I had such grand intentions for Easter. There were going to be tiny egg-shaped carrot layer cakes (next year), and at least three kinds of homemade candy (someday). As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I was trying to come up with a perfect food-craft tradition to take the place of the traditional family egg dye. Amidst the chaos that was the last ten days, I found a couple hours on Tuesday afternoon to quickly make something.
The boy, at two and half, seems to be giving up his nap. This is a life-altering drag for the whole family. I have yet to figure out how and when I can get anything done. I think my to do list just needs to be scrapped, as it has outgrown standard size sheets of paper. The boy is no longer at all charming in the late afternoon, and poor Paul is picking up the slack, whisking the crazy toddler to the park at the end of the day so I can sit down for five minutes in a row, and then coming home to make us dinner. We're all tired and grouchy. But back there a few weeks ago I was excited about spring, damn it, so last Tuesday I whipped up some quick peanut butter eggs that I've been periodically snacking on ever since, putting us in peril of not having any Easter candy at all.
So while this was not at all the precious mother-child experience I had anticipated, it was shockingly quick and easy to do by myself. Really, so easy, that I can imagine actually allowing the boy to participate next year with his more patient (and well-rested, because we will get through this, right?) 3-year-old fingers.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Easter Eggs
This is emergency candy dipped in chocolate, with recipe guidance from chow.
3/4 c. peanut butter (I used natural chunky salted. Add a pinch of salt if your peanut butter's unsalted.)
3/4 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. cheerios-type cereal
1/2 lb. chocolate to coat (I used 70-some-odd-percent dark chocolate.)
Put the cereal in a ziploc bag and go over it several times with a rolling pin to crush it. It does not need to be a fine powder, some bigger chunks are fine. This will be a perfect kid contribution to the project next year. In an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, mix the peanut butter, powdered sugar, and crushed cereal until combined and pulling away from the sides of the bowl. (I imagine this could also be done in a food-processor, starting with the cereal crushing and adding the other ingredients, but mine's not big enough. Also, of course you can do this all by hand, but it's a stiff batter and would give my arms more of a work out than this delicate flower is interested in.)
Scoop the peanut butter into teaspoon size (or really any size you want) balls and then roll between your palms to make little eggs. Chill the eggs while you melt the chocolate.
I don't
temper. I just melt and dip. Actually to be honest, this time around I decided to temper and I wound up with the least tempered chocolate I've ever worked with. I'm back to melt and dip. I say leave the candy thermometer in the drawer, but you do what you want. I will refer you to Martha Stewart right now for your
tempering tutorial if that's the way you roll. Also, this was the first time I used candy molds - those ones turned out really cute, but here's the thing - I only had one tray which made nine perfect little eggs. They needed to chill for 11 - 13 minutes before being popped out of their mold, all while I kept the chocolate at 86 degrees. So I made nine perfect little eggs, and then 36 little turdy eggs. I photographed the turdy eggs, and will go that route from here on out unless I buy myself more candy molds at post easter prices (They're actually really cheap. I bought mine half off last year after easter for 69 cents.)
So, as I was saying, chop up your chocolate and put it into a metal bowl that fits snugly over a pan (or the top of a double boiler, you fancy). Heat some water in the pan, just enough to come beneath the bowl without touching it - the rising steam will heat the bowl and melt the chocolate. Place the bowl of chocolate over the hot water and stir occasionally until your chocolate is smooth. Remove the pan and bowl to the counter, and dip your eggs. I use chop sticks. You can also use a fork. Dip one egg, gently shake off as much chocolate as you can, place on parchment paper to cool. Repeat. Once all the eggs are dipped, place in the freezer to set up.
For actually inspiring candy-making ideas:
pastel mints (I haven't tried this yet with non-dairy cream cheese, but you know I intend to.)
Happy Spring!
