It’s Easter! Have some fun with your little ‘bunnies’ by teaching them to make homemade chocolate eggs.

Recipe: Extracted from Nadia: A Seasonal Journal  Photos: Rachael McKenna 

If the kids are old enough, get them involved in making homemade chocolate eggs for Easter. It’s messy, and you might break a few, but you’ll have fun doing it. The recipe makes 6-8 chocolate eggs and only takes about half an hour to prepare. But you’ll need 3 hours for the eggs to set in the fridge. If the little ones just can’t wait, try freezing the eggs instead, and they’ll be ready in an hour.

INGREDIENTS

200-220g cocoa butter, chopped
1 cup good-quality cacao powder
⅓-½ cup honey or maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla essence or extract

METHOD

To make chocolate eggs, you first need to hollow out some real eggs. To do this:

Prick the top of each egg with the sharp end of a skewer and break a hole in the top about 0.5-1cm diameter.

Mix up the egg yolk and white inside with the skewer (this makes it easier to drain out) and shake the egg contents out into a bowl — use this to make scrambled eggs later, or in baking.

Wash out the inside of the egg under the tap a few times, so it’s clean inside.

Gently pat the outside of the shells dry using a paper towel.

Place in an egg carton with the hole facing up.

To make the chocolate, place cocoa butter into a double boiler, or a glass/Pyrex bowl set above a pot of gently simmering water (make sure the bowl does not touch the water) and melt gently.

Once it has completely melted, stir in the remaining ingredients until smooth. Put the mixture into a pouring jug.

Allow to cool slightly, then carefully pour the chocolate into each hollow eggshell.

Alternatively, you can simply pour into silicone chocolate moulds (greased with grapeseed or nut oil). Or create your own mould using a dish or ramekin lined with clingfilm or baking paper.

Place in the fridge to set for at least 3 hours (or in the freezer for 1 hour) or until solid.

When ready to eat, tap the chocolate egg on the bench to crack the shell, then peel it away.