Masterclass Make your own Easter egg

Make your own Easter egg

Jane Hornby shares the know-how you need to create beautiful and unique homemade Easter eggs – plus a key technique every budding chocolatier should master Photographs DAVID MUNNS

Striped chocolate Easter egg

This is a really satisfying ‘I made that’ project. Getting familiar with tempering – or the art of creating chocolate with the perfect shine and snap – will take your chocolate work to another level. It will also give Florentines, macaroons and choc- chip cookies a professional finish.

MAKES 1 x 14cm, 2 x 10cm or 4 x 8cm eggs PREP 45 mins plus cooling and chilling COOK 10 mins

A LITTLE EFFORT

200g/7oz good-quality milk chocolate, about 36% cocoa solids TO DECORATE 200g/7oz good-quality white chocolate pink food colouring gel (optional) 100g/4oz plain chocolate, 70% cocoa solids (optional)

PER 8cm EGG energy 674 kcals • fat 42g • saturates 24g • carbs 64g • sugars 60g • fibre 2g • protein 10g • salt 0.2g 1 Wash each half of your Easter egg mould with hot soapy water and a soft sponge, then dry carefully. Using a ball of cotton wool, buff the inside of the mould. The better the shine on the mould, the better the fnish on the chocolate. 2 Melt then temper the white chocolate for the brush strokes (see below left). 3 Colour half the melted white chocolate with a little of the gel if you want, then brush graphic stripes of chocolate onto the moulds. Let each colour set before you add the next (setting is really speedy if you’ve achieved good temper). Go over some stripes twice, to make the colours pop out. Repeat the melting and tempering process with the dark chocolate, if you like.

Equipment you’ll need

n Plastic Easter egg mould (made of two halves), either smooth or crackled. The large mould used in these photos is about 14cm, medium is 10cm and smaller ones 8cm. Available from specialist cake shops, including Lakeland, costing from £2. n Wide artist’s brush or clean pastry brush. n Kitchen thermometer that can read low temperatures. n Cotton or plastic gloves (from chemists). n A box, plus shredded paper or tissue to protect the egg. You could cover an old shoebox with pastel paper.

For super-shiny chocolate

Tempering is the process of heating then cooling chocolate to form a specifc type of crystals in the cocoa butter. If we simply melt and cool shop- bought chocolate, it will quickly ‘bloom’, with dots and streaks of cocoa butter. It melts quickly when touched too. Tempered chocolate will quickly set hard and shiny, won’t bloom, and shrinks as it cools, making it easy to remove from a mould. Here’s a simple method: n Break up 3/4 of the chocolate into a heatproof bowl. Melt until it is fowing and smooth. White chocolate should reach 43C, milk and dark 45C. n Add the remaining chocolate, chopped into small pieces. n Stir with a spatula until the pieces have melted and the thermometer shows 28C for milk and white, 30C for dark. This can take a while, so have patience and keep stirring. Use as soon as possible. If the chocolate starts to get too cold and thick as you use it, heat for just a few seconds and stir well. 4Line a baking sheet with parchment. Melt and temper the milk chocolate. Half-fll one mould with the chocolate, then tip it this way and that to completely cover the mould.

7Heat a baking sheet in the oven until warm. Put the gloves on (prevents fngerprints) and pick up one side of the egg. Any messy edges can be melted fat by holding them against the tray. Next, carefully rub the fat edge of the egg on the tray to melt it a little. 5 Pour the excess back into the chocolate bowl, and scrape a palette knife across the mould to clean it up. Repeat with the other half of the egg. Set the moulds, flat- side down, on the lined sheet. Transfer to the fridge and leave to set for about 10 mins. 6 When the chocolate is solid, fex the moulds to gently release. Take your time – you will see the air slowly creep its way between the plastic and the shiny, hard chocolate. Heat oven to 180C/ 160C fan/gas 4.

8Repeat with the second side. If you’re struggling to pick up the egg from the tray, use your palette knife to help. 9 Hold the melted edges of the egg together for a few moments until they stick. Wipe away any excess, then leave the egg to set in the fridge for a few mins. The egg is now ready to give or wrap up for Easter. Store in a cool place away from fuctuating temperatures.