Easter Eggs!

When I was in high school, my mom saw a recipe for Chocolate-dipped Easter Eggs in her Woman’s Day magazine. They were such a hit that she and I have made them together every year since. Back then, our family Easter dinner had 12 people. Now, with kids and extended families involved, we have 25 people, so the recipe has to be doubled to make sure everyone can take home an egg.

These are very sweet and lend themselves nicely to taking just a slice at a time.

Recipe for Easter Eggs

Centres:

1 can (15 ounce) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 pound butter, softened
11 cups sifted icing sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon salt


Mix up the dough until smooth and almost dry. Divide dough into thirds and add a few drops of yellow food colouring to one of the thirds.

Divide yellow dough into 18 equal parts and form into balls. This will be the yolk.

Divide the white dough into 18 equal parts, flatten slightly and shape around the yolk. Mold into a rounded egg shape. Place on a wax paper-covered cookie sheet, place another piece of wax paper on top and cover it all with a kitchen towel. Allow to dry out at least 12 hours.

Chocolate coating:

1 lb molding chocolate wafers (they look like this):

Place wafers in a glass bowl. Cook on 50% power for one minute. Stir. Cook in 30 second intervals at 50% power, stirring in between, until chocolate is completely melted.

Using kitchen tongs, dip each egg in the chocolate. Allow excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl and place the dipped egg on waxed paper. Allow chocolate to harden – about 30 minutes.

At this point, you could quit, because the tasty part is over. They will look like this:

If you’re so inclined, you can keep going and decorate the eggs to make them fancy (yes, we do this next step).

Ornamental Frosting:

3 egg whites
5 cups icing sugar (approx.)
¼ tsp cream of tartar

Put egg whites in a large bowl. Add 2 tablespoons icing sugar. Beat 3 minutes with wire whisk, or electric mixer at medium speed. Repeat until 1-1/2 cups sugar are used. Add cream of tartar. Add sugar by spoonfuls, beating until frosting is stiff enough to hold its shape. Test with a knife by making a cut through mixture. If frosting remains parted, it is the right consistency.
Colour portions of the frosting as desired and pipe onto the hardened eggs. You can do zig-zags and stripes, names, flowers, whatever. Here's a sample of the finished product:

I know they seem fussy and time consuming, but they’re really not. They’re fun to make and they’re one of those things that seems like a big deal to the grateful recipients.

Have a great Easter weekend, everyone!