How to Make Sugar Easter Eggs

One of the appeals of panoramic eggs is the beautiful miniature scenes contained within the egg. To make the inside scene:

1. Pipe a small amount of royal icing into the bottom portion of the intact egg half. This is to anchor everything else you add.

2. Add a layer of green-tinted coconut or Easter grass, if desired, and press gently to adhere it to the frosting.

3. Begin to add toys, pictures, small candies, or sugar decorations. It is easiest to add a dab of royal icing to the back or bottom of your decorations to help them stick.

4. Continue to add decorations until your egg is complete.

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Marshmallow Easter Eggs

You know the old saying "there's more than one way to skin a cat"? Well, I can't testify to the veracity of that (having never needed a skinned cat in my life) but I can tell you that there's more than one way to make an egg-shaped candy. If you plan in advance and don't mind spending a little money, you can buy egg-shaped candy molds, like you'd use to make Sugar Easter Eggs. If you're more of a do-it-yourselfer, you can use a hollowed-out egg shell, like with the Solid Chocolate Eggs I talked about a few days ago. Or maybe you're a minimalist, and like to use your hands to make egg shapes, like with these Chocolate-Peanut Butter Eggs. All good options! But I have a fourth trick you might not be familiar with: cornstarch.

Yes, plain old cornstarch.

In addition to making fondant less sticky and thickening soups and gravies, cornstarch makes an awesome candy mold. All you have to do is pack it in a pan, press your shape of choice into the starch, and pour in your candy filling. The cornstarch does a great job of holding the shape and making custom candy molds, and the best part is, you can re-use it endlessly, and then bake with it when you're done.

You can see a cornstarch mold in action in this recipe for Marshmallow Easter Eggs. I use a large soup spoon to make egg shapes in the starch, then pipe in some loose marshmallow filling. After a setting period, I have egg-shaped marshmallows--no fancy mold required. Check out the photo tutorial showing how to make these eggs for full details. This method also works really well with gummies, jellies, and other soft candies that are difficult to mold in traditional ways.

Get the recipe: Marshmallow Easter Eggs
Marshmallow Easter Eggs Photo Tutorial

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Marshmallow Easter Eggs Photo c2010 Elizabeth LaBau, licensed to About.com, Inc.

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Easter Egg Cake Pops

Is it so wrong that I prefer a basket full of these Easter Egg Cake Pops, instead of the real thing? Of course, I appreciate dyed and decorated hard-boiled eggs as much as anyone else. But if the contest is between real eggs and these moist, lemony bites of cake, dressed up in white chocolate, sprinkles, and candies...well...if that is wrong, I don't want to be right. I mean, look at these beauties. Can you blame me?

Not only are these Easter Egg Cake Pops fun to look at (and eat) they're a blast to decorate. Haul out your sprinkle collection, pick up some mini M&Ms or chocolate-covered sunflower seeds, and let your creativity run wild. When you're done, you'll have a beautiful collection of bright, vibrant cake pops, ready to be stuffed into baskets, given as gifts, or enjoyed as a treat for the cook! If you've never made cake pops before, I have a photo tutorial showing how to make Easter Egg Cake Pops!

Get the recipe: Easter Egg Cake Pops
Easter Egg Cake Pops Photo Tutorial

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Easter Egg Cake Pops Photo c2011 Elizabeth LaBau, licensed to About.com, Inc.

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How to Make Easter Bunny Truffles

For an easily printable recipe, please see the Easter Bunny Truffles recipe page.

To make Easter Bunny Truffles, start by gathering your ingedients:

• 8 ounces, or about 1-1/3 cup, chopped chocolate
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 lb white candy coating
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• Pink and brown chocolate-covered sunflower seeds or other small candies
• 1/4 cup miniature marshmallows
• 2 tbsp chocolate chips

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Speckled Easter Eggs

(c) 2011 Elizabeth LaBau, licensed to About.com, Inc.

Pastel M&Ms provide the speckles in these Rice Krispy-based Easter eggs. I like using dark M&Ms, but any plain variety works well.

Prep Time: 10?minutes

Total Time: 10?minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 (7-oz) jar marshmallow creme or fluff
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• 3 cups Rice Krispies cereal
• 1 cup chopped pastel plain M&Ms

Preparation:

1. Combine the chopped M&Ms with the Rice Krispies in a bowl and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, stir together the melted butter, marshmallow cream, and peanut butter until well-combined.

3. Add the candy-and-cereal mixture and stir well to mix. Ensure that all the pieces are evenly coated.

4. Spray your hands with nonstick cooking spray, and take two teaspoons of the candy mixture. Press it between your palms to form an egg shape. Place candy on a baking sheet once formed.

5. Continue to shape the rest of the candy. You may need to wash and re-spray your hands periodically.

6. Refrigerate the candy for 20 minutes to allow it to fully set before serving.

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Easter Bird Nests

(C) 2008 Elizabeth LaBau, licensed to About.com, Inc.

Easter Bird Nests are a fun, easy Easter candy recipe. These whimsical candies are especially good to make with children. If you don’t want to use chow mein noodles, you can substitute approximately 3 cups of cold cereal—twig-shaped cereals will work best, but crisped rice or cornflakes will taste great too.

Prep Time: 15?minutes

Total Time: 15?minutes

Ingredients:

• 2.5 cups miniature marshmallows
• 4 tbsp (2 ounces) butter
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 can (5 oz) crispy chow mein noodles
• 1/2 cup small candy eggs
• 12 marshmallow peeps
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1 drop green food coloring
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips (optional

Preparation:

1. Prepare a muffin tin by spraying it thoroughly with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine the marshmallows and butter. Microwave for 1 minute then remove and stir vigorously. If the marshmallows are not fully melted, microwave for an additional 30-45 seconds, until the marshmallows are melted. Stir the marshmallow and butter mixture until it is smooth and homogenous.

3. Add the vanilla extract and chow mein noodles and stir until the noodles are completely and evenly covered with the mixture. Allow the mixture to sit for a few minutes until it is cool enough to handle, but still warm enough to manipulate.

4. Using a large spoon, evenly divide the chow mein noodles among the 12 muffin tin holes.

5. Spray your hands with nonstick cooking spray, and mold the noodles into a nest shape, indenting the center and pressing the edges up the sides of the tin.

6. Place the nests in the refrigerator to set while you prepare the coconut. Place the coconut into a small bowl and add a drop or two of green food coloring. Using your hands, rub the coconut together until the green color is well-dispersed. (Wear plastic gloves if you don’t want to get your hands green—the coloring usually washes out right away, though.)

7. Sprinkle the coconut on top of the nests. Add two or three eggs to each nest, and top them with a Peep. If you are going to be transporting these, you can melt a small amount of chocolate chips and use the melted chocolate to secure the eggs and Peeps to the nest. Otherwise, you can leave them loose and allow people to eat the nests piece by piece.

8. Allow the marshmallow mixture to completely set before removing the nests. To remove them, slide a knife around the sides of the tin and gently insert it under the bottom of the nest to pull it out.

9. These nests are best at room temperature. They can be kept in a wax-paper lined Tupperware container for up to a week, but the Peeps will get stale quickly, so add those at the last minute if you are making these in advance.

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How to Make Easter Egg Cake Pops

Dip the Cake Pops in Candy?Coating

(c) 2011 Elizabeth LaBau, licensed to About.com, Inc.

Holding a cake pop by the stick, dip the cake entirely in the candy coating until it is covered. Remove it from the coating and gently tap the stick against the side of the bowl to remove excess coating.

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