Monday 21 April 2014

chocolate eggs

This Easter, after seeing this amazing post on one of our favourite food blogs (have a look around Ann's blog - she is INCREDIBLE!!) Zoe was really keen to make chocolate eggs. Her eagerness far surpassed mine. But, because I love her very much I agreed that she could have a go at creating some custom made chocolate eggs.
So, at 8pm - well after the younger children were in bed - we began. Zoe decided that her eggs needed to taste great, as well as look great. Because of this she was adamant that we use Cadbury chocolate. I was happy with that. Cadbury chocolate is wonderful. I don't really care for anything else but Cadbury! Unfortunately, 'real' chocolate like Cadbury chocolate (i.e. chocolate with cocoa butter in it) needs to be tempered if you are re shaping it. Otherwise it will lose it's shape at room temperature.

Tempering this bowl of deliciousness didn't sound very tricky.
Zoe and I soon discovered that it was a bit more difficult than we thought. We grated the chocolate in the Thermomix and then began melting it in the microwave according to Ann's instructions.
Despite having lots of fun filling the egg moulds in a variety of different ways, our chocolate didn't harden the way that tempered chocolate should.
We decided to clean up our mess and try again the next day. On our second attempt we used milk melts instead of 'real' chocolate. We had much greater success and filled the large eggs with jelly beans before joining the two halves together.




 
This was a wonderful experience. I enjoyed spending time with Zoe during the quiet hours of the evening. We laughed a lot and nibbled chocolate together. Zoe discovered how to remove bubbles by banging the egg moulds on the bench, that it is always best to clean up as you go and that she has a really cool Mum (okay, maybe not that!). Zoe also learned that things often look simple, but are sometimes more involved than they appear. And that you should always allow for twice as much time as you think you need!
Our neighbours were the recipients of the jelly bean eggs. With one jelly bean egg staying with Zoe who deserves to eat the fruits of her labours!

I hope you have had a safe and glorious Easter.

6 comments:

  1. I think it's wonderful that Zoe made her own eggs, with a bit of help from her cool mum!! I used to make easter eggs when i was younger but I never thought to put jelly beans inside! I bet the neighbours were very happy with their Easter surprise!

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  2. I'm with you and Zoe.....there is nothing quite like Mr Cadbury's chocolate taste sensation......BUT.....by the looks of yours and Zoe's delish chocolate Easter eggs.....I have been swayed!! What a wonderful experience for you and Zoe to make the eggs together, have all that fun, learn a few things along the way.....and of course nibble as you went along!! Lucky neighbours!!

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  3. You most certainly ARE a cool mum!! And with much more patience than I will ever have ... well done on a fantastic Easter project!

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  4. wow it all looks fantastic and yummy what a excellent job Zoe and you did.xx

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  5. How fun for you & Zoe! Your eggs look great!

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  6. I'm a Cadbury girl too! Wow Jeneta, you two did a wonderful job of the eggs, very clever... and patient too, good on you getting some lovely pics of your hard work!! x

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