Easter Eggs (Baking)

Member Name: Ali72

Product:	Baking
Date:	31/03/06 (3468 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quality chocolate!

Disadvantages: Effort

Yes, I know it seems as though we have only just emerged from Christmas and are still defrosting the car every morning, but it’s true – Easter is nearly here. Easter Sunday this year falls on April 16th and traditionally, gifts of eggs are given on this day, symbolising the arrival of spring (and, for Christians, when Jesus rose from the dead). These days, the eggs given are usually made of chocolate.

Now, I am a huge chocolate fan, but I must admit to being fairly turned off by the mass-produced eggs which fill the supermarket shelves at this time of year, as most are complete rubbish, not to mention the half ton of packaging which accompanies each one.

Why do I say that? Well, chocolate is made from cocoa beans. The beans are ground and the bitter fat, or “cocoa butter” is extracted; the resultant cocoa mass is re-combined with some of the cocoa butter and a sweetener to produce chocolate. Milk and white chocolate are produced by adding milk to the mix, together with small amounts of emulsifier and sometimes flavouring such as vanilla. Quality plain/dark chocolate should contain 70% cocoa solids or more. The best milk chocolate contains 30% or more cocoa solids and the finest white chocolate contains 25% or more cocoa butter.

Mass-produced chocolate tends to be of an inferior quality, with much lower cocoa solids content. The cocoa butter gets substituted by vegetable oil or other fats. Part of the reason for this, apart from the fact that it’s cheaper, is that it makes the chocolate easier to handle and to mould. Quality chocolate needs to be “tempered” by heating and cooling before use (more on that later) because of the unstable crystal structure of cocoa butter, and hollow moulded eggs have to be built up from several thin layers. Clearly, it is faster and cheaper to produce an egg from one thick layer of chocolate – but, sadly, the taste and “feel” of the chocolate suffers as a result.

The answer to all of this is to either buy your egg from a specialist shop (expensive) or to make your own (surprisingly cheap and easy). Making solid mini-eggs is particularly easy, and something that children really enjoy (under adult supervision of course, with hot melted chocolate around). To make your Easter eggs you will need:

For 1 large, hollow egg:

100g quality chocolate
1 x 14cm hollow egg mould
“Writing icing” for decorating the egg
Heatproof bowl
Metal spoon
Pastry brush

100g of chocolate is also enough to make around 12 solid “mini-eggs”


You can buy egg moulds from specialist kitchen shops, or recently I got a good deal on a batch from eBay – plastic moulds for two 14cm eggs, and 18 mini-eggs cost me approximately £2.50 including postage. The plastic moulds are fine for “domestic” use, and if you’re not too rough with them, they should last for several uses. However, if you really get the bug, you could buy a more robust, metal “commercial” mould which will probably outlive you. The cost of the chocolate will obviously depend on the quality and quantity that you purchase, but you should be able to buy 100g of a reasonable quality chocolate for around the £1 mark (or much less if you jump in your car, drive to Belgium and buy a sack load of chocolate buttons).

The first thing you should do is to make sure that all your equipment is very clean and dry. Wipe over the inside of the egg moulds (they come in two halves) with some kitchen paper. You could use a dab of vegetable oil on the paper, which gives the egg a shiny finish, but personally I’m a purist and prefer to do without.

Next you need to melt your chocolate. There are two main methods to do this: melting the chocolate in a bowl suspended over a saucepan of water, or in the microwave. There are pros and cons to each approach. If you use a water bath, it is easier to prevent the chocolate from overheating – ideally, you should aim to heat the chocolate to around 45C, and then let it cool, with stirring, to around 35C, ensuring a smooth finish to the set chocolate. However, there is the danger of getting water in your chocolate, which will prevent it from setting. I tend to stick to (carefully) using the microwave to bring the chocolate up to the right temperature. You might like to invest in a cooking thermometer, although you can tell roughly by dipping a (clean) finger in, as human body temperature is around 37C - but I am not really recommending that anyone do this, in case you scald yourself!

Once the chocolate is ready for use, use a metal spoon to transfer some into the mould. The first layer is the most important. Use the back of the spoon to spread the chocolate around, and use a pastry brush to sweep it right up to the edges. Then place it to set in the fridge – place it on a plate upside down, so that any “runs” go to the edge of the mould, and don’t pool into a mass at the bottom. It takes about 20 minutes for the chocolate to set, and then you need to repeat the process (reheating the chocolate if necessary) to build up 3 or 4 layers. Pay attention to the edges, which should be a good thickness to ensure that the two halves seal together without crumbling.

The best way that I have found to put the two halves together is as follows: run a warm knife across the flat surface of the mould so that you end up with a flat edge on both halves. Leave one half in its mould and carefully turn out the other half (very gentle pressure or you will collapse your egg). Run a small amount of melted chocolate around the edge of the half still in its mould, and lay the other half on top - this means that you don’t need to handle the chocolate too much, which can leave fingerprints, or smudge any design from the inside of the mould. Leave the whole egg to set in the fridge and then pop it out of the remaining half mould.

Solid eggs are slightly easier, as you just fill the moulds to the top with chocolate, leave them to set and stick the halves together. You can do this using the same method as above, or an easy way is to very briefly place the half egg flat side down on a warm plate, before pressing two halves together.

You can then decorate your eggs anyway you like. I use “writing icing” to personalise it, and add an Easter motif like a chick or bunny. You can stick on silver baubles, sprinkles, iced flowers, bows…the only limit is your imagination. Unfortunately though, Dooyoo doesn’t let me add photos to show you my masterpieces.

Happy Easter everyone, and don’t consume TOO much chocolate. Thanks for reading.

Summary: Don't settle for mass-produced eggs; have fun making your own