Easter Eggs: Homemade and Fair Trade
Dedicated to my friend Bron: it is impossible to be friends with her without trying to consume food more ethically!
A few months ago I made the very difficult decision to stop buying chocolate bars and blocks that weren't fairly traded. Now that easter has rolled around I've found it really hard to find any appropriate easter eggs! Apparently it's not just me - fair trade eggs are hard to find! I've been thinking outside the box, though, so instead of store bought Cadbury easter eggs, this year our family are going to receive... home made Cadbury easter eggs!
Home Made, Fair Trade Easter Eggs: A Tutorial
Materials and Ingredients
Small or medium egg chocolate moulds
I found some at Spotlight for about $3.00 but you can probably also find them at confectioner's stores, some craft stores or online
A pyrex or metal mixing bowl
A small saucepan
Copious amounts of fair trade chocolate, borken into small pieces - you want about twice as much as your moulds can hold.
Australians: try Cadbury Dairy Milk or Green and Black Mayan Gold
Foil
Optional: large delicious nuts or turkish delight
(e.g. macadamias, almonds)
Making the Eggs
1. Melting down your chocolate.
Boil a little bit of water in your saucepan and leave it at a rolling boil. Put half your chocolate in the mixing bowl and balance it on the saucepan. Stir until chocolate is melted and smooth.
My friend in the States has something called a "double boiler". I have no idea what it is but apparently it melts chocolate like this without the danger of balancing two bowls of boiling liquid on top of each other. I guess you could use one of those if you have one!
2. Filling the moulds.
Spoon the melted chocolate into your mould. Tap the mould on the bench top to get rid of air bubbles and smooth the back of the chocolate.
3. OPTIONAL STEP!
Put a nut or a piece of Turkish Delight in the middle of the egg so that half of it is sticking out the back.
This will help your egg hold together when you make the other half. However it may also compromise the fair-traded-ness of your egg depending on where these ingredients have come from!
4. Waiting.
Transfer your eggs to the frige and wait for them to solidify.
5. Making the rest of the egg.
Pop the half-eggs out of the mold and then melt down the rest of the your chocolate. Fill the moulds as before. Carefully line up your solidified egg-halves over the melted egg halves in the mould and press down gently to join the two. Rush the filled moulds into the fridge!
6. Finishing.
Once the second halves are solid your eggs are ready to wrap. Gently shake the eggs free from the mould. Wrap them in foil. If you are so inclined, decorate your eggs with ribbon.
Ta Da! These chocolate eggs will charm your loved ones with their homemade quirkyness and are more ethical than the ones for sale in the supermarket. Double win!
A few months ago I made the very difficult decision to stop buying chocolate bars and blocks that weren't fairly traded. Now that easter has rolled around I've found it really hard to find any appropriate easter eggs! Apparently it's not just me - fair trade eggs are hard to find! I've been thinking outside the box, though, so instead of store bought Cadbury easter eggs, this year our family are going to receive... home made Cadbury easter eggs!
Home Made, Fair Trade Easter Eggs: A Tutorial
Materials and Ingredients
Small or medium egg chocolate moulds
I found some at Spotlight for about $3.00 but you can probably also find them at confectioner's stores, some craft stores or online
A pyrex or metal mixing bowl
A small saucepan
Copious amounts of fair trade chocolate, borken into small pieces - you want about twice as much as your moulds can hold.
Australians: try Cadbury Dairy Milk or Green and Black Mayan Gold
Foil
Optional: large delicious nuts or turkish delight
(e.g. macadamias, almonds)
Making the Eggs
1. Melting down your chocolate.
Boil a little bit of water in your saucepan and leave it at a rolling boil. Put half your chocolate in the mixing bowl and balance it on the saucepan. Stir until chocolate is melted and smooth.
My friend in the States has something called a "double boiler". I have no idea what it is but apparently it melts chocolate like this without the danger of balancing two bowls of boiling liquid on top of each other. I guess you could use one of those if you have one!
2. Filling the moulds.
Spoon the melted chocolate into your mould. Tap the mould on the bench top to get rid of air bubbles and smooth the back of the chocolate.
3. OPTIONAL STEP!
Put a nut or a piece of Turkish Delight in the middle of the egg so that half of it is sticking out the back.
This will help your egg hold together when you make the other half. However it may also compromise the fair-traded-ness of your egg depending on where these ingredients have come from!
4. Waiting.
Transfer your eggs to the frige and wait for them to solidify.
5. Making the rest of the egg.
Pop the half-eggs out of the mold and then melt down the rest of the your chocolate. Fill the moulds as before. Carefully line up your solidified egg-halves over the melted egg halves in the mould and press down gently to join the two. Rush the filled moulds into the fridge!
6. Finishing.
Once the second halves are solid your eggs are ready to wrap. Gently shake the eggs free from the mould. Wrap them in foil. If you are so inclined, decorate your eggs with ribbon.
Ta Da! These chocolate eggs will charm your loved ones with their homemade quirkyness and are more ethical than the ones for sale in the supermarket. Double win!