Chocolate Easter Egg Ingredients
Chocolate Easter eggs come in many varieties, including solid milk, semi-sweet or white chocolate, crispy or nutty solid and filled eggs. Chocolate eggs can be filled with marshmallow creme, fondant, buttercream, peanut butter or truffle. Does this Spark an idea?
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Types of Chocolate Used
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According to Cacaoweb, "The main types of chocolate are white chocolate, milk chocolate, semisweet chocolate, bittersweet chocolate and unsweetened chocolate." All of these can be used in chocolate Easter eggs. White, milk and semi-sweet chocolate are melted to coat the filling of the egg, while bittersweet and unsweetened chocolate are usually used in powder form as a treatment for truffle fillings.
Crispy Additions
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Crushed pretzels, crisp rice cereal, chow mein noodles and potato chips can all be added to chocolate to make solid, crispy eggs. Nuts include peanuts, cashews, walnuts, pecans and macadamias. Coffee beans are a more recent addition, and are a favorite with gamers and programmers.
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Marshmallow Filling
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Homemade marshmallow filling includes egg whites, water, salt, sugar, vanilla, corn syrup and unflavored gelatin. Unflavored gelatin is first mixed with cold water. Sugar, corn syrup, hot water and salt must be boiled to firm ball stage. This is about 245 to 250 degrees Fahrenheit as measured with a candy thermometer. The sugar mixture is poured into the gelatin mixture and whipped on high speed. Stiff-peak beaten egg whites are then added. Everything is poured into oiled egg-shaped candy molds and allowed to cool in your refrigerator. The marshmallow centers are then popped from molds when cool and dusted with powdered sugar before being coated with chocolate.
Fondant, peanut butter and buttercream
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There are several ways to make fondant. One is to mix two to three cups of powdered sugar with an eight-ounce block of cream cheese. It can be flavored with almond, walnut, maple, rum, mint or other candy oils. Fondant is chilled, rolled into egg shapes by hand or in molds and coated.
Peanut butter filling is made with one part creamy or crunchy peanut butter to two or three parts powdered sugar. Everything is mixed to the consistency of craft clay, adding additional powdered sugar if needed. It is better to add more peanut butter than to add one drop of water, or you will wind up with peanut butter icing.
Buttercream filling is one stick of butter to four cups powdered sugar.
Truffles
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Truffle filling has nothing to do with expensive French mushrooms. Cocoa powder is mixed with butter or cream cheese and powdered sugar. It is rolled into egg shapes and rolled in bittersweet or unsweetened cocoa powder before being coated with chocolate. It can also contain 1/4-cup to 1/2-cup instant coffee crystals and be rolled in crushed roasted coffee beans or instant coffee crystals.
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