Learn how to make easy pinata cake or Easter robin egg cake filled with robin chick candies and a zesty cake. It's homemade with simple ingredients and so fun!
*Thank you Domino® Sugar for sponsoring today's post so that I can share this cake decorating tutorial and recipe with you. As always, all opinions are mine.*
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Easter will be here very soon and I have merged all of my favorite ideas together along with my own spin, to make this great recipe! I thought it would be super cool to make a speckled egg cake and fill it with baby chick candies. Once you slice the cake, all these robin candies fall out just like a pinata, which is awesome! A few other recipes to match an Easter theme are this Easter Egg Cake (Easter Nest Cake) and Peanut Butter Eggs.
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Key ingredients
- Cake- I made a chocolate orange cake from scratch and needed three layers.
- Frosting- My choice was American buttercream but you can pick any other flavor of your choice
- Sprinkles- Pick any color you like.
- Egg candies- Draw chick faces on them with edible markers.
- Fondant flowers- These can be homemade or store-bought.
- Coconut- Make sure it's toasted.
How to make easy piñata cake? How to make robin egg cake?
- Bake Cakes- And let them cool.
- Use template- To cut out ovals in 2 cakes.
- Place- One whole cake on a cake board and frost.
- Place- One hollow cake on top and frost.
- Place- Second hollow cake on top and frost it.
- Fill cake- With sprinkles and candies.
- Top off- With the final whole cake.
- Frost entire cake- Smoothly.
- Cover cake- In fondant.
- Make brown edible paint- By mixing together cocoa powder and vanilla extract.
- Create speckled pattern-By flicking dipped paintbrush
- Add fondant flowers-In a curved pattern.
- Spread coconut- Around the base.
By the way, I used Domino's light brown sugar and granulated sugar in today's recipe. This is a brand I trust and I have been using for years. The quality is top notch and they work perfectly in my recipes every single time.
More Chocolate Piñata cake filling ideas
- Sprinkles
- Jelly beans
- Chocolate chips
- Chocolate candies
- Colorful cereal
- Fresh berries (not sliced because that will release too much juices)
Variations
- Gender reveal cake- You can fill this cake with blue or pink candy eggs for a gender reveal party. The whole family is always around on Easter and it's a fun way to make a big announcement in style!
- Rainbow cake- Make each layer of cake different colors of the rainbow. It would be very cool and colorful when you slice into it. You can also fill it with rainbow colored candies and colorful sprinkles.
- Use other decorations- You don't have to make fondant flowers to top off your cake. Different candies, sprinkles, or frosting can be used to give color and variety to your cake. Also, if you are short on time, use store-bought items instead of homemade.
- Use a different cake flavor- Such as Vanilla Cake, Red Velvet Cake, or one of your family's favorites.
- Adjust amounts of zest- Based on your personal preference. You can also omit zests to make a simple yet delicious chocolate cake.
- Maybe you don't want a surprise in the cake but still love the "egg" look? To make a cake in the shape and colors of a robin egg you simply skip hollowing any cakes and instead press all four cakes together with frosting. Then cover and decorate as per instructions below.
Tips and techniques
- Edible markers- Can easily be found at Michaels, Hobby Lobby or even Amazon. They are really cheap and so much fun to use. It's easier to use edible markers on a matte surface rather than a glossy surface. I highly recommend using egg candies that have a matte coating.
- Allow cakes to fully cool- Before you start frosting and assembling or else the frosting will start melting and it will become very messy.
- You need 4 oval cakes in total- That are about 1.5 inch thick. You can cut 1 big oval cake into 4 layers OR you can make 4 individual cakes. It's entirely up to you.
- Out of the 4 cakes, 2 cakes will be hollow- To cut out the center, make an oval template out of cardboard and use a sharp knife to cut out the center of the cake.
- Don't replace all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour- Because that will change the texture dramatically.
- Don't replace oil with butter- Because it makes the cake very dense.
- It's okay if the cake batter is thin- Because it is supposed to be that way! No need to worry about that.
Storage of fondant decorated cake
- Room temperature- Decorated cake can be stored away from moisture and humidity for 8-10 hours, as long as there is not perishable filling.
- Fridge- Store in a sealed container for up to 3 days. Keep in mind fondant decorations will become slightly sticky.
- Freezer- Store the unfrosted cakes and frosting in sealed containers for up to 1 month. When you are ready to enjoy this dessert, thaw to room temperature and assemble, as per instructions below.
Recipe FAQs
No, a hammer cake with is made of a chocolate shell that you break open with a hammer to uncover candies, desserts, or a small mini cake inside. A Piñata cake is made entirely with cake (no chocolate shell) and you simple slice into it to uncover candies hidden within.
It's a cake with a hidden candy surprise inside the cake that's only visible once the cake is sliced.
More Easter cakes
- Easter Bunny Cake
- Peeps Cake (Easy Easter Cake)
- Easy Lamb Cake (With Marshmallows)
- Moist Carrot Cake (With Cream Cheese Frosting)
- Easter Bunny Cake Topper
Recipe
Pinata Cake (Robin Egg Cake)
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Ingredients
Cake
- 2 Eggs Large
- ½ cup Oil
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 1 cup Milk Whole
- 1 cup Coffee Brewed, Strong
- 1.5 teaspoon Orange zest
- 1 teaspoon Lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon Lime zest
- 2 cups All-purpose flour
- 1 cup Domino® Light Brown Sugar
- 1 cup Domino® Granulated Sugar
- ¾ cup Cocoa powder
- 1.5 teaspoon Baking powder
- 2 teaspoon Baking soda
Decoration
- 4 cups American Buttercream frosting Light blue
- 1 cup Blue sprinkles
- 2 cups Blue egg candies Mini size
- Edible markers Black and Orange
- Fondant Light blue
- 1 tablespoon Cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoon Vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoon Corn syrup
- 50 Fondant flowers Small
- 3 cups Coconut Toasted
Instructions
Chocolate Citrus Cake
- In a large mixing bowl, add eggs, oil, vanilla extract, milk, coffee, orange zest, lemon zest, lime zest and mix everything together.
- Add flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and mix until just combined.
- Pour batter into 2 greased oval pans (Dimensions: 8x3).
- Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes or until an inserted toothpick in the center comes out clean.
- Allow these cakes to cool down completely.
Assembling
- When the cakes have fully cooled down, use an oval template to cut out the centers of 2 oval cakes. Leave the other 2 cakes intact.
- Place one full oval cake on a serving dish and ice it with blue buttercream. You can frost the top completely or just the edges.
- Place one hollow cake on top of the frosting and ice it with buttercream.
- Place the second hollow cake on top of the frosting and ice it with buttercream.
- Fill the center of the cake with half the sprinkles and spread them out.
- Use black and orange edible markers to make eyes and beaks on the egg candies.
- Add these mini robin eggs into the center of the cake too.
- Add the remaining sprinkles and spread them out.
- Place the final oval cake on top. Gently press it to stick everything in place.
- Ice the entire cake in blue buttercream.
Tip: Chill the cake for 45 minutes so that the icing firms up a little and this makes it easier to cover it in fondant. - Roll out blue fondant and spread it over the cake and smooth it out with a fondant smoother or your hands.
- Use a pizza cutter to cut off excess fondant around the base of the cake.
- In a small bowl, mix together cocoa powder and vanilla extract until the cocoa powder is fully dissolved and you have a paint-like consistency.
- Dip a paintbrush in this "chocolate paint" and flick your paintbrush all over the cake until it is covered in a speckled pattern. Let this dry for a few minutes.
Tip: If you are flicking too close to the cake, your splatter will be larger but if you are father away from the cake, the flicking will create smaller splatter (which is what I recommend). - Stick fondant flowers in a curved pattern on top of the cake, using corn syrup.
- Spread toasted coconut around the base of the cake. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Read all my tips above.
- Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
An automated tool is used to calculate the nutritional information. As such, I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information provided for any recipe on this site.
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