White Chocolate Easter Eggs

For the Easter eggs:

Pull apart the eggs into halves and place them open-side-up in a mini muffin tin (to make it easier to fill them). Very lightly spray the inside of each egg with cooking spray.

Add the cereals, M&Ms, dried cherries, and cashew pieces to a medium bowl. Gently stir to mix together. Melt the white chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler according to the package instructions. Pour the melted chocolate over the ingredients in the bowl and gently stir until the chocolate has been evenly incorporated.

Working quickly, spoon some of the candy mixture into the halved eggs (going right up to the rim of each egg half). As you are filling the eggs, ask helpers to close the eggs together, using a little muscle if necessary to get the eggs to close tightly. It’s a little messy, but the egg halves will come together with a little effort. Allow the eggs to completely cool and set up before attempting to remove them from the plastic eggs. It can take a little work to pop the plastic off the candy but be patient and take your time. Store the finished eggs in a sealed container.

Notes:

1. Plastic eggs come in different sizes. The number of eggs you will be able to make is dependent upon the size of the plastic eggs you buy.
2. I don’t make this recipe the same way twice. Sometimes I add pretzels or peanuts instead of cashews. Sometimes I have soft sour balls. Sometimes I use Rice Crispies, Chex, or other cereals. The goal is to use a total of 3 cups of dry ingredients per bag of white chocolate.
3. As you can see from the picture, the mixture is dry enough that you can see some nooks and crannies in the eggs. I don’t mind that. However, if want those spaces to be more filled in, you need to use more white chocolate. I recommend using another half bag (or whole bag!) of white chocolate to increase the white chocolate to dry mixture ratio.
4. Try using some semi-sweet chocolate (that you’ve tempered) instead of white chocolate to make brown Easter eggs.

For the nests:

Butter some heat-resistant bowls or containers that you plan to use as molds for the nests. Trust me: you need to butter them well! This recipe makes three nests that are each about 7″ in diameter. Depending on the size of your bowls, you may get additional (or fewer) nests.

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add the brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, milk, and salt. Bring to a boil. Heat the mixture to 240F, stirring often. Turn off the heat and add the chow mein noodles and stir to coat. Immediately add some of the noodles to each of the bowls. Working quickly, use the back of a large spoon (sprayed with cooking spray) to help shape the bowls into something that resembles nests. They set up fast so you may want to enlist the assistance of a helper to shape the bowls before the sugar begins to harden. Allow the nests to complete cool before removing them from the bowls. Store in air-tight containers. These are best when used within 24 hours of making.