RECIPES WITH DUCK EGGS RECIPES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease then line 2 x 20cm cake tins with baking parchment and grease the parchment too.
• Crack the duck eggs into a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar and whisk for about 5 mins until pale and fluffy. Keep whisking as you add the melted butter, a little at a time, followed by the vanilla extract.
• Fold in the flour and baking powder with a large metal spoon until you can’t see any pockets of flour. Divide the mixture between the two prepared tins and bake for 35 mins or until bouncy to the touch and a skewer poked into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Leave the cakes to cool in the tin, then turn out onto wire racks when cool enough to handle.
• To make the buttercream, tip the butter into a big bowl and whisk with an electric hand whisk. Add the icing sugar, 2-3 tbsp at a time, until it’s all incorporated, adding the milk halfway through the process. Scrape the seeds out of a vanilla pod, add them in and whisk again. Transfer half the buttercream to another bowl and, if using, stir your food colouring into one of the mixtures. I used blue and a dash of green to create a classic duck egg shade.
• When the buttercream mixtures are ready and the cake is cold, level the cakes with a bread knife, cut each one in half through the middle and stick all the layers together with the uncoloured buttercream. Cover the whole cake with a thin layer of the coloured buttercream – this will seal in any crumbs. Chill the cake for 30 mins, then cover with the rest of the buttercream and use a palette knife or pastry scraper to make the buttercream flat.
• To finish, sprinkle about 1/4 tsp of cocoa powder onto the cake to create a speckled design. Repeat this in different sections of the cake, then top with a cluster of mini chocolate eggs and serve. Will keep for 2-3 days.

Steps:

• Drop the duck eggs into boiling water. Cook for 7 minutes, then rinse under cold water and leave in cold water for 10 minutes to cool completely. Peel.
• Strip the skins from the sausages, then mix with the sage and parsley and season well. Divide the mixture into 4, then flatten each into a circle on 4 pieces of cling film. This will make it easier to form around the eggs.
• Dust the peeled eggs with flour then sit each on the sausage meat. Use the cling film to mould the sausage meat around each egg, ensuring there are no gaps.
• Roll each egg in flour, then the beaten egg, then breadcrumbs. Repeat with the beaten egg and breadcrumbs. Chill until ready to cook.
• Heat groundnut oil, no more than 1/3 deep in a pan, to 180°C Cook the eggs for 5-6 minutes, turning a few times until golden and crisp. Serve with brown sauce or ketchup.