Every year we end up with a truckload of excess chocolate or if you’re like us, take advantage of post-Easter sales – score! Here’s some easy chocolate recipes to put your Easter chocolate haul to good use.

Are you ready to break the cycle of binge-eating a heroic amount of chocolate in 72 hours, and writhing in discomfort for a week? Never fear, Crema Coffee Garage is here.

We’ve rounded up some recipes just for you - the simple low-effort saviours that can also be truly creative decadent creations without a Certificate in Patisserie. And of course, where we could add coffee to it we do because more coffee is better.

The week between the Easter long weekend and the Anzac Day public holiday give us the same vibes as Christmas and New Year’s Day – what time is it? Do rules even apply? Isn’t everything calorie free?

Sadly, time and the rules of existence still apply during these periods and our stomachs and sleeping patterns remain very much aware of this.

What’s the answer to all of this? Moderation! That’s right, you can act like a chocolate-fuelled goblin all year long if you simply plan ahead. Let’s take a look at how to use your leftover Easter eggs with some no-brainer tasty chocolate recipes -Reduce reassign, re-use, recycle – eh?

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Chocolate cake recipes, of course! But most especially, easy chocolate cake recipes are what we’re about.

There is never an occasion where a rich chocolate fudge cake isn’t welcome. Take it to that Anzac Day barbeque. Or it eat it for breakfast – being an adult can be so much fun.

Chocolate Fudge Cake

Cake Ingredients

• - 1 1/3 cups plain flour
• - 2 tbsps cocoa powder
• - 1 tsp baking powder
• - 1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda
• - 200g dark chocolate or milk chocolate, chopped finely – Insert Easter eggs here
• - 1/2 cup (125ml) milk
• - 225g unsalted butter, softened, chopped
• - 1 cup caster sugar
• - 1 tsp vanilla extract
• - 4 eggs
• - Optional: Add 90ml of cooled espresso coffee

Chocolate Ganache Icing Ingredients

• - 150g dark chocolate or milk chocolate - Insert Easter eggs here
• - 125ml pure cream
• - 20g butter
• - Crushed Easter eggs, to decorate

Chocolate Cake Method

1. 1. Preheat your oven to 160°C and grease a 24cm round cake tin – springform cake tins work best! 
2. 2. In one bowl combine the flour, cocoa, bi card soda, and baking powder together by sifting each one atop the other. Put aside the bowl. 
3. 3. Using a heatproof bowl, melt the chocolate slowly. This can be done by using different methods including a water bath, or slowly and gently in the microwave. Allow to cool while completing the next step. 
4. 4. In a separate bowl – this is the third one, are you following? Beat the sugar and eggs together until white and fluffy. You can use electric beaters, stick blenders, or even a standard whisk if you have enough muscle. Next add the vanilla and eggs, adding one egg at a time, mixing them well between each one. Lastly, begin pouring in your melted chocolate 
5. 5. Once the tasty chocolate mixture has been well combined, start adding in the powdered ingredients from the first bowl and a third of the milk set aside. If you’re adding coffee, do this during this stage. Go gradually, making sure to mix well in between each addition until the mixture is super smooth. 
6. 6. Pour the cake batter into your greased cake tin, and bake for between 45-55 minutes depending on your individual oven. Make sure to check that the cake is placed in the best place for even cooking – for many that would be the middle rack, but each oven can have its sweet spots – haha! 
7. 7. Check your cake is ready by inserting a skewer or something similar into the middle of the cake – if it comes out clean (no soggy batter stuck to it) then it’s ready to come out! Allow to cool on the bench in the cake tin for 10 minutes before removing it, and transferring it to a cooling rack to finish up. 
8. 8. Wait until the cake is completely cooled before covering with icing or it’ll be a melted mess – about an hour of cooling usually does the trick.

Chocolate Ganache Icing Method

1. 1. Combine all your ingredients – butter, chocolate, and pure cream – in a heatproof bowl and slowly melt whilst mixing together. This can be done using the same methods outlined above for the cake, though we suggest the water bath method for this one to be extra sure you won’t experience any splitting. 
2. 2. Mix until well combined and smooth, and set aside to cool for about 30 minutes before using to make sure it’s had a chance to thicken right up. 
3. 3. Using a butter knife or baking spatula, spread your decadent ganache on your finished (now cooled) cake. You can stick to the top, or cover the sides as well – this is your show baby!

Want to add a little extra flair? Crush up some more Easter eggs and sprinkle across the top, or around the sides of the cake using the ganache icing to make it stick. Yummmmmmm!

Anzac biccies could be chocolate chip cookies, right? Or maybe chocolate coated? How to make Anzac Biscuits, again – easy Anzac biscuits - with Easter-style.

This recipe is a total no-brainer – we already have all the things and the perfect opportunity! Let us help you help yourself with some great recipe ideas for the main currency of Australian socialising – biccies!

The first step is to have a solid Anzac Biscuit recipe, the second is to identify opportunities for chocolate additions so let’s take a look.

Anzac Biscuits

Ingredients

• - 1 cup plain flour
• - 1 cup rolled oats
• - 1 cup desiccated coconut, unsweetened
• - 3/4 cup white sugar, caster sugar works best
• - 150g / 5oz unsalted butter
• - 4 tbsps golden syrup
• - 1 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate soda)
• - 1 cup Chocolate – crushed or melted (see suggestions in method section)

Method

1. 1. Preheat your oven to 180°C or 160°c if fan-forced 
2. 2. Line 2 flat baking trays with baking paper 
3. 3. Mix the flour, oats, coconut, and sugar together in a bowl 
4. 4. In a second heat-proof bowl, melt the butter and golden syrup together in a saucepan over medium heat until completely melted and combined.  
5. 5. Remove the pan from heat, then add your baking soda – the mixture will fizz up, so don’t be alarmed. It will settle in moments with slow continued stirring.
6. 6. Add this melted mixture slowly to the bowl of combined dry ingredients, until mostly combined. At this point, add your crushed Easter egg chocolate if you want to add chocolate chips to your biscuits. 
7. 7. Once all the ingredients have been combined, roll a tablespoons-worth of cookie dough into balls, and press into flat patties on the prepared baking trays – keep them around 3cm apart to have room for expansion!
8. 8. Bake each tray for 15 minutes for crunchy results, or 12 minutes for chewy biscuits. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes on a cooling tray before packing them into containers.
9. 9. Optional: For chocolate-coated Anzac biscuits, you can melt your crushed Easter chocolate – check these methods out – and either spoon the melted chocolate across the back of the cooled biscuits for a real ‘digestive biscuit’ appeal, or you can simply dip them in for a half-n-half appeal.

Other than the fact that these cookies are delicious, the truly awesome part is how easy it is to store your dough for later use. Simply roll it into a log and tightly wrap it with cling wrap, and store it in the freezer. When you’re ready to bake some more – allow it to defrost slowly overnight in the fridge before getting your bake on!

Chocolate mousse recipes & Easter chocolate, a love story – an easy one

If baked goods ain’t your thing, then surely you’re partial to some ice-cold fluffy chocolate delights of the pudding variety. Perfect for individual serving sizes or just one gluttonous bowl to eat alone (we support acts of self-care here) there are no bad times or days to eat chocolate mousse.

Chocolate Mousse

Recipe

• - 300g dark or milk chocolate, roughly chopped – insert Easter eggs here
• - 3 eggs, at room temperature
• - 1/4 cup of caster sugar
• - 1 tbsp good-quality cocoa powder, sifted
• - 300ml thickened cream
• - Optional extras: Crushed easter eggs/grated chocolate and whipped cream to serve on top

Method

1. 1. Melt the chocolate slowly in a heat-proof bowl using the method that suits you best – see here. Set the bowl aside to cool.
2. 2. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together until white and fluffy – they should have doubled their volume approximately. Then fold in the cocoa powder and cooled melted chocolate prepared earlier, keep gently mixing until well combined. Be careful not to stir so vigorously that it pops the bubbles whipped up in the eggs and sugar. 
3. 3. In a separate bowl beat the thickened cream until just firm - Be careful not to keep beating the cream past this point, or it can re-liquefy and you’ll need to start again with new cream. Gently fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture until well combined.
4. 4. Spoon the mixture into 6 separate serving glasses – or keep it all to yourself in one bowl – and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour before consuming or serving.

Now, are you ready for the satisfaction of fresh chocolate mousse AND recycling? You better be. And if you’re feeling super fancy, how about lining the bottom of those mousse glasses with some of the freshly baked chocolate cake you whipped up too?

We know, and you’re welcome.

Decadent coffees, hot chocolate recipes – oh my! So many ways to make your Easter eggs shine.

Now we wouldn’t be us if we didn’t remind you that coffee and chocolate are BFF status. So for a few extra little recipe nuggets try:

The Best Iced Coffee for chocolate lovers

Mix fresh chocolate ganache with frosty cold milk and cold brew coffee, and live your chocolate milk dreams without sacrificing god-tier cold coffee.

How do you make chocolate ganache in just a few minutes? Combine equal parts chocolate and pure cream together, stirring over heat until completely melted. Allow to cool for 30 minutes to thicken up, then use for up to 2 weeks (refrigerated).

Luckily, freshly brewed cold brew coffee has a similar shelf life so they’re obviously made to be together! You can grab it ready to go in-store in our Espresso Bar showrooms or you can grab yourself a super affordable cold brew kit to make it at home forever.

Belgian Hot Chocolate recipe to put on regular rotation, or is it a mocha?

It sounds so fancy and it tastes so fancy, but a Belgian hot chocolate is simple. The best things often are.

Take your milk and heat in a small saucepan over medium heat stirring gently and continuously – for a purpose-built option we strongly suggest checking out the Jura Automatic Milk Frother.

Once the milk feels warm – about 50°C if you have a thermometer – add in your crushed Easter chocolate to taste and continue stirring until the chocolate has been completely melted into the milk. Remove from the heat once you begin to see the very first tiny bubbles – or when the temperature has reached 65-70°C – you don’t want to burn your milk! Pour into mugs and serve immediately, hot and steaming.

If you’re a lucky duck and you have a milk frother gadget, it’ll turn off for you automatically at just the right temperature. We do not recommend steaming milk and chocolate together using an espresso machine steam wand, but you can steam the milk first and mix the chocolate into the jug once finished. Although you’ll find many videos and baristas who back that method, doing it together can cause damage to your machine and create health issues, so steer clear of the temptation.

We recommend a ratio of 2 parts chocolate to 8 parts milk, but you can adjust this to suit your palate.

You can even add in some cold brew coffee during the heating process for a homemade mocha – did you know that cold brew can be served hot?

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Don’t let Easter gifts go to waste, or miss the yearly sales on Easter eggs pass you by – get creative!

To love all things coffee and to inspire your ultimate brewing experience, the team at Crema Coffee Garage has to be across everything that delights our customers. And chocolate is a favourite pairing with coffee, a tale as old as time. You can’t truly love something if you can’t appreciate the complimentary supporting acts. It doesn’t fit the exact mold for it to be ‘real coffee’ – if our customers love it, it's real coffee.

Coffee is more than an organic compound and it’s bigger than specialised knowledge. Its community, its comfort, its culture, and its DAMNED DELICIOUS.

If you’re stuck for some chocolate-coffee inspiration or want to pick up some gear to make it a reality, get in touch with the Crema Crew in-store, via email, or on the phone - and they’ll hook you up with exactly what you need.