I love hatching eggs, but the few times I’ve done it I’ve managed a ratio of a 100% cockerels.
Instead of dealing with the heartbreak of rehoming boys, this Easter I’ve decided to ‘hatch up’ some edible eggs.
This recipe requires relatively few ingredients & can be customized to use your favorite candies, or whatever you have in the house. I used shredded coconut, white chocolate melting wafers, a small bag of Jelly Belly’s, half a package of yellow chick Peeps & some green food coloring.
I measured my edible coconut ‘grass’ by laying it out on my display plate. Once I decided how much the plate would hold I transferred the coconut to a zip close sandwich bag & added the green food coloring. The amount of food coloring you will use is personal preference & will depend on what shade of color you’re looking for. I started by squeezing about 3-4 drops onto the coconut, zipping the bag closed & shaking it like crazy. (Make sure there is some air in the bag to give the coconut & the dye lots of room to mix around.) Keep adding the food coloring 3-4 drops at a time & continue shaking until you get your desired shade. I think I ultimately used between 15-20 drops for my edible grass.
If you have a double broiler, now is the time to break that out. I do not have one, so to melt the candy wafers I made an impromptu double broiler with a sauce pan filled about 3/4 full of water, then placed a Pyrex baking bowl sitting on top of it. Turn the heat on med/high & stir the candy continually.
Once the candy is melted into a smooth consistency, use a basting brush to paint a coating of chocolate inside the egg shaped silicone molds. The first layer will be a little thin, so you’ll want to paint on two or three more coats of candy until you can’t see the color of the silicone peeking through.
I was in a time crunch so I placed the silicone mold on a cookie sheet & popped it into the freezer for a few minutes. (*Note: The picture gives the eggs a weird illusion of being full. They are not. This is a hollow egg recipe.)
Here was the moment of truth. This was the first time I’ve made candy eggs & also the first time using a silicone mold. I had no idea if this was going to work, but the eggs peeled out of the silicone so smooth & easy. I admit I started squealing & doing a little happy dance at this point.
Notice that from here on out I am wearing latex gloves. This will help lessen the dull, smudgy, fingerprints you’ll leave on the chocolate if you don’t wear them. The eggs are fragile & will still smudge a little so be careful not to touch them too much.
Here are the hollow, chocolate eggs waiting to be stuffed. I put one marshmallow Peep into three of the halves & surrounded them in Jelly Belly’s. Those will make up the bottom half of your egg.
The tricky part is melting the edges of the egg just a tiny bit so both half’s will stick together.
My brilliant DD3 suggested a frying pan on very low heat. It worked great, but you will have to be quick & careful. The chocolate melts very fast at this point, so you only want to rub it in the warm pan for a second. It is also very thin and you will poke your fingers through if you are not being extremely careful.
Gently, but quickly, stick the slightly melted top egg to the already filled bottom egg.
Use your finger to smooth & seal the edges. Thats it. You’re done.
Now set your stuffed, sealed eggs on a bed of edible coconut grass & wait for them to hatch.
Looks like this one might need some hatching assistance.
And there you have it. A fun, successful & delicious Easter hatch. Guaranteed to be all pullets.
Next time I might try melting milk or dark chocolate candy wafers with pastel colored M&M’s. The sky is really the limit with these things. I hope you enjoy!
Instead of dealing with the heartbreak of rehoming boys, this Easter I’ve decided to ‘hatch up’ some edible eggs.
This recipe requires relatively few ingredients & can be customized to use your favorite candies, or whatever you have in the house. I used shredded coconut, white chocolate melting wafers, a small bag of Jelly Belly’s, half a package of yellow chick Peeps & some green food coloring.
I measured my edible coconut ‘grass’ by laying it out on my display plate. Once I decided how much the plate would hold I transferred the coconut to a zip close sandwich bag & added the green food coloring. The amount of food coloring you will use is personal preference & will depend on what shade of color you’re looking for. I started by squeezing about 3-4 drops onto the coconut, zipping the bag closed & shaking it like crazy. (Make sure there is some air in the bag to give the coconut & the dye lots of room to mix around.) Keep adding the food coloring 3-4 drops at a time & continue shaking until you get your desired shade. I think I ultimately used between 15-20 drops for my edible grass.
If you have a double broiler, now is the time to break that out. I do not have one, so to melt the candy wafers I made an impromptu double broiler with a sauce pan filled about 3/4 full of water, then placed a Pyrex baking bowl sitting on top of it. Turn the heat on med/high & stir the candy continually.
Once the candy is melted into a smooth consistency, use a basting brush to paint a coating of chocolate inside the egg shaped silicone molds. The first layer will be a little thin, so you’ll want to paint on two or three more coats of candy until you can’t see the color of the silicone peeking through.
I was in a time crunch so I placed the silicone mold on a cookie sheet & popped it into the freezer for a few minutes. (*Note: The picture gives the eggs a weird illusion of being full. They are not. This is a hollow egg recipe.)
Here was the moment of truth. This was the first time I’ve made candy eggs & also the first time using a silicone mold. I had no idea if this was going to work, but the eggs peeled out of the silicone so smooth & easy. I admit I started squealing & doing a little happy dance at this point.
Notice that from here on out I am wearing latex gloves. This will help lessen the dull, smudgy, fingerprints you’ll leave on the chocolate if you don’t wear them. The eggs are fragile & will still smudge a little so be careful not to touch them too much.
Here are the hollow, chocolate eggs waiting to be stuffed. I put one marshmallow Peep into three of the halves & surrounded them in Jelly Belly’s. Those will make up the bottom half of your egg.
The tricky part is melting the edges of the egg just a tiny bit so both half’s will stick together.
My brilliant DD3 suggested a frying pan on very low heat. It worked great, but you will have to be quick & careful. The chocolate melts very fast at this point, so you only want to rub it in the warm pan for a second. It is also very thin and you will poke your fingers through if you are not being extremely careful.
Gently, but quickly, stick the slightly melted top egg to the already filled bottom egg.
Use your finger to smooth & seal the edges. Thats it. You’re done.
Now set your stuffed, sealed eggs on a bed of edible coconut grass & wait for them to hatch.
Looks like this one might need some hatching assistance.
And there you have it. A fun, successful & delicious Easter hatch. Guaranteed to be all pullets.
Next time I might try melting milk or dark chocolate candy wafers with pastel colored M&M’s. The sky is really the limit with these things. I hope you enjoy!
