Easter time! I honestly think that it’s almost as fun as Christmas, and even better, without the dark afternoons and non stop entertaining… Easter, for me, is about family time… we get a break from school and work and have some real quality family moments… It’s relaxed, gives us time to recharge and enjoy the beginning of Spring time…. perfect!
So these are our attempt at home made chocolate eggs… now obviously with the zillions of options out there… from the elaborate, detailed Easter “monas” as they are called here…which are beautiful chocolate works of art, in any shape or form you desire… these are bought and shared amongst families here on Easter Sunday, a special tradition… to the foil-wrapped milk chocolate eggs you find in any supermarket or newsagent….
So why make your own? Well, it’s a lovely activity for the kids during the Easter break… and it’s the thrill of making your very own chocolate! It’s just a sweet thing to do really… but quite a messy business I do have to say…!
To make your own chocolate Easter eggs, first you will need some plastic chocolate moulds. These are available from any cake decorating supply shops.
Next, you will need some good quality chocolate. I recommend 70% cocoa chocolate, although you can also use white chocolate. I used 1 cup f dark chocolate and 1/2 cup white chocolate
You then have to melt the chocolate. I melted mine in heat proof dishes and heated them in the microwave in bursts of 40 seconds… remove, stir and heat again for 40 seconds and so on until the chocolate has fully melted.
Now that you’ve got your moulds out and you’ve melted your chocolate, the next steps are:
1. Make sure your moulds are clean and dry. Then, spray the inside of the mould with a small amount of vegetable oil – this will prevent the chocolate from sticking. You can use a brush to do this if you don’t have spray.
2. Pour a small amount of melted chocolate (about 1-2 tablespoons) into the mould, using the back of a spoon to coat the mould evenly. Use the back of a butter knife (or a palette knife) to remove excess chocolate from the edges of the mould. (You need a smooth surface so you can join the two halves together later).
The moulds need to go into the fridge to set the chocolate for about 30 minutes
You might find the chocolate is a little tough to get out of the moulds at first… just press onto the plastic moulds, face down and gently create air pockets… slowly the chocolate will come away from the plastic… just have a little patience, it’ll happen!
Then you need to glue the two halves together but getting a bit more of the melted chocolate and brushing it along the inside edge of one half and then sticking them together, hold them for a couple of seconds and then put them bag in the fridge to completely set again… while doing the glue bit, you can add sprinkles just to add a bit more colour!
And there you have it, your very own creations are ready to eat or give away as fun Easter gifts! Happy Easter!
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