Why Did My Easter Egg Nest Cake Batter Leak Out Of The Pan?

Our answer

Nigella's Easter Egg Nest Cake (from FEAST) is a type of "fallen" chocolate cake. The cake batter should be mousse-like when it is transferred to the springform pan. If the batter is runny at this stage then it is likely that the chocolate and butter mixture was slightly too warm when it was added to the egg yolks, making the mixture slightly runnier than it should have been. Also be gentle when folding the egg whites into the chocolate mixture, to make sure that you don't knock too much air out of them.

When in the oven, there are a couple of reasons why the cake batter could leak out of the pan. The first possibility is that the base of the springform pan was not fitted properly. The base usually fits more tightly when it is one way up than the other way up, so if it was inserted into the springform upside down, or maybe not straight, then the fit will not be as snug and batter could run out. The other potential reason is that the oven was not properly preheated before the pan was put into the oven and the batter started to melt out before the outside of the cake could start to set. Make sure that you turn the oven on far enough in advance that it is fully heated by the time the cake batter is ready to bake.