Easter Eggs between heaven and hell

 

Ingredients (for 27 Easter eggs):
 

• 1,5 kilogram dark chocolate
• 250 grams cocoa beans
• 500 grams white chocolate
• 150 grams desiccated coconut flakes
• 300 millilitres cream
• 7 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 100 millilitres espresso coffee
• Easter egg moulds
• cling film
• aluminium foil

Method:

The first task is roasting and shelling the cocoa beans. Place them into a big pan and roast them for about ten minutes over slow fire. They come roasted but they are a lot easier to shell after you roast them one more time. When you hear a slight crackling from the shells, they are done. Let them cool down a bit, then shell the cocoa beans and chop them. This requires quite a bit of patience.
 
Chop the dark chocolate and place it into a pot together with 5 tablespoons butter and 200 milliliters cream. Insert the pot into a slightly bigger pot, which holds some water. Put this double boiler over a small fire and wait until the chocolate has melted. Stir it well to combine all the ingredients, then add 2 tablespoons vanilla extract and the coffee and stir again. Finally add the chopped cocoa beans and stir again.

Prepare another double boiler like described above for the white chocolate. Chop the white chocolate, place it into the smaller pot and add 100 milliliters cream and 2 tablespoons butter. Put the double boiler over a low fire until the chocolate has melted. Then add 1-tablespoon vanilla extract and the coconut flakes and stir until everything is combined well.

Now prepare the Easter egg moulds. Cut pieces of cling film big enough to cover the inside of the moulds. They need to overhang a bit; the weight of the chocolate will push the cling film into the moulds. Place enough dark chocolate mix into the mould to cover the bottom. Gently push the chocolate down so it takes the shape of the mould. Be careful to leave some space for the white chocolate that comes on top.

Place the moulds in the freezer for about 15 minutes until the dark chocolate has hardened. Then take one half and spread enough white chocolate mix over it to make up the missing space. Place another half on top and press them well together. Place the full egg shape into the freezer again to set; five minutes or so should do the trick.

Finally take out the eggs from the freezer and carefully remove the moulds and the cling film. Wrap the ready eggs into aluminium foil. Continue with this process until you have used up all the chocolate mix. I always make a lot of Easter eggs for family and friends, but it takes quite some time to process the described amount above. If you don’t feel like doing so much, just halve or quarter the amounts given. Enjoy!

When the chocolate splits

When melting chocolate, many things can go wrong. Most likely, at one point or other, you will fight with a mixture that has split. That means, the chocolate does not like the way you treat it and separates into oil and solids. This happened to me quite often and there are several ways of resurrecting a split chocolate mixture.

For me, two methods work quite well. Put the bowl with the split mixture into the fridge for about 15 minutes and take a deep breath. Then take an electric hand mixer and whip the mixture furiously. Many times this helps. If the chocolate still does not yield and holds on to its split form, try to add some extra cream and whip again. So far, I have managed to save every stubborn chocolate mix in one or both of these ways. Good luck!

The history of Easter eggs

Easter eggs, celebrating life

My favourite Easter eggs were crafted in St. Petersburg, in the manufacture of Peter Carl Fabergé from 1885 to 1917. These precious jewels were designed mostly for the Russian Tsars Alexander III and Nicholas II as annual Easter gifts for Tsarinas Maria and Alexandra. It is believed that a total of 66 eggs were produced. Each one was unique, with some opening to reveal marvellous miniatures and others functioning as clocks. Only 57 have survived to the present day. 

Unlike the Christmas tree, the Easter egg is part of traditions which spread over thousands of years. In almost all ancient cultures eggs had been held as an emblem of life. Already 2500 years ago the ancient Zoroastrians painted eggs for Nowrooz, their New Year celebration, which falls on the spring equinox. At the Jewish Passover Seder, hard-boiled eggs called Beitzah dipped in salt water symbolize the Qorban Chagigah or Hashlamim, the festival peace-offerings sacrificed at the Temple in Jerusalem.

For Christians the egg symbolizes the resurrection of Jesus Christ: while being dormant it contains a new life sealed within it. However, the word Easter has a pagan origin. Historians have traced the origin of the word Easter to the Scandinavian word 'Ostra' and the Germanic 'Ostern' or 'Eastre'. All derive from the names of mythological goddesses of spring and fertility. 

Pagan origins did not stop the Roman Catholic Church to form legends connected with Easter eggs. One legend says hat Mary Magdalene was bringing cooked eggs to share with the other women at the tomb of Jesus, and the eggs in her basket miraculously turned brilliant red when she saw the risen Christ. The egg represents the boulder of the tomb of Jesus.

A different legend concerns Mary Magdalene's efforts to spread the Gospel. After the Ascension of Jesus, Mary went to the Emperor of Rome and greeted him with "Christ has risen," whereupon he pointed to an egg on his table and stated, "Christ has no more risen than that egg is red." It is said the egg immediately turned blood red.

In Europe the Easter egg tradition may have celebrated the end of the privations of Lent. During the strict Lenten fast of forty days no eggs were eaten. A notation in the household accounts of Edward I of England in the year 1307 showed an expenditure of eighteen pence for 450 eggs to be gold-leafed and coloured for Easter gifts. Nowadays, Easter eggs are decorated all over the world in many different ways.

The first chocolate Easter eggs were produced in Europe in the early 19th Century with France and Germany taking the lead in this new artistic confectionery. Today, chocolate eggs are available throughout the world. My favourite chocolate Easter eggs are made by the Swiss company Lindt.