We all know Easter is on the way when the shelves in the shops groan under the weight of fancy Easter eggs, golden-wrapped bunnies, boxes of luscious chocolates festooned with ribbons and bows, cards with every greeting imaginable and, of course, here in Malta – the figolli.

Christians gave eggs fundamentally as a token of the resurrection of Jesus- Deborah Ratcliffe

Not surprisingly, many of the old traditions come in different guises today – the giving of eggs for instance – which goes back into the mists of pagan time – was used by ancient Egyptians who gave dyed eggs to friends as a sign of friendship.

Early Christians supposedly copied this and gave the eggs: also for friendship; but fundamentally as a token of the resurrection of Jesus.

So how then did the change from a simple painted/dyed boiled egg or egg shell to a modern chocolate delight occur? Well, way back in the 19th century in Germany and France, as chocolate became more widely available, small dark solid chocolate eggs – reminiscent of the real thing – were given to friends and family.

As the price of chocolate dropped, and it became more readily available (plus the help of ‘modern’ technology making chocolate easier to handle), the era of the chocolate egg arrived.

In the UK, Cadbury led the field as the first Easter egg producer – then, as the saying goes – the sky was the limit – with mass-produced eggs by the million being sold today. ‘Eggs’ now come in every conceivable shape and size with imaginative chocolatiers creating visions of chocolate fantasy guaranteed to melt in the mouth and clean out the purse: from Easter bunnies to the latest cartoon character, and, of course, the incredible Fabergé ‘trinkets’.

The commercial marketing of Easter chocolate kitsch has come a long way since the days of my childhood when we would spend days painting eggs shells to give to our extended family.

Why not make your own chocolate Easter eggs and let your imagination go wild with the decoration? Get an Easter egg mould – cook shops or the internet are good places to find them. Decide on which type of chocolate to use – dark, milk, white – or a combination.

Melt the chocolate carefully in a double boiler (the easiest way is to place a glass heat-proof bowl over a pan of boiling water, break in the chocolate and stir occasionally until melted). You can, of course, melt the chocolate in the microwave – but I find the end result not so malleable.

Next, very carefully, pour the hot chocolate into one half of the mould. Try using a pastry brush or back of a teaspoon to ‘paint’ the moulds. Or tip the chocolate gently from side to side to get an even coating. Place on one side while you do the same to the other half.

Remember to smooth the chocolate edges of the egg, so the sides will fit when sandwiched together. Leave in the fridge until set. Repeat the coating process two to three times. Obviously the more times you do it, the thicker and stronger the egg will be.

Turn the moulds out. Gently spread some melted chocolate on each half and very gently squeeze together until you feel it ‘holding’. Carefully leave to set in the fridge. I popped mine into a plastic bag.

If preferred, simply place the two sides together and wrap decoratively. Remember, the chocolate is very hot, so take care when pouring into the moulds and boiling over the water. Children should be supervised.

Now this is where the fun begins – deciding on how you want the finished product to look – here are some easy ideas:

For a delightful swirl effect add some melted white chocolate to dark melted chocolate and simply ‘knife’ through – you don’t want it blended. Then use as per instructions to ‘paint’ the mould.

Hunt out sugar shapes in the shops and stick them to the outside of the egg with a fairly stiff icing sugar mix – or a blob of melted chocolate.

I made a ‘nest’ by ‘painting’ a paper muffin case, turned it out when set, and filled it with small chocolate eggs, shaped in a teaspoon.

After setting, I sandwiched the pieces together and then dipped the little eggs in hundreds and thousands for an almost psychedelic look.

Leave the edges unkempt – nests are usually a bit higgledy piggeldy.

Other mould shapes can be used if you can’t get hold of proper egg moulds – you could fill rabbit or chick biscuit shape-cutters with chocolate and decorate.

A small gift could be placed inside one half of an egg before closing – make sure it is hygienically wrapped!

Tip: The expensive chocolate with a high cocoa content is best to use, but I prefer the run of the mill bars of chocolate so I can make more for the same price. However, the downside is that the chocolate gets sticky quickly so you need to work fast when handling it.

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