Easter is this week! It’s not easy to find visually pleasing and tasty food that has an Easter feel to it, so we decided to take a classic and delicious Raffaello-Strawberry Cake and transform it into a cute Easter lamb. ☺ If you’re planning not to concentrate on the Easter Bunny and Easter Eggs theme, but on the original theme here is an easy recipe for something totally yummy: have fun with this Raffaello delight.

Outside of Easter, the Raffaello-Strawberry Cake in its original form is easy to make and remains just as delicious: a wonderfully creamy dessert and an impressive cake for on the coffee table.

Recipe:

Shopping List for 1 Easter Lamb or 1 Raffaello-Strawberry Cake (pie plate 10 inches round)

3 packages (each around 230 g) Raffaello’s for the Easter Lamb (1 package for the normal Raffaello cake)
500 g strawberries
3/8 cup grated coconut
3 eggs
1 pinch salt
½ cup and 3 tsp. granulated sugar
3/8 cup all purpose flour
3/8 cup cornstarch
1 tsp. baking powder, heaping
2 1/2 cup whipping cream
3 tsp. vanilla sugar

additional ingredients for the Easter Lamb deco:

100 g marzipan
2 coffee or chocolate beans for the eyes

Preparation Time: approx. 60 minutes

Directions for the Easter Lamb / Raffaello-Strawberry-Cake:

Cake Layers:
Separate the eggs and beat the egg whites with the salt to stiff peaks. In a separate bowl beat together the egg yolks and ½ cup of the sugar until foamy. With a spoon, carefully fold the egg whites into the egg yolk foam. Finally, stir in the flour, cornstarch and baking powder, a bit at a time.

If you have 2 baking forms that are the same size, grease them and add half the mix to one and the other half to the other. If you’re using silicon forms you don’t need to grease them before adding the mixture. Now place the 2 forms in the oven, preheated to 200 C, for around 10-15 minutes. If you only have one baking form, just put half the mixture in it and bake then repeat with the rest of the mixture. (Or you can put all the mixture in at once for around 20 minutes and just slice the finished product in half once it’s baked and cooled.)

Raffaello-Strawberry Filling:
Put 14 of the Raffaello balls aside for the decoration and cut the rest of the balls into small pieces. Wash the strawberries and set about 10 of them aside also for the decoration. Cut the rest of the strawberries into small pieces. Now beat 1 ¼ cup of the whipping cream together with the vanilla sugar and 3 tsp. granulated sugar until firm peaks form. Carefully mix in the Raffaello and strawberry piece and your filling is ready.

Decoration for the Raffaello-Strawberry Cake:
Spread the Raffaello – Strawberry Filling onto one of the cake layers and carefully place the other layer on top. Whip the remaining 1 ¼ cup of whipping cream to firm peaks and cover the cake with it. Roast the grated coconut in a non-stick pan on high heat for about 2 minutes, stirring continuously so they don’t get to brown. Sprinkle the coconut evenly over the whole cake. Place 3 Raffaello balls in the middle of the cake and place the rest evenly around the top edge. Cut the strawberries in half and lay them in between the Raffaello balls.

Decoration for the Easter Lamb:
For the Easter Lamb, do the exact same as for the normal cake, just without putting the strawberries on top of the cake. Instead, cover the whole top of the cake with the Raffaello balls. Create the head and ears of the lamb with the marzipan. Have a look at our picture to see the shape of the head and ears and it should be pretty easy to make. Make the eyes with the coffee or chocolate beans and with the end of a tea spoon make the nostril indents. Now just place the head carefully on the cake and voilà: the cute Easter Lamb is ready. For the final touch, cut the strawberries in half of lengthwise in slices and place them along the bottom edge all the way around the cake. Now your lamb is sitting on a lovely strawberry field.

Happy Easter and enjoy!