It might not feel like it, with cold air and snow still hanging around, but Spring is just around the corner. Before you know it, the first buds of green will be popping up on tree branches. Birds will be chirping. Flowers will be blooming. And Easter will be on the way! So today we’re getting ready with a new cake tutorial that is all about Spring! Inspired by the gorgeous color and texture of robins’ eggs, this cake is super easy and incredibly fun. And completely achievable for all levels of bakers, to include your favorite little egg-hunters. It’s a Speckled Easter Egg Cake tutorial and I hope you enjoy it!
Before we get started on the very scientific speckling technique, let’s talk about the cake itself. I used a Classic Vanilla Cake recipe and baked it as four layers. You can bake your cakes several days in advance and either freeze them or keep them in the refrigerator. Being a mom to a little one means my windows of time are quite short. So on Day #1, I baked the cake and made the eggs. Day #2, I made a batch of basic buttercream icing (recipe here). Day #3, I assembled and decorated the cake. You, by no means, have to follow my extra prolonged, toddler-approved schedule. But if needed, you can certainly spread this project out over several days.
Now, let’s talk about the eggs! There are several ways you could go about making these eggs. You can use an egg-shaped candy mold to create white chocolate eggs, colored appropriately. You can use real eggs that are hard boiled (or blown out) and then dyed. {Please do not use raw eggs… that is just asking for trouble.} You can shape eggs out of fondant or gumpaste. Or you can simply purchase any speckled candy eggs that you like. Whichever route you pick, this is your first step in decorating. Your overall color scheme starts with your eggs!
Now, let’s get to the speckling! This project is incredibly fun AND slightly messy. But the mess makes it fun, right? You will absolutely get cocoa splatters on your counter, and yes, probably even your floor. I found a few stray spots even on my refrigerator. Hence the wax paper for your work surface and paper towels for clean up. So please please consider this your official warning. This is not the project for your favorite apron. But I am happy to report that my kitchen was clean with just a few paper towels. And my apron washed up just fine. Now that you’ve read the disclosures… let’s get to it!
SPECKLED EGG CAKE
a tutorial by Carrie Sellman
Supplies
- cake of choice, assembled and crumb-coated
- basic buttercream icing
- Sky blue food color
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
- food grade paint brush
- wax paper
- paper towels, for clean up
- speckled eggs
STEP 1: Color your buttercream frosting with a few drops of food coloring. I used 2-3 drops of Americolor Sky Blue gel. When tinting buttercream, I like to add one drop of color at a time until I reach the right shade. If you’ve ever ruined a batch of icing before, you already know the benefit of adding color gradually. And when in doubt, I like to error on the light side. Buttercream naturally darkens slightly as it sets.
STEP 2: Frost your assembled and crumb-coated cake with your pretty blue buttercream. Smooth and shape to your liking. It does not have to be perfect. We’re about to splatter it up!
STEP 3: In a small bowl, mix together 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder with 1 1/2 tablespoons of vanilla extract. Stir well until cocoa is completely dissolved and you have a thin, chocolate paint.
STEP 4: Cover your work area with wax paper. Lightly dip your new (or totally clean, never used for paint) paintbrush into the chocolate. Holding the paint brush with one hand, gently flick the bristles with your other index finger to splatter the chocolate paint. Practice first onto your wax paper until you get the hang of it. No need to move on to the cake until you master the flick. When you’re ready to start speckling, hold the paintbrush fairly close to the cake and start splattering.
NOTE: A little chocolate paint goes a long way. So dip your brush lightly. If your paintbrush becomes ‘clogged’ with paint and is no longer splattering nicely, rinse it with water. Dry with a paper towel. And start again.
STEP 5: Keep splattering away! Move up, down and all around to completely cover the cake.
NOTE: As you work, you will undoubtedly get a splatter that is bigger than you would prefer. Or accidentally get carried away and bump the cake with your paintbrush. (Don’t ask me how I know this!) You have two options here. Either embrace the imperfections and let it go. Or wipe it off quickly with a light dab of water and paper towel. Then go back to speckling. If you look closely, you can see where I wiped one of my oh-no-it’s-too-big splatters. Left-middle. Not too bad of a correction and I think it adds to the speckled egg charm.
STEP 6: Now that you have the hang of splattering, you’ll also speckle the eggs you previously made. While you wait for the cake and the eggs to dry, now is a good time to wipe off any stray splatters on your cake pedestal. Once both the eggs and the cake are completely dry, arrange eggs on top of cake. Use a dab of buttercream to hold them exactly where you want them.
STEP 7: Cut, eat and enjoy!
MORE EASTER CAKES TO MAKE:
Chocolate Easter Bunny Cake
Mini Easter Egg Cakes
Easter Nest Cake
Marbled Chocolate Easter Eggs
Easter Basket Cake
Spring Wreath Cake with Buttercream Birds’ Nest
Patricia says
This is one of the prettiest cakes I have ever seen! That blue is striking! The speckles really send it over the top though!
Jessica says
I’m new here! How do I crumb coat a cake? This is SOOO beautiful. I’m going to use his technique for my daughters birthday cake!
Dawn says
Love this cake! The speckles really add character to it. Looking forward to trying this.
amanda says
This is one of the coolest cakes I’ve ever seen!!!
Laura says
I am still new to cake making and decorating and have been having lots of fun practicing. My question to you is, can the same results be achieved by using a cream cheese frosting on the Speckled Egg cake? I was going to make this for Easter and use a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.
Scott says
I love this cake, it is beautiful! When speckling or using any type of messy/ hard to clean decorative ingredient, I set the item to be decorated in an cardboard box on the plate stand, and also use dampened paper towels. The cardboard box is easily thrown away after the cake is completed, and the paper towel make for an easy clean up as most of the mess sticks and can just be thrown away!
Dawn Balsamo says
Made this for Easter this year. Everyone loved it! However, I found that using a new unused, firm toothbrush worked better for me than an unused paintbrush to get the speckles.
simonacallas says
I made a chocolate-berries cake which I decorated like this, following your direction and it was great! Thank you very much <3
Sara says
Nice u r wonderful person!
Dana says
When I saw the picture of your cake on Pinterest, I had to check it out. It’s so cute! I think I’ll bake it for our annual Easter celebration. How do you get your buttercream so smooth? I’ve always loved baking especially “special” cakes. Check out my blog to see the Pink Panty Bikini Cake that I made for a girls night out pre-Valentines Day party. It was the first time to ever worked with fondant. Thanks again for your tutorial 😊
Eden Passante says
What a gorgeous cake! Love the colors!
Kara | Daily Opulence says
Can’t believe this was posted in 2013, just shared it on our FB!
Janie says
Did u use 2 cakes and slice them or 1???
Michelle says
Gorgeous cake! Wondering if I could achieve similar results with gold dust and clear vanilla, to give the appearance of gold flecks in my frosting… Definitely gonna try it!
David Reams says
Thanks so much! To be honest I was really proud of this one because I’ve been trying to get them smooth for ages and it’s the first one that’s gone exactly how I wanted!
I’d say make sure you crumb coat first, and put it in the fridge to chill for a good 20-30 mins before putting on the top coat. Put on a relatively thick coat and dip a pallet knife or metal scraper into boiling hot water, shake off the excess water, and try to smooth it that way 🙂 you can basically keep going until it’s as smooth as you want it to be! I hope this helps!