The Virgin Easter Egg Maker
This year I've decided to have a go at making my own Easter eggs. I'm obsessed with single-use plastic and with Easter not far away I wanted to look at different ways of making my own gifts for friends and family and reduce the amount of packaging that comes hand in hand with Easter eggs.
After a plea out on Facebook, a friend recommended Lakeland to get the moulds from; they're see-through, which is a bonus, (I'll come to that later on) and re-usable and cost £3.32. The pack contains four large half shells and four mini egg moulds, each one will make18.
Now for the Fun Part - Lovely Gooey Chocolate
Break up the chocolate into cubes and place in a heat resistant bowl over simmering hot water. As the chocolate starts to melt give it an occasional stir, when the chocolate has melted and ready to use, take it off the pan; it does need to cool a little, so allow it to do so, otherwise it's going to be too runny to use. Once layering the mould, you don't need to keep putting the bowl back on the pan; that was the first mistake I made; the chocolate stays perfectly fluid and forms a good consistency, it won't cool as rapidly as you'd think, in fact I got all four layers complete before it stiffened too much to seal both halves.
When it comes to putting the layers of chocolate into the mould, don't be tempted to put the chocolate into the base first, start with the top and try and get it as near to the top rim of the egg as possible, remember you're going to have to seal the egg eventually and if you don't get this as perfect as possible it's not going to work otherwise. Before refrigerating, check to see if you've covered each part of the mould; this is the advantage of them being see-through.
The mini moulds fill brilliantly, I used a teaspoon; the larger ones I used a dessert spoon, it does suggest a cooking brush, but I think the spoon works better, but it's something that I might try on another occasion The instructions also suggest that you put them into the fridge for 20 minutes, personally I would suggest longer, because as soon as I started handling them they melted at my touch, could just be me....;-/.
Putting the Melted Chocolate into the Mould
Initially I had the mould flat, but in the end I handled it and put it at angles to fill the sides and bottom with chocolate. Don't worry that it might be messy inside, nobody's going to see that. I would leave the moulds in the fridge for 20 mins each time you complete a layer. Don't be tempted to skimp on the time though, that's when you'll start to get problems and it won't work. The instructions also suggest four layers and I think that's right; you'll get the right thickness of egg, plus you've got to get the egg halves out of the moulds, so it needs some strength.
Mini Eggs
With these little eggs I would be tempted to leave them as halves, when I tried to put them together it was difficult because (obviously) the base surface of the egg isn't necessarily going to be totally flat, when I attempted it, mine looked like an egg sandwich!! (Look at my attempt at the top of the image below) One thing I noticed when I tipped out the mini eggs - they didn't have a sheen to them, I think this happened when I put the warm melted chocolate into the moulds, I'm going to experiment and next time try putting the mould into the fridge to cool, so that the heat of the chocolate is cooled immediately.
On this occasion I bought three 110g Cadbury's Dairy Milk bars, this let me make one large egg and 8 little eggs, if you are going to go with this amount, don't be tempted to nick any chocolate, because you won't have enough otherwise!! Don't forget you need to seal the two egg halves together, so you need to leave a little aside, once this is done, go for it!! After saying earlier that you don't need to put the chocolate back on to the pan, I did in the end, just because it made the chocolate more pliable and smoother to use as a sealent. Use your finger, it's much better and you can control where the chocolate goes, it's so much easier and far more satisfying. Put the completed egg back into the fridge and leave there for a good 25 mins, if not longer.
Taking the Eggs Out of the Moulds
Now for the bit I was panicking about - getting the egg out of the mould, I would suggest placing it on a flat surface, put one hand over the top of the mould and with the other hand, pull the corners up to loosen the chocolate away. Each popped out a treat. Don't use a knife, you'll break the egg. Again I encountered the same problem problem as with the mini eggs, a lack of sheen and also smudging on the chocolate by handling the egg, I did read on the Internet somewhere, to avoid this problem wear cotton gloves, this is now something I'm going to search out and get, otherwise your eggs will look second rate.
Tah Dah!!!! An Easter egg.
Making your own Easter eggs is really good fun, but it is time consuming, what I like to think though, is that I'm reducing my plastic footprint, making personalised gifts and saving money, all of which far outweighs the time that it takes to make them. This would be a really good activity to do with children, but they do need to be patient.
My plan is to now think about the overall presentation of eggs, getting some ribbon, maybe some piping etc, to make them look presentable so that they really do look amazing.
If you're going to make your own eggs, do as I have, remember the old adage:
"Practice makes perfect."
This is my first attempt and I'm really pleased with the way they've turned out.
Keep an eye out for my next blog - making them look impressive!!