Don’t buy, go DIY this Easter with your very own homemade Easter eggs. They’re not too difficult to pull off, especially with Jimmy Aquilina, head patissier at Radisson Blu Resort & Spa, Golden Sands, at hand with a step-by-step guide.

Nothing beats a luscious, home­made Easter egg, using your favourite chocolate! For home use, the best and most practical way to use chocolate is by choosing the compound version. Apart from being less expensive, since the cocoa butter is substituted by vegetable oils and shortening, it is the most practical way to work because it does not need to be tempered.

Tempering the chocolate means melting and cooling it at the right temperature, so that it will be shiny, smooth and even in colour. In this form, it may be used in many recipes, or for chocolate decoration.

Melting the chocolate

Start off by chopping the chocolate evenly and putting it into a dry, heatproof bowl. Set over a saucepan for steaming. It is important that the water does not touch the base of the bowl, or start to boil.

As the chocolate starts to melt, stir gently with a spatula so that it melts evenly. When the chocolate has become completely smooth, remove the bowl from the heat and start working with the chocolate.

Bear in mind that if the chocolate becomes too warm, or comes into contact with water, it will become stiff and hard, rather than smooth or liquid. This is called seizing and means that the chocolate is unusable.

How to mould a homemade egg... Photos: Chris Sant Fournier

Filling a chocolate mould

With a ladle, pour the chocolate into the clean mould. Swirl the moulds so the chocolate completely coats the inside of the moulds. Pour out the extra chocolate and then scrape the excess from the rim of the mould with a palette knife.

Set the mould upside down and give a gentle tap to expel any air bubbles. Put in the refrigerator and allow to set; then give the mould a second coat of chocolate in the same way as before. Chill until it sets.

When the chocolate has set, lift off the plastic mould. To join the two halves of the egg, put the two chocolate sides onto a hot surface for just seconds and then stick them to each other.

Press the two halves together and set in the refrigerator.

Join in the fun this Easter: call on 2356 1000 or send an e-mail to easter.gs@islandhotels.com