decorations 

• In a large mixing bowl, mix the milk, flour, sugar, yeast and 125ml of warm water.
• Add in the beaten egg, butter, and the zest of the orange and lemon. Keep mixing until the dough becomes sticky.
• Place the dough on a countertop and knead for 10 minutes. The dough should now be smooth and stretchy. If it’s still a bit sticky, lightly oil your hands.
• The dough now needs to be popped into a large buttered bowl, covered and left to rise for at least 2 hours. Make sure to give it enough time to double in size.
• Once risen, tip out the dough and knead it some more to remove the air pockets.
• Divide the dough into 20 pieces and roll them into equally sized balls. Arrange the balls on baking trays, lined with baking paper and cover with a clean tea towel. It’s now time to leave them to prove for at least 1 hour, as they should double in size again.
• Heat your oven to 180°C if it’s fan-assisted or 160°C for gas ovens. Bake the dough balls for 15-20 minutes – they should be golden brown and sound hollow when tapped gently.
• Once baked, leave the balls to cool whilst you make the icing.

• Mix the icing sugar with one tablespoon of blood orange juice and one tablespoon of lemon juice until the mixture is entirely smooth.
• Spoon plenty of icing onto each of the cooled buns, adding a little orange and lemon zest, and leave to set.
• If desired, place a few edible flowers on the icing before it hardens, as this will make your buns really look the part for Easter.

Image source: Olive Magazine

Are you looking for an Easter cake idea that’s a bit of a challenge? You’ve come to the right place because this Easter cake recipe takes more time, focus and attention to detail. It’s totally worth it though, especially if you appreciate the luxurious combination of smooth caramel and gently spiced ginger cake with a slightly boozy twist.

• 250g salted butter, diced, plus extra for the tin
• 200g black treacle
• 100ml dark rum
• 200ml whole milk
• 100g dark brown muscovado sugar
• 200g stoned dates, roughly chopped
• 3 balls stem ginger, roughly chopped
• 150g Carnation caramel
• 3 eggs
• 400g plain flour
• 2 tablespoons ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon mixed spice

• 150g salted butter
• 450g golden icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 x 30g Caramac bars
• 4 tablespoons Carnation caramel
• 1 tablespoon syrup from the jar of stem ginger

•  Heat your oven to 160°C if it’s fan-assisted or 140°C for gas ovens.
• Take a couple of 20cm springform tins and line them with baking paper then grease with butter.
• Put the treacle, rum, milk and muscovado sugar in a pan and add the chopped dates and stem ginger chunks. Bring to the boil before allowing to bubble for 3 minutes, which will help the dates to soften up.
• Blitz the mixture into a smooth purée using a hand blender, making sure to take care because it will still be hot.
• Stir in the diced butter until it’s melted, then add the eggs and caramel.
• Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and mixed spice in a bowl. Next, create a well in the centre of the mixture and pour in the warm date purée.
• Mix everything up with a wooden spoon until the batter is free of lumps.
• Divide the mixture equally between the two tins and bake in the middle of the oven for 1 hour. When ready, poke a skewer into the centre of the cake layers and it should come out clean.
• Remove from the oven and leave the sponge cake layers to cool in their tins. Once they’ve cooled down completely, remove from the tins and place on one side.

• Beat the butter with a hand mixer until it becomes soft, then add half of the icing sugar and vanilla extract and continue beating. The icing should become pale and fluffy.
• With the hand mixer, beat in the 4 tablespoons of Carnation caramel. Spread a thick layer of icing over one of the sponge layers and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes until the caramel becomes firm; then sandwich the second sponge onto the top of the first.
• Spread the rest of the icing sparsely over the top and sides of the cake, filling in any gaps to create a smooth surface. The sides need minimal icing, as the drizzle is still to come.
• Place the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes so that all of the icing becomes firm.
• Break the Caramac bars into chunks and melt them in a pan with the syrup from the stem ginger jar.
• Remove the cake from the fridge and spoon the sauce over it one spoonful at a time, as this will allow it to slowly run down the edges of the cake and create an attractive design.
• The drizzle will harden very quickly thanks to the coolness of the chilled icing. For a truly professional finish, only allow the drizzle to make its way three-quarters down the side of the cake without reaching the base.
• Serve with your favourite cream and perhaps a cheeky spiced rum for that genuine Jamaican vibe.

Which of these Easter cake recipes do you think you’ll try first? Whichever you choose, we suggest placing the finished article inside this elegant cake stand with glass dome before showing it off to the lucky people who you’re going to share it with!

Alternatively, take a look at our full range of baking products, or head on over to our blog for more tips and inspiration for your home and garden.