Just make sure you give yourselves enough time to make this treat. There's a lot of drying involved and takes over 24 hours to make. But they are worth it if you have a serious sweet tooth! I promised this recipe to my friend Kelly. Hope you all enjoy it.
1 cup butter, softened
2 tsp salt
4 tsp vanilla
1 can sweetened condensed milk (NOT evaporated milk)
10 cups icing sugar
1 tsp yellow food colouring
1 lb semi-sweet chocolate
In a large bowl, beat butter, salt and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add condensed milk; mix. Beat in sugar and blend until stiff. Knead until smooth.
Set aside 2/3 of the mixture. To the remaining mixture add the yellow food colouring. Blend well. Divide yellow and white mixtures into either 16 or 24 pieces (depending on how large you want your eggs to be). Shape yellow pieces into balls. Mold white mixture around yellow balls and create an egg shape. Dry on paper towels, at room temperature, for 24 hours.
Melt chocolate in a double boiler until smooth. Dip eggs in chocolate. Paraffin was may be added and melted with the chocolate to prevent the chocolate from melting in your hands. Once dipped, cool at room temperature. Refrigerate after cooled.
ummmm....so not a cook here....what's a double boiler? And, if I don't have one, is there another way to do this? Also, approximately how much icing sugar is 10 cups? Like, 3 or 4 of those 1kg bags? Thanks so much Laurie! I am going to make them this weekend!!!
ReplyDeleteHey Kel,
ReplyDeleteA double boiler has 2 pieces. It has a pot on the bottom that holds water in it. It also has a pot that fits on top of the bottom pot where you'd put the chocolate. So as the water boils, the chocolate will melt and you don't run the risk of the chocolate burning (like if you'd do it in the microwave or just in a pot on the stove).
If you don't have a double boiler you can make one yourself. All you need is a metal bowl that will fit on top of one of your saucepans. Or, if you have an IKEA nearby, I bought this one http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/60112537. It's only $8 so it's not a huge investment and I use it fairly often. It fits perfectly on my medium-sized saucepan and with the handle I don't run the risk of steaming myself like you would if you used just a metal pot over the pot (hard to hold onto it without a handle).
As for the icing sugar ... I'd say it would be approximately 2 bags ... but don't quote me on it. Let me know how they turn out.
Here's an easy recipe for cake balls.. such a fun dessert. bitesized cakes dipped in chocolate.. kind of cake, kind of candy.. can decorate so cute as easter eggs with different colored chocolate disks.. recipe and how to tips here: http://www.celebrationideasonline.com
ReplyDeleteWow, fun4families. Those sound great. I've heard of them before (I think I saw a recipe for an Oreo kind) but I've never made them personally. They kind of sound like a chocolate Timbit!! Yum! I'll check out that link, thanks!
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting this recipe. I had a craving for a Laura Secord egg this Easter (a childhood tradition) and decided to try my luck. The egg mixture is both soft and sticky, so it's no small affair to create small yellow yolk balls and then to "wrap" them in their white blankets. Imagine trying to handle sticky cake frosting. I tried first using icing sugar to assist in holding things together, but found finally the best solution was to work with ice water and cold, wet hands. I gave the shaped eggs a full 36 hours drying time which seemed to work nicely in terms of firming them up for dipping. However, dipping was also a challenge since the hot chocolate tends to soften them up again with the risk of them falling apart over the pot. I used a carving fork to skewer them and then poured the chocolate over them with a spoon. It was fine as long as I worked quickly. But the chocolate did pool around the finished product. The result was rather artisanal, a bit flatter and messier than LS, and obviously home-made. It definitely satisfied the Secord egg craving with it's intense sweetness. But I don't think I would do it again because of the stress and effort involved! But thanks for the recipe, and Happy Easter.
ReplyDeleteI have made these sinful gems for 45 years running and never once used condensed milk! Also almond flavoring only. My freezer is my 'dry out' spot, reduces wait time immensely. Otherwise basically exact recipe. Not messy at all.
DeleteThanks for the freezer tip!
DeleteHi Anon -- Thanks for the tips for other people who'd like to get their Laura Secord on! Yes, these are a messy endeavour but your tips will hopefully help others make this sweet treat. :)
ReplyDelete