Easter Fridge Cake with Meringues

Happy Easter.  We've been baking up a storm as though we were going to a large family gathering instead of being in CoVid19 lockdown.  I would like to claim to be "quarantoned" rather than accumulating CoVid19 kilos but I am an expert at comfort eating.  And Easter and comfort scream "chocolate".  I was reminded of an easy fridge cake we made a few Easters ago in the UK soon after my father in law died.  It is a cake for stressful times.  So Sylvia and I had great fun making it this Easter.

As I said I have been baking.  I made a chocolate babka last week (which I hope to post soon).  It used 2 egg yolks so we had 2 egg whites to use up.  Sylvia jumped at the chance to make meringues.  We thought it would be a nice addition to the Easter cake.

As a digital native Sylvia wants fancy multi coloured meringues.  She has seen them on YouTube and so she knows exactly what to do.  She showed me how to make "sausages" of coloured lines of meringues.  I was slightly worried that too much handling with mixing in colour would take the air out.  But they had great shape and we loved the colours.  (Better in real life than in the photos!)

When we made the Easter Caramel and Malteser Fridge Cake in Scotland we had digestives and maltesers.  Here back in Melbourne we decided to use local Tim Tams.  Then, when we found we had forgotten the Maltesers, I was not about to go back to supermarket where I had not been for about 1 and 1/2 weeks.  We made do with salted pretzels.  I wonder if we should have chopped them so they weren't so chunky.  I really liked the pretzels but the Tim Tams were so chocolatey that they disappeared into the mixture a bit.  The chocolate covered raspberry (jubes) were really good.

The most fun of this cake (and we use the word "cake" loosely) was decorating it with lots of Easter Eggs.  We added some meringues because we had them.  Sylvia had also made the Easter egg with the mini-freckles (sprinkles) over it.  The bunny peering out from the eggs amuses me.  It makes me think of the politicians who helpfully announced that the Easter Bunny is an essential worker in the lockdown.

Many of us have Easter traditions that we miss.  In my family, my dad always organises an Easter Egg hunt for the grandkids.  So this year he organised a virtual egg hunt.  He emailed their parents a list of places to  hide eggs and last night we held a Zoom conferences where he gave clues and each kid went off to find the eggs.  It was as chaotic as a egg hunt in his garden but at least there were no eggs that we couldn't find!  And my nephew from Ireland was able to participate which he would not normally when we are in the garden!

This morning, Sylvia hadn't had enough of egg hunts so I did one for her in the backyard and she did one for me.  I think we both had lots of fun working out places to hide the eggs in our little yard.

We took out a tablecloth and found some flowers in the garden.  I made mac and cheese for Sylvia and stuffed some of it into a nut roast (but that is for another post).  It felt good to be formal, even without more family about.  Sylvia even made some lime cordial with fancy garnishes of lemon, mint and ice.  The Easter cake was ridiculously sweet but nice in small slices.

In the afternoon, I put out some hard rubbish and chatted to neighbours who were doing the same.  It is such a strange Easter.  I just hope that by Christmas we are able to celebrate with friends and family again, but nothing is guaranteed right now!  I hope you have enjoyed today, been able to celebrate if that is your thing or been able to find something to keep your spirits up in isolation!

More Easter food on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
Easter Caramel and Malteser Fridge Cake
Easter egg pizza
Leftover Easter egg slice
Marzipan Easter egg cupcakes 
Overnight Sourdough Hot Cross Buns (v)
And more links at this Easter recipes round up

Multicoloured Meringues
Adapted from taste.com.au
Makes about 3 dozen

4 egg whites
1 pinch salt
1 1/4 cups of icing sugar  (or 1 cup castor sugar)
1/2 tsp vanilla
food colouring, optional

Preheat oven to 120 C.  Line two baking trays with baking paper.

Using electric beaters, beat egg whites with salt until til soft peaks form.  Beat in sugar, a spoonful at a time until it is dissolved.  Add vanilla and continue to beat for 3 minutes until stiff peaks form.

To make the meringues multicoloured, spoon egg white mixture into a few bowls and mix colouring into each very gently with a skewer or knife.  Use a spoon to spread a line of one colour along the middle of a square of clingfilm on the table.  Spread another line of the next colour.  Repeat if you want more colours.  Roll up gently like a sausage in the clingfilm with a slight opening (or twist at each end and then snip an opening with scissors at one end).

Carefully lower "sausage" into a piping bag with opening towards nozzle.  Pipe meringues onto prepared trays and bake for 1 and a half hours (we turned halfway through because my oven does not bake evenly).

Easter fridge cake - the Aussie edition
Adapted from Green Gourmet Giraffe
Serves a crowd

250g caramel milk chocolate
225g milk chocolate chips
125g butter
3 dessertspoons golden syrup (I forgot)
150g tim tam biscuits, chopped
100g chocolate covered raspberry jubes
50g bar cherry ripe, chopped
2 cups salted pretzels

Chocolate drizzle:
100g milk chocolate
3 dessertspoons milk

To decorate:
Large Easter egg
Assortment of medium Easter Eggs
Mini Easter Eggs
Other bits and pieces such as meringues, chocolate bunnies and lollies

Place a bowl in a large cake tin (I think I used a 22cm round one).  Line with foil or gladwrap and spray with oil (or grease with butter).  Mix caramel chocolate, choc chips, butter and golden syrup in microwave or in a saucepan.  (I prefer the microwave as it heats it at a lower temperature.)  Stir in tim tams, raspberries, cherry ripe and pretzels.  Press evenly into prepared tin.  Chill in fridge a few hours until firm.  Turn out onto a plate.  Melt chocolate with milk to make drizzle.  Use a spoon to drizzle over the ring.  Place large egg in the middle of the hole in the middle and arrange medium eggs and bunnies, then mini eggs and other decorative bits and pieces. 

On the Stereo:
Music from the Gilmore Girls: Various Artists