For many years, I have designed new versions of the old-fashioned dyed Easter eggs that I grew up coloring with my brothers and sisters under the supervision of our mother as she prepared the Easter feast. I have dyed them with onion skins, marbleized them, embellished them with gold and silver leaf, beaded them and dipped them in glass glitter.
After a trip to Brussels, Belgium, where I had my first sampling of chocolate-filled eggshells, I came home enthusiastic about trying to devise a system for doing a similar thing at home. What resulted was the how-to technique that you will find below. (The chocolate needs to be tempered, or heated and cooled to precise temperatures. If you don’t take these steps when melting chocolate, it may become grainy or develop grayish patches, called bloom, once it hardens.)
Made with dark chocolate, the resulting eggs are wonderful decorations, beautiful gifts and lovely fillers for Easter baskets. And they really are quite easy. Here’s how to make them:
We used Valrhona dark chocolate in this recipe because it is relatively easy to temper. The temperatures that are listed apply specifically to this brand.
1. Using a pin, poke a hole in the bottom of a large raw egg. Insert the tip of a utility knife and turn to open the hole slightly. Using a rotary drill fitted with a C\,-inch bit, carefully widen the hole to at least 1/2-inch in diameter.
2. Insert a pin into the hole to pierce and “stir” the yolk. Hold the egg, hole down, over a bowl, and blow air into the hole with a rubber ear syringe (the air will displace and expel the egg). Rinse out egg. Repeat to make 12 blown eggs (you may want to make extras in case some break).
3. Sterilize eggs: Submerge them in a pot of cold water with 1 tablespoon white vinegar; bring to a boil, then simmer, skimming foam from surface, 10 minutes. Let drain on a pin board (see how-to below). If not dyeing eggs, let dry completely on pin board, 2 to 3 days (check insides for moisture).
4. If dyeing eggs: Mix 4 tablespoons vinegar and 12 drops of blue food coloring with 2 cups boiling-hot water in a heatproof glass or enamel bowl. Fill a separate cup with white vinegar. Using a plastic spoon, dip eggs in vinegar, then into the dye, 2 to 3 minutes. Pat eggs with paper towels to eliminate streaks. (If dye begins to cool while you’re working, make a new batch.) Let the eggs dry as described above.
5. Using an offset serrated knife, very finely chop 3 pounds of chocolate. Reserve 1 cup chocolate. Using a bench scraper, transfer remaining chocolate to a large heatproof bowl.
6. Temper chocolate: Set bowl over a pan of simmering water. Melt chocolate, stirring occasionally, until a chocolate thermometer registers 131 degrees. (Note: Many brands of dark chocolate should not be heated to more than 118 degrees.)
Remove from heat. Stir in reserved cup chocolate until completely melted. Pour two-thirds of the melted chocolate onto a clean, smooth work surface (such as marble or stainless steel). Spread thinly with an offset spatula. Then gather together chocolate, and take temperature. Continue spreading and gathering chocolate until it cools to 82 degrees to 84 degrees.
7. Scrape chocolate back into bowl with remaining chocolate. Stir until it cools to 82 degrees to 84 degrees. Set bowl over a pan of warm water, and reheat to 88 degrees. To check consistency, dip a spoon in chocolate and remove. The chocolate should set in about 2 minutes, turning shiny and hard.
Note: This temperature must be maintained as you fill the eggs. Keep a thermometer in the chocolate, and check frequently. Rest the bowl on a heating pad wrapped in a towel, or set bowl over the pan of warm (not hot) water.
8. Place eggshells in an egg carton. Place a disposable pastry bag in a tall glass, and fold top down. Fill bag with chocolate. Cut tip to create a 1/4-inch opening.
9. Insert tip of bag into each egg, and fill with chocolate (about 1/4 cup per egg; fill a new bag with chocolate as needed). Let set completely, about 4 hours.
Stick several flathead pins into a piece of foam board in a grid pattern to create a drying rack that won’t rub dye off the eggs.
Once I come up with a theme – gold or marble or chocolate, for example – how important is it to set a pretty table? For me, because I love to entertain, to collect dishes and flatware, to arrange flowers and to celebrate holidays, the answer is, VERY! I always attempt to set a unique table, one that I have not created before, using a different combination of ingredients, just as if I am trying a new version of a favorite recipe.
For Easter there must always be eggs, usually hard boiled or blown out, then dyed or decorated. This year, the eggshells will be piped with delicious chocolate (for a wonderful first course, I also love to serve eggshells filled with scrambled eggs and topped with caviar; you’ll find that recipe at marthastewart.com).
The table can be a display of hothouse plants, freshly cut flowers from the early spring garden, a collection of stuffed Steiff toys or even a colorful selection of Easter candies artfully arranged.
I love to be inspired by plants and nature for table decorations – a long runner of moss, for example, can be the landscape for quail eggs, hen eggs, goose eggs and duck eggs. Small potted plants can be set down the table’s center, surrounded by baskets of jelly beans and marshmallow chicks.
All year long I collect ingredients and seek out ideas and objects for display. I have already found some unusual rabbits, and I am gathering as many Ukrainian eggs as I can find to perhaps make an Eastern European theme. Maybe I’ll make piroshki, coulibiac and paskha next year.
Questions should be addressed to Ask Martha, care of Letters Department, Martha Stewart Living, 11 W. 42nd Street, New York, N.Y. 10036. E-mail mslletters@marthastewart.com.
2006 Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc.
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