CHOCOLATE EASTER EGGS (gluten free)

After my disappearance (the last one caused by university), I bring you a tutorial, that you may find very basic, but I would have appreciated at the beginning.

The first time I made Easter eggs I was so lost and could find answer to my questions: how many layer of chocolate? How do I put together both halves? How do I touch them without melting?

Well, I’ve tried to make a guide as complete as possible, with all the stuff I’ve learnt and I will be upgrading it if I find out new tips, so you can get perfect Easter eggs.

So I encourage you to try them!

1. Choosing chocolate: no matter if you’re using white, milk or dark chocolate, it has to be a good quality chocolate, as it is the only ingredient.

2. Tempering: here you have a tutorial I made a while ago where I explain the process. Yes, I know it’s quite boring, but if you skip this step your eggs aren’t going to be shiny and they are going to melt so easily. It’s really important to use a good thermometer, I used one that didn’t work properly for a long time and the difference is huge.

3. Molds: you don’t need to spend a lot of money, mine are really simple, made of plastic. I recommend that you don’t get those with pieces to attach one half to another, because it’s useless and makes more difficult to smooth the edges.

4. Process (I don’t have photos because it’s so messy and I didn’t have help, but I’ll try to include them in the future):

• The first time, make it simple, don’t try to make decorations, you’ll have time for that.
• Start filling the whole mold with the tempered chocolate.
• Put the mold upside down to empty it, it must be a thin layer.
• With a spatula, smooth the surface.
• Chill in the fridge for a few minutes.
• Repeat the process (fill, empty, smooth). You need to be quick, because the first layer is cold so it’s going to solidify easily.
• Chill for a couple of hours in the fridge.

5. Demold: from now on I suggest you to use gloves suitable for food manipulation (the thicker the better) so the chocolate doesn’t melt with the heat from your hands. First, with the spatula, smooth the edges again. Carefully remove from the mold all of the halves.

6. Joining the halves: this was the worst part. My molds were “prepared” to attach both halves from the beginning (IMPOSSIBLE), I also tried using a little bit of melt chocolate between both halves, but the result is no very nice. My favorite technique is to take a hot plate, pass the halves through the plate and quickly put them together.

7. Conservation: unless it’s really hot, you can leave them at room temperature and cover.

If you have any further doubt don’t hesitate to ask me.