cornflake cakes

I couldn’t decide what to call these little beauties –  Easter egg nests/ Crispie cakes/ Cornflake cakes?  Obviously the ones in the picture are crispie cakes (made with rice crispies), but they could just as easily be made with cornflakes and with it nearly being Easter they could be nests.  We made them (my three-year old and I) this afternoon, ready to take to school tomorrow so that they can be sold at the Easter Fayre.  I am not sure there will be many left though by that time, I keep noticing the box being opened and another sneaked away.  There are not many people that don’t love these cakes.  If I am making them for a party I make sure I make plenty as they are always the first cakes to go and are just as popular with adults as they are with children.

I sometimes make them more simply by melting a bar of Dairy Milk and then stirring in as many rice crispies or cornflakes as the chocolate will coat. However, I do have to plan ahead for this as I always have a cupboard full of 70% chocolate but have to purposefully buy Dairy Milk.  I am afraid that my children love 70% chocolate as much as I do, I think this may be a result of the amount I consumed when I was pregnant and feeding them.

They are very easy cakes to make and very easy to polish off!

I can’t really give you an indication of the weight of the rice crispies or cornflakes, as you will need more rice crispies than cornflakes and they will make more cakes than when you use cornflakes, which need more chocolate to coat them.   Strange but true.  Just pour in as many as you think the chocolate mixture will coat easily and then add more if you think you can get away with it.  You want a good coating on every grain or flake.

Method
50g unsalted butter
100g good quality dark chocolate
4 tbsp golden syrup
Rice crispies or cornflakes (as many as you need)
Sugar coated chocolate eggs or other decoration (optional)

Melt the butter, syrup and chocolate over a very gentle heat until melted and smooth.  Add the cereal and stir well and pour spoonfuls into cake cases. Decorate with the eggs or other decoration or leave them unadorned.  Allow to set, if you can bear to, and then enjoy.