It’s not official everywhere but a small amount of chocolate is good for you.

As you know I love good chocolate, especially with over 70% cocoa solids. The dark and rich sort is my liking. Not too keen on milk, although some of it is very palatable if for me it has a good percentage of cocoa butter in it.

Making Easter eggs can be done at home, using care and a few materials. Every year good quality eggs are often to be found with a rigid plastic outer protective case. Usually this is in the shape of the egg and in two halves. That is you basic egg mould! Now you need some good quality chocolate of your choice and some patience.

To assist with coating the mould you can use a clean dry egg wash brush. You can, if you prefer, just swirl the molten chocolate around the mould. It’s up to you.

Break the chocolate into small pieces and place in a stainless steel bowl or a thick plastic one. Find a pan in which the bowl will site and rest on the edge of the pan. Fill the pan with water, just enough that it does not touch the bottom of the bowl. Place on a low heat source and stir the chocolate making certain that the water does not boil. This is very important because we don’t want the chocolate to get too hot.

To get chocolate to have a clean snap and a high sheen requires the chocolate to be tempered. Whilst not a complex operation it does take practice and for the moment we can with care still keep the chocolate tempered. To do this we need to keep the temperature low, and when the chocolate has just melted with stirring that’s about right.

Keep stirring the chocolate to prevent any hot spots until it has just melted.I f you put a little dab on your lower lip it should not fell hot, just warm.

The molten chocolate should now be carefully brushed or swirled around the moulds to get and even coat. At this stage the chocolate should be starting to cool and get thick. Place in a cool place or in a fridge for a short period. I you have not heated the chocolate too high within a short while the chocolate should shrink away from the mould.

If it sets and you can see lots of streaks in it the temperature was too high and you will need to temper the chocolate to get it to work.

Hopefully, with care and patience you will have got you two shells to set and come away from the mould. You can then fill them with whatever you like and seal together by warming some more chocolate or any you had left over, carefully to the same degree as before and brush a little on one mould before carefully pressing the 2 halves together. This is best done using cotton gloves to prevent any finger prints appearing on the outside of the egg.

Have a go once you have done it a few times you will find a method that works for you.

Happy Easter and enjoy