Easter Basket Layer Cake

Last Easter recipe for this year, this little dessert in the shape of a basket that will look very pretty on your family meal table! It is quite simple and quick to make, and you can further simplify it by not making the madeleines and replacing them either with store-bought madeleines or other long biscuits like Fingers.
After tasting, I think I would have preferred it with a bit more cream in proportion to the cake; if you think that’s your case too, you can make the molly cake a bit smaller and cut it into 3 slices to add a bit more whipped ganache and strawberries. In this case, slightly increase the quantities of whipped ganache.
Finally, I decorated it with rabbits, but of course, chocolate hens and other animals or large eggs will also have a very nice effect 😉
 
Equipment :
I used my Kenwood Cooking Chef (with the hook) to temper the chocolate, to prepare the molly cake & to whip the ganache: code FLAVIE = 3 accessories of your choice offered with the purchase of a cooking chef / commercial collaboration.
Mold for molly cake
I used the madeleine mold, the angled spatula & the piping bags from Guy Demarle: referral code FLAVIE10 to be provided at registration for €10 off on your first order / commercial collaboration.

Ingredients :
I used Norohy vanilla & Ivory chocolate from Valrhona: code ILETAITUNGATEAU for 20% off sitewide (affiliate).

Preparation time: 1h20 + 1h15 of baking + minimum 6 hours of resting
For a basket of 18cm in diameter :

 
 
 Shopping list :

 5 eggs
 80g of butter
 320g of sugar
 325g of flour
 13g of baking powder
 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
 1 pinch of salt
 782g of liquid cream at 35% fat
 1 vanilla pod
 18g of glucose
 18g of inverted sugar or neutral honey
 203g of Ivory chocolate
 About 240g of chocolate (of your choice)
 200 to 250g of strawberries
 Chocolate decorations: rabbits, eggs, sugar eggs…
 
 Madeleines :

 2 eggs
 80g of butter
 75g of sugar
 80g of flour
 6g of baking powder
 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
 1 pinch of salt
 
 Melt the butter and let it cool. Whisk the eggs with the sugar, then add the sifted flour and baking powder, salt, and vanilla.
 
 
 
 Finish with the melted butter, mix well and let rest in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
 
 
 
 Then, lightly fill the molds to avoid having too thick madeleines, and bake for about 10 to 15 minutes at 180°C.
 
 
 
 Let cool and then unmold the madeleines.
 
 
 
 Vanilla whipped ganache :

 150g of liquid cream at 35% fat
 1 vanilla pod
 18g of glucose
 18g of inverted sugar or neutral honey
 203g of Ivory chocolate
 387g of whole liquid cream
 
 Heat the small amount of cream with the glucose, inverted sugar, and the scraped vanilla pod.
 
 
 
 Pour the hot liquid over the previously melted white chocolate, in several additions, mixing well with a spatula after each addition to achieve a smooth and shiny ganache. Finally, add the large amount of cold liquid cream and blend with an immersion blender to perfect the emulsion.
 
 
 
 Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in the refrigerator for a minimum of 6 hours, preferably overnight.
 
 Molly cake :

 3 eggs
 245g of sugar
 245g of flour
 245g of whole liquid cream
 7g of baking powder
 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
 
 Whisk the eggs with the sugar until they whiten and puff up well.
 
 
 
 Then add the sifted flour and baking powder, whisk again for a few seconds.
 
 
 
 Whip the liquid cream into whipped cream with the vanilla, then add it to the previous mixture.
 
 
 
 
 Pour immediately the batter into your buttered and lined mold with parchment paper, then bake in the preheated oven at 160°C for about 1 hour.
 
 
 
 When you take it out of the oven, unmold the cake and wrap it in plastic wrap to keep it nice and moist.
 
 
 
 Chocolate handle :

 About 240g of chocolate (of your choice)
 
 I used my cooking chef to temper the chocolate; if you are not equipped, you can temper the chocolate in two different ways:
 Follow the tempering curve noted on the package
 Tempering by seeding: gently melt 2/3 of your chocolate, and in the meantime, finely chop the rest. When the large quantity of chocolate is completely melted, add the chopped chocolate and mix well until the chocolate is homogeneous
 I didn’t have a mold, so I simply used plastic wrap to form the handle of my basket; I then let it crystallize well and grated it a bit for a more rustic effect.
 
 
 
 Assembly :

 200 to 250g of strawberries
 Chocolate and/or sugar decorations of your choice
 
 Cut the top of the molly cake to make it flat.
 
 
 
 Then cut it in half vertically.
 
 
 
 Whip the vanilla ganache until it has a whipped cream texture.
 
 
 
 Put the whipped ganache in a piping bag, and pipe a not too thick layer of ganache on the first half of the molly cake, as well as a ring around the edge.
 
 
 
 Add slices of strawberries.
 
 
 
 Cover with ganache, and again a few slices of strawberries.
 
 
 
 Add the second half of the molly cake.
 
 
 
 Add whipped ganache all around and smooth it out, so you can stick the madeleines on it.
 
 
 
 
 Then pipe the remaining ganache on top of the madeleines with a small pastry tip.
 
 
 
 Then add the decorations: chocolate rabbits and eggs, sugar eggs, strawberries… and finally the chocolate handle, before enjoying!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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