Easter Bundt Cake Recipe (French Easter Cake)

Quick Summary: Easter bundt cake is a traditional French Easter cake (gâteau bundt de Pâques) shaped like a bird's nest. It is built from three layers of airy sponge cake, baked in a bundt (fluted) pan, filled with mousseline cream, then covered with toasted, sliced almonds and topped with small chocolate or candy eggs.

What is a French Easter cake?

A French Easter cake, or gâteau de Pâques, is a festive springtime dessert served at the Easter table in France. Unlike a heavy fruitcake, this version is light and airy: it is built on a delicate sponge (Génoise cake or Savoy sponge) baked in a fluted bundt pan, so the finished cake resembles a bird's nest.

The layers are filled with mousseline cream, coated with toasted sliced almonds for a straw-like nest texture, and crowned with small chocolate or candy eggs. It is a traditional yet playful centerpiece that celebrates spring and renewal, the themes at the heart of Easter.

Why you'll love this recipe

Here is why this Easter bundt cake earns a spot on the holiday table every spring:

• It is a real showstopper. The bird's nest design, made with toasted almonds and white chocolate strands, turns a humble bundt cake into a festive Easter centerpiece.
• The texture is light and airy. Three layers of tender sponge are filled with silky mousseline cream, so every slice feels delicate rather than heavy.
• It is easier than it looks. You bake one sponge, fill and stack the layers, then decorate, so the wow factor comes from assembly rather than complicated technique.
• It is a tested family tradition. I have baked this bird nest cake every Easter since 2018, and it has never let me down.

Ingredients

For ingredients and detailed instructions, refer to the recipe card below.

• Corn starch lowers gluten formation in the all-purpose flour by softening the flour proteins.

• Eggs: Use large eggs at room temperature.

• Baking powder is one of the leavening agents used in the recipe.

• Vanilla extract: Use pure vanilla extract, or replace it with lemon or coconut extract and some lime or lemon zest. Or substitute vanilla extract for 1 tablespoon of Kirsch (cherry brandy) or another fruit-based brandy.

• Milk: Use whole milk or substitute low-fat milk.

• Butter: Use unsalted, softened butter. Take it out of the fridge 1 to 2 hours before you start.

• Flaked almonds: Use store-bought toasted flaked almonds or toast raw sliced almonds in the oven at 300°F (150°C) for 10 to 15 minutes.

• White chocolate: Use Lindt white chocolate or Callebaut white chocolate interchangeably when making filaments.

• Edible decorations: Use small chocolate eggs, jelly beans, or your favorite Easter candy on top of the cake.

How to make Easter bundt cake

Step 1. To make cake batter, preheat the oven to 355°F (180°C). Use a flour sifter to sift flour, cornstarch, and baking powder.

Step 2. Break the eggs and separate the egg yolks from the whites. Whisk the egg yolks with 50 g granulated sugar until they become pale yellow (photo 1).

Step 3. In a separate large bowl, whisk the egg whites with an electric mixer until they are mounted. Gradually pour in the remaining sugar (100g) and whisk until the egg whites are firm and glossy. Add the vanilla extract and beat for a few seconds (photo 2).

Step 4. Use a rubber spatula to gently mix the egg whites with the yolks/sugar mixture (photos 3-4).

Step 5. Add the sifted dry ingredients and gently mix (photo 5). Butter and flour a fluted cake pan and pour the batter into the mold (photo 6).

Step 6. Bake the cake for 25 to 30 minutes. Test its readiness with a knife: a sharp tip should come out dry (photo 7). Let the cake cool on a cooling rack.

Step 7. To make the sugar syrup, heat water, sugar, and vanilla extract in a saucepan until the sugar dissolves. Let it cool, and place it aside.

Step 8. To make the pastry cream, mix egg yolks, 50g of milk, sugar, flour, and cornstarch (photo 8).

Step 9. Bring 150 ml of milk to a boil. Pour in the hot milk and bring the mixture back to a boil, stirring constantly. Once the cream thickens (photo 9), pour it onto a shallow plate and cover it with a sheet of plastic wrap in contact. Cool the pastry cream at room temperature.

Step 10. To make the extra buttercream, heat sugar and water in a saucepan to 250°F (120°C).

Step 11. Break the egg into a bowl and pour the syrup over the egg, whisking constantly. Continue to whisk for about 10 minutes until the mixture becomes whitish (photo 10).

Step 12. Add the softened butter and vanilla extract, and beat the cream with an electric mixer for 10 to 15 minutes to aerate as much as possible (photo 11).

Step 13. Heat it a little bit if it is too compact, or cool it if it is too soft. The cream should be smooth and homogeneous.

Step 14. To make the vanilla mousseline cream, add the pastry cream, little by little, to the extra buttercream, whisking as you go (photo 12). Place aside.

Step 15. To assemble the Easter cake, cut the cooled biscuit into three equal and regular parts with a serrated knife.

Step 16. Using a silicone brush, soak each biscuit slice in the sugar syrup.

Step 17. Spread the vanilla mousseline cream in the center of the first biscuit, then smooth it with a bent spatula. Cover with the second biscuit layer, soak again in the syrup, and cover with the cream.

Step 18. Spread the remaining mousseline cream with the bent spatula. Smooth the edges of the biscuit as you turn the spatula around the cake (photo 13). Apply the toasted flaked almonds over the entire cake (photo 14).

Step 19. To make chocolate filaments, melt white chocolate in a bain-marie (water bath) or in the microwave, taking care not to overheat it (it should reach a maximum of 104°F (40°C) or be warm to the touch).

Step 20. Stir it to bring the temperature down to 85°F (30°C). You should not feel any difference in temperature when you touch it. Place the chocolate in a pastry bag and cut the end.

Step 21. Freeze a plate and take it out of the freezer. Place the plate upside down on the work surface. Holding the pastry bag, make a few round trips on the back of the plate. Let the chocolate freeze for a few seconds over the plate (photo 15).

Step 22. Peel off one side using a bent spatula or a knife. Arrange chocolate filaments on top of the cake.

Step 23. Repeat the process as often as you like, using a very cold plate each time. Stick a few eggs with the remaining melted chocolate (photo 16).

Expert Tips

1. Make the biscuit one day in advance, cool it, wrap it in plastic film, and refrigerate it. Finish the cake the next day.
2. Bake the cake in a tall, fluted cake pan (aka a kouglof mold) or in your favorite bundt pan.
3. To toast flaked almonds, place nuts in the oven at 355°F (180°C) for 10 to 15 minutes. If you use store-bought toasted flaked almonds, toast them at 300°F (150°C) for 5 to 7 minutes to achieve a deeper color.
4. Replace white chocolate with milk or dark chocolate to make chocolate filaments.

Recipe variations

This Easter egg cake is made from scratch, but if you are a novice baker, you can use a cake mix to prepare a bundt cake.

While mousseline cream is the most delicious cream to fill many pastries, including Paris-Brest to fruity Strawberry Pistachio Tart, if making it scares you, there is a simple solution. Whip Chantilly cream or cream cheese frosting and fill your bundt cake.

How to decorate an Easter bundt cake (bird's nest design)

The bird's-nest look is what makes this cake an Easter showstopping centerpiece, and it comes together in three simple steps.

First, spread a thin coat of mousseline cream over the outside of the assembled cake so the almonds have something to cling to. Next, gently press toasted sliced almonds all over the surface, letting them lie in overlapping strands that mimic the straw of a real nest. Work from the bottom up and don't worry about a perfectly even layer, since a little texture looks more natural.

Finally, cluster a few small chocolate or candy eggs in the center hole of the bundt so they sit like eggs resting in the nest. For an extra touch, add a sugar bird, a sprig of edible greenery, or a dusting of powdered sugar around the rim.

Want to try a different nest? Here are a few creative ways to top the cake:

• Cover the whole cake with flaked almonds, coconut flakes, or other chopped nuts for a classic straw-nest texture.
• Use tempered chocolate to make a chocolate nest. Or follow another interesting technique for making chocolate bird nests offered by St. Croix Chocolate Company. Or use caramel to make a fancy-looking caramel nest. Finally, create a chocolate bird's nest by watching a Carma Chocolate video.
• Finish the center with a cluster of chocolate or candy eggs.

How to keep a bundt cake from sticking to the pan

A bundt pan has deep flutes and a central tube, so releasing the cake cleanly depends on properly preparing the pan. Brush every groove and the center tube with softened butter or a neutral oil, reaching into the detailed corners with a pastry brush, then dust with flour and tap out the excess so a thin coating clings to the greased surface.

Fill the pan no more than two-thirds full, so the batter rises evenly without overflowing the design. After baking, let the cake rest for about 10 to 15 minutes: unmolding too soon can tear a warm, fragile crumb, while waiting too long lets the sugars set and glue the cake to the pan.

When the time is right, place a wire rack over the pan, invert, and lift the pan straight up so the cake slides out with its fluted shape intact.

Storing & freezing

Store this bundt cake with mousseline cream in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours.

Can you freeze it? It isn't recommended to freeze cakes with mousseline cream, but you can freeze the undecorated bundt cake.

Let it cool completely and wrap it in plastic. Freeze the cake for up to 3 months. To thaw, refrigerate the wrapped cake for at least 8 hours.

Recipe FAQ

What is mousseline cream?
Mousseline cream is a pastry cream enriched with softened butter. With the typical pastry cream-to-butter ratio of 2:1, mousseline cream is used in the same way as buttercream: to layer and finish cakes, and to pipe choux pastry.

What's the difference between a bundt cake and a regular cake?
Bundt cake has a fluted edge with a hole in the center, unlike a regular cake baked in a standard round or rectangular pan. Also, the donut shape of a bundt pan reveals more of the cake to a high oven temperature than a regular cake.

Love Easter desserts? Try these next!

• Ottolenghi's Carrot Cake
• The Best Savoy Cake
• Apple Tarte Tatin
• Browse all the Easter Dessert Recipes

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The nutritional information has been calculated using an online recipe nutrition calculator such as Verywellfit.com and is intended for informational purposes only. These figures should be used as a general guideline and not be construed as a guarantee.

The recipe was adapted from http://www.elle.fr and was originally published on March 29, 2019. It has been revised to include improved content and photos.