Image : http://www.flickr.com
Chocolate and Easter go together as much as Easter eggs and baskets. Why not combine the different elements and learn how to make your own chocolate Easter candy? Your children can help make and decorate the chocolates. Making your own chocolate Easter candy is a great Easter activity to hep you enjoy more time with your kids.
Chocolate Easter candy can be made with any type of chocolate. Using dark or milk chocolate may be the easiest. However, if you would like to try your hand at making pastel eggs, choose white chocolate and add food coloring to create the shades you like. You can also purchase pre-colored white chocolate to make things easier. The colored chocolates are great for decorating, even if you prefer to make your candy out of dark or milk chocolate. You can also add extra ingredients such as nuts, fruit pieces, or peanut butter to make your chocolate candy even more custom made.
Getting Started
There are a few basic ingredients that you will need in order to make your chocolate Easter candy. Using higher quality chocolate will result in better tasting chocolate eggs; however, you can use any type you have. I find that it is easiest to purchase candy disks that were made specifically for melting and molds. Here is a short list of the basics you will need:
* Whatever chocolate you want to use
* Double boiler or microwave oven in which to melt the chocolate
* Heatproof bowl
* Candy molds in the shape of eggs, or a deviled egg tray
* Rubber spatula to stir the chocolate
* Pastry bag or plastic bag with a hole in the corner for piping chocolate
* Any decorations or extras you want to include
Now all you have to do is melt the chocolate, pour it into the molds, and release! There really is no end to how creative you can get depending on the molds and colors you choose. You can go as simple as solid colored eggs to three dimensional bunnies and more! Have fun with your choices!
Choosing the Right Chocolate Mold
When you first decide to start making chocolate Easter candy from chocolate molds, of course the first thing you must do is purchase a mold. While it is possible to use other types of food molds you may have around the house, for the best results, select a mold that was made specifically for chocolate.
Another mistake that people often make when they select their candy molds, is they go for the cutest molds with the most intricate details. In many cases this may be their first and last attempt at making their own chocolate Easter candy. As simple as making chocolate Easter candy from molds is, there is still an art and level of skill required. So for your first chocolate making endeavour, try to select molds that are of moderate size (no smaller than a quarter, no larger than a couple of inches) and that have few details, or at least those with large details as opposed to smaller finer details. The one from Fuzzy Bunny shown in the picture is a great starter mold for both variety, size and cuteness!
Use the manufacturers recommendations when using the chocolate molds, however, I often will rub a little vegetable oil on the molds before I use them (using very little oil - it should not pool in the bottom of the mold, only give the mold a shiny appearance.) You can get some great candy mold making tips here. Also, since you will be refrigerating your molds as they harden, I clean out my refrigerator of aromatic leftovers - that garlic smells good in the stew, but it won't be so great smelling on your chocolate. Also, make sure you have plenty of space to place the molds while they harden. Some people recommend hardening chocolate in the freezer to reduce the occurrence of smells as well as to speed the process, but I think the best results occur when using the refrigerator.
Thanks To : Easter Product Store
