Easter Nest Recipe with Speculoos

The day before: prepare the sponge cake. In a mixer, beat the eggs with the sugar until it whitens. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Add the flour, cocoa, and cornstarch, stirring gently. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Pour the contents of the mixing bowl into a savarin mold of about 25cm in diameter that you have previously buttered, and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes. When the sponge cake has cooled, unmold it and cut it in half horizontally.

Prepare the syrup: boil the water with 40g of sugar, and add something to flavor it: coffee liqueur, chocolate, red fruit, cocoa powder, hazelnut flavor, pistachio... whatever you like.

Prepare the speculoos cream: boil the milk in a saucepan (you can add a little vanilla). Mix the egg yolk with the 50g of sugar, then add the speculoos spread (according to your taste, for me about 1/3 of the jar). Pour in the hot milk, like you would for a regular pastry cream, stirring constantly. Return to the saucepan and heat. Thicken. Be careful, it will happen quickly! Add 100g of butter, mix, and turn off the heat.

Meanwhile, beat the remaining 100g of butter in a mixer. Add the pastry cream to the mixer. Once well mixed, return it to the bowl. Reserve a portion in a small bowl, about 1/3. This will be used to decorate the top of the nest, to resemble straw. I chose yellow to make it look realistic, but you can use any color. Keep it in the refrigerator.

Once everything has cooled: place the cake on a serving dish. Soak the top of the first layer with a little syrup. You can use a silicone brush. Put the uncolored pastry cream into a piping bag fitted with a large tip. Use part of the cream to spread over the first layer. Place the second layer on top, also soaked with syrup. Use the remaining cream in the piping bag to cover the top and all around the cake. You can smooth it out with a flat spatula. If your cake is not very well covered, you can, like I did, sprinkle crushed cookies over it that you have broken up with a rolling pin.

Refrigerate the cake until the next day.

Remember to take the bowl with the colored cream out early enough so that it isn’t too hard. Whip by hand if necessary. Place in a piping bag fitted with a small round tip.

Make small straw-like pieces on top of the cake to represent a bird's nest. Chill until serving.