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.

Chocolate-Easter-Eggs

In a few days we celebrate Easter. This year I am organized, hurray: Well in advance I decided to create homemade chocolate eggs for my men. When I announced this plan my husband and my son lit up. Rarely do I get such a gratifying response. I went to work in the kitchen with the help of my little monster who can be quite enthusiastic when it comes to chocolate. Although we had some failures along the way, I am happy to present to you three different recipes for chocolate Easter eggs. To be honest, they are not fit to win a beauty contest as you can see in the picture. But the taste hits the spot!

In recent years I had bought chocolate Easter eggs from various outlets in Goa but I was never happy. This year, I finally found affordable aluminum moulds for eggs in a shop in Panjim. You can buy silicone egg moulds on ebay.in too, but they cost a fortune.

Melting and moulding the chocolate I fondly remembered the Easter egg hunts which my parents organised on every Easter Sunday morning. They made a nest for each of us children with tons of chocolate and coloured eggs, and then they hid it in the garden. We had to find it and we were allowed to indulge in the sweets. Good, old times, nobody thought about a sugar rush back then.

Wishing you wonderful Easter holidays and happy cooking, always!

Kornelia Santoro with family

Truffle Easter Eggs – pure pleasure

 

I make three different truffle recipes for Easter eggs, based on the recipes for chocolate truffles on my website. For every recipe you need moulds for egg halves. I use aluminium moulds which are 7 centimetres long and 5.5 centimetres wide. Each chocolate egg consists of 2 halves, glued together by melted chocolate.

For melting chocolate you absolutely need a double boiler! This is simply done by inserting a smaller into a bigger pot which contains some water. Chocolate should never experience direct heat. When you overheat chocolate you get a crumbly mess which does neither taste nor look good. You can melt chocolate in the microwave too. Just chop the chocolate and place it into a plastic mixing bowl, add the cream and butter and nuke it in one-minute intervals until it is melted.

When you create these chocolate delights, make sure you have enough space available in your freezer and your fridge. Before you can finish one egg, the mixture has to set. The quickest way to achieve this is putting the moulds in the freezer. I use semi-sweet chocolate which is sold in blocks of one kilogram in supermarkets. If you prefer, you can also use milk chocolate or dark chocolate.

These truffles need to be kept in the fridge. Because they contain so much cream and butter they soften very quickly at room temperature. They make lovely gifts for your near and dear ones. Wrap them into cling film and then into gift paper and present them on Easter Sunday.

Mocha Truffle

Ingredients (for 5 eggs):

• 300 grams chocolate
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons cream
• ½ cup sifted cocoa powder
• 100 ml mocha coffee
• Oil or butter for greasing the moulds

Method:

I make the coffee used in this recipe with a simple mocha machine, available everywhere in India: You put water in the base, insert the filter filled with coffee and screw on the top. You put the machine on the fire and wait that the mocha bubbles. Some people call this espresso. My Italian husband however insists that this kind of coffee is called mocha. If you don’t have a mocha machine, any kind of strong coffee will do.

Place the chocolate, the butter, the cream and the cocoa powder into the smaller pot of a double boiler (description see above please). Put some water into the bigger pot, insert the smaller pot and put on the fire. When the water starts to bubble, switch off the fire and wait for some minutes. Stir and check if all the chocolate is melted. If not, switch on the fire again.

While the chocolate is melting, prepare your egg moulds. Spread oil or butter evenly over the surface. That helps popping out the egg halves when they are set. I use cold pressed coconut oil because it spreads easier than butter. I just pour a tiny amount into every egg mould and spread it with my finger.

When the chocolate has completely melted, stir the coffee into the mix. Don’t do this at the beginning of the melting process because the chocolate might curdle. Combine everything well. You should have a shiny pool of dark chocolate. Fill the egg halves with the truffle mix and put them into the freezer. Make sure you keep a bit of melted chocolate to glue the egg halves together.

After one or two hours, the chocolate should be set. Popping them out of the moulds can be a tad tricky. Insert a sharp knife on one side between the mould and the chocolate and apply some pressure. Ideally, the egg half should come loose smoothly.

In case you have some problems, don’t despair. Try to put the chocolate back into the freezer for some time to set a bit harder. If your egg half deforms during the exit from the mould, let it rest a bit at room temperature. The truffle softens very quickly and you can smooth out uneven bits with your fingers. Keep the eggs in a closed container in the fridge. You can also wrap each single egg into cling film.

Almond Crunch

Ingredients (for five eggs):

• 300 grams chocolate
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons cream
• ½ cup sifted cocoa powder
• 100 grams almonds
• Oil or butter for greasing the moulds

Method:

Roast the almonds by spreading them over a cookie sheet and placing them in the oven at lowest temperature. Toss them around once in a while. They are ready when you smell their roasted aroma and they show brown marks on their skin. Be careful, they burn quickly. You can roast the almonds also in a non-stick pan. Let the roasted almonds cool down and chop them roughly.

Melt the chocolate with the butter, the cream and the cocoa powder in a double boiler as described in the recipe for Mocha truffle. Stir everything well until you have a smooth cream, then add the roasted almonds and combine everything.

Oil or butter your moulds, fill them with the chocolate-almond-mix and put them in the freezer. Make sure you keep some chocolate mix. When the halves are set, pop them out of the moulds and glue them together with the kept chocolate mix. Keep the finished eggs in the fridge.

Coconut truffles

Ingredients (for five eggs):

• 200 grams desiccated coconut flakes
• 100 ml sweetened, condensed milk
• 5 tablespoons icing sugar
• 200 grams dark chocolate
• Oil or butter for greasing the moulds

Method:

Mix the desiccated coconut flakes with the condensed milk and the icing sugar in a bowl. Keep it in the fridge until firm. Prepare the moulds by greasing them with oil or butter.

Fill the egg halves with the coconut mix and place them into the freezer. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler like described in the recipe for mocha truffles. Pop the egg halves out of the moulds and glue them together with melted chocolate.

Then cover the eggs with chocolate. This is easier said then done. Prepare to have chocolate all over your fingers. I spread with a normal knife over one half of the egg. Then I put the egg in the fridge for a few minutes. When the chocolate is set, I cover the other half.  Keep the eggs in the fridge at all times.