I've noticed that in recent years most of the Easter eggs you can buy come in boxes accompanied by candy - but the candy is usually just in the box, not inside the egg.
Anyway, for my family this year I contemplated buying the egg + candy in a box combos - and then I thought, why not make my own?
I popped down to Moore Wilson's (which is a marvellous Wellington institution, I'll have to give you a tour sometime) to get a 2.5kg bag of Callebaut dark chocolate chips. I was hoping they'd also have chocolate molds but I left it a bit late and they were sold out so I had to also pay a visit to Kirkcaldie & Stains (a department store downtown). And of course I had to visit the supermarket to stock up on delicious things to stow inside - some caramel-filled mini-eggs, some Roses chocolates from the pick & mix aisle, some scorched almonds, mini Creme eggs and mini Lindor eggs.
I started off with some white chocolate melts, to make the eggs a bit more interesting. I brushed the molds with sunflower oil to help get the set eggs out then melted the white chocolate. For the first one I brushed the white chocolate on in a haphazard manner to make a mottled effect.
Then I tried a couple where I spattered the chocolate on by flicking a fork dipped in the melted chocolate about above the mold.
Then the most delicious part - the melted Callebaut chocolate. This is couverture chocolate so needs to be tempered, a process I haven't properly mastered yet sadly. Oh well - another excuse to spend more time playing with chocolate? I think so!
Then I smeared the chocolate onto the molds - I chilled them in the freezer beforehand to make the chocolate set just a bit quicker, to help prevent all the chocolate running into the middle. Then I set them in the freezer - I know this isn't kosher chocolate-making process but I wasn't sure how else to do it and get the chocolate to set quickly enough! Advice from anyone in the know is more than welcome!
This is the first egg I made - the one where I brushed the white chocolate on. Getting the egg halves out of the molds was a bit of a challenge and most of them suffered some sort of breakage - but chocolate glue fixed that!
Next I used melted chocolate to join the two halves together - but first I packed the egg full of delicious little treats.
I made a couple of plain ones (for the one on the right above I put some gold flecks on the mold before putting the chocolate in), and then painted gold and silver on them to make them look a bit more festive.
Then I packaged them up in cellophane - a tad scruffily I fear but I wanted a see-through wrapping and it is quite tricky to wrap an egg-shape in cellophane neatly! Another skill I obviously need to refine...
I kept one aside, for us to break open (just because it sounded like fun). And to make it even more fun:
I thought this view was more promising than your average, just-broken-into Cadbury egg:
And, well, I had a hammer. It had to be done...
Never fear: the remains didn't last for long!
How did you celebrate Easter this year?
Choctastic.
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome. You are, as always, my cooking idol...
ReplyDeleteAww, thanks Sylvia! Can't wait to see what you're going to break out for the bake-off, though - bet you've got some seriously stunning idea up your sleeve!
ReplyDeletethe gold one tasted pretty good
ReplyDelete