The Ultimate Creme Egg Tray Bake

Bake up a gooey chocolate delight for Easter with this Creme Egg tray bake. Moist and rich chocolate cake, coated in a chocolate icing and smashed Creme Eggs on top. Utterly addictive.

It's no secret, I'd quite happily exist on chocolate for eternity. Alas, the nutritional value of chocolate isn't something that would sustain me, whenever there's the opportunity for chocolate baking then I'm going to take it.

With our New York trip on the horizon, I'd been thinking more and more about creating an American style tray bake; moister and more squidgy than a British one. That's not to say our tray bakes are dry, they're not.

I'll admit I can be a little lazy when it comes to tray bakes and use a standard sponge recipe, rather than an American oil-based recipe.

Take me to the tray bake already!

If you want to skip the essential info and handy tips for making the ultimate Creme Egg tray bake, then head down to the printable recipe card.

Before you go-on, take note...

Now I'm going to give you a heads up here. This recipe is very wet. In fact, you can just pour the batter straight into the baking tray, no smoothing over with a spatula required. It's the most liquidy cake batter that I've ever made.

I'm telling you this now because if you skip down to the recipe and plough straight ahead, you might be in for a shock. So slow down tiger with that mouse scrolling and take note.

I was very sceptical that such a wet cake batter would give me anything other than a sloppy mess, that would require extra baking and end up dry and crispy on the edges and just about baked in the middle.

But I was wrong!

On a mission to prove that this wasn't a one-off, I tested the recipe several times. Every time I took the cake out of the oven, the same results. Perfectly baked. Nailed it! The moral here is appearances can be deceptive.

How to keep your Creme Egg tray bake moist

This Creme Egg tray bake is the lightest richest and definitely not stodgy chocolate cake I've had the delight eating. The volume of water and oil used in the cake batter certainly helps it achieve the moistness. But you can't rely on that alone.

One of the key things to remember when baking this Creme Egg tray bake is not to overcook it. Keeping your eye on the oven temperature and timer is what helps the tray bake retain its moisture, giving a light and springy sponge, that's different to a regular chocolate cake.

But don't worry, there's nothing really that can go wrong. And the real beauty of the bake is as it's all in one bowl, there's hardly any washing up to do. Bonus!

Top tips for baking your Creme Egg tray bake

So before you get going, here are a few pointers to help you on your way.

• Don't panic if you think your cake batter is too runny; it's not.
• Don't over-bake your Creme Egg tray bake, you want it to be moist and light, so it springs back when you gently press down on it.
• And on that note, don't under-bake it either. You don't want it falling apart or worse when you try and take it out of the baking tin.
• As always, let the tray bake cool before lifting out of the baking tin. Once it is completely cool you can get cracking on decorating.
• Try smashing a mixture of the mini and regular Creme Eggs on top of the tray bake, so that you get different sizes of chocolate.
• You could swap the chocolate icing for a chocolate frosting if you prefer, but remember to make sure the tray bake is completely cooled before icing.

Recommended Equipment

Brownie Pan
Buy now >

Mini Creme Eggs
Buy now >

Intense Cocoa Powder
Buy now >

Looking for more inspiration

Fancy some other Easter recipes? Then how about these...

• The Ultimate Creme Egg Cake
• Quick and simple Easter chocolate bark
• White chocolate Mini Egg cupcakes
• Vanilla Easter Cupcakes
• Fresh and zingy Lemon and Gin Curd

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Creme Egg Tray Bake

5 from 8 votes

Servings: 16 slices

Bake up a gooey chocolate delight for Easter with this Creme Egg traybake. Moist and rich chocolate cake, coated in a chocolate icing and smashed Creme Eggs on top. Utterly addictive!

Author: Lou Carruthers

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Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 40 mins

Total Time 55 mins

Ingredients

 

MUS

For the Tray Bake

• 80 ml Vegetable Oil
• 160 ml Semi-skimmed Milk
• 2 Eggs medium
• 150 g Plain Flour
• 250 g Light Brown Sugar
• 55 g Cocoa Powder
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 150 ml Hot Water

To Decorate

• 2 tablespoon Icing or Powdered Sugar
• 2 tablespoon Cocoa Powder
• 5 tablespoon Cold Water
• Creme Eggs Regular and Mini sized

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Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 180C/350F and line a brownie tray or tray bake tin, no bigger than 12" x 9", with baking parchment.
• In a large mixing bowl, add the oil, milk and eggs, and whisk together until light and fluffy with a hand mixer. Alternatively, you can whisk everything together in a stand mixture.
• In another large mixing bowl, sieve together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder and baking powder.
• Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and pour in the whisked egg mixture. Mix all together until you have a smooth batter.
• Gradually add the hot water to the batter, mixing well until all the water is combined. The mix will be very runny.
• Bake the tray bake for 30-40 minutes, until a sharp knife or skewer comes out clean. The cake is moist but should spring back if you lightly press down on it.
• Cool the tray bake on a wire rack before decorating.
• To decorate, in a small mixing bowl, add the icing sugar and cocoa powder, and gradually add the cold water, until you have a smooth and slightly runny paste.
• Pour the icing over the cooled tray bake and smooth with a palette knife.
• Smash the Creme Eggs into pieces and sprinkle over the iced tray bake - try and spread some of that Creme Egg goo over the top as well.

Notes

• The Creme Egg Tray Bake will stay fresh for up to 3 days in an air-tight container, or you can freeze it for up to 3 months. If you do decide to freeze it, cut it up into portions first and wrap in baking parchment, and just defrost a slice when you're ready.
• To serve the Creme Egg tray bake, you can either eat it all on its own or add vanilla ice cream as a dessert.

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Nutrition

Serving: 1sliceCalories: 229kcalCarbohydrates: 26gProtein: 3gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 21mgSodium: 18mgPotassium: 140mgFiber: 2gSugar: 17gVitamin A: 40IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 45mgIron: 1mg

Disclaimer

The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.

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