caramel popcorn easter eggs


Happy Easter!
I can't believe its already another Easter. We have settled in well, back home here in India, after moving  from our beloved Marin ,that I still miss dearly, but now, no longer in that heart-gnawing way, more as one remembers a beautiful dream.

We have been busy in our new lives here, catching up with family and friends, taking little trips to rediscover and fall in love all over again with our beautiful and colorful country and getting the kid settled into school here (the same one his Pappa went to!), and I did neglect my beloved blog.


Easter and Spring is a time of renewal and rebirth, so here we are! I have much to share,and I am finally ready to get back to blogging.


I have been cooking and baking a LOT but somehow, in the hustle and bustle of our new life here, just didn't get down to writing and posting here.
These delightful sweet and salty, crunchy caramel popcorn filled Easter eggs though, were such fun to whip up, I just had to share in case you have an Easter egg hunt planned for the little bunnies in your life this week.

Growing up, sometimes we got Easter Eggs filled with candies from the local bakeries in Kerala. Those were usually made of a hard and dry fondant or gum paste and elaborately decorated with piped flowers. They shattered when you broke them, and spilled the treats within. These chocolate eggs are fully edible though, and totally delicious!

The bittersweet chocolate I used contrasted well with the sweet and salty caramel popcorn and my little bunny loved the crunchy eggs as well as the hunt to find them all!



Ok so you don't really need a recipe to fill an egg mold with melted chocolate and fill it with caramel popcorn, so this is more of a sharing of an idea!

Anyways, here are some tips:

Caramel Popcorn Chocolate Easter Eggs
(Yield- about 9 medium sized chocolate eggs)

Ingredients:

Tempered chocolate ( Dark, Milk, White- any kind!) 400 gms
Caramel popcorn (Chopped into small pieces or pulse for a few seconds in your food processor) 2 cups

( The amount of chocolate and popcorn you will need of course depends on the size of your molds. I used ones that were roughly the size of a small egg)


Method

I used chocolate egg molds, and also made some using an empty plastic kinder egg cover ( much larger eggs but works like a charm. Martha uses real eggs here
Chop chocolate ( I used about 400 grams of already tempered chocolate for about 9 eggs) and melt in the microwave in 30 second bursts stirring until chocolate is fully melted.
Pour about a teaspoon into mold and swirl it so it evenly coats the inside and let set in the fridge. Repeat this about three times so that you have a strong shell.
If you find the chocolate firming up, just microwave again for a few seconds more.
Now fill with caramel popcorn chopped into small pieces.
Make sure no pieces of popcorn are jutting out of the egg half.
Cover the popcorn pieces with a final coat of chocolate and swipe the top with a spatula or knife so that it is even. NO bumpy tops.
Let set again in the fridge for about 10 mins till fully solid.
When you try tapping the mold, the egg halves should pop right out, else give it a few more mins in the fridge.
Affix two egg halves with some melted chocolate to make a complete egg.
You can also adhere some sprinkles on with a teeny drop of melted chocolate.
Wrap with foil. Enjoy!