White Chocolate Easter Eggs

White Chocolate Easter Eggs
First things first. Thank you to everybody who gave me recommendations on counter stools in my last post! I know it was hard to give me advice since you don't know my décor but I appreciate the effort. I'm still sorting through the responses to see if any particular stool was recommended more than others. Even more importantly, I want to announce the winner of the Sunbeam Stand Mixer giveaway! The winner was selected at random from all of my blog buddies who left comments about the counter stools. …And the lucky winner is:

Dana B.

Dana said, "I like the TMS 24" Double Cross Back Bar Stool in Black - 17524BLK. Just came across your site by way of Tasty Kitchen and I'm already making one of your recipes tonight =)"

Congratulations Dana! Please e-mail (cookingventures at gmail dot com) to make arrangements to have the mixer sent to you. May this be the first of many cooking ventures for you! Thank you Allbarstools.com and CSN Stores for making this giveaway possible.

Now for today's post. Easter is quickly approaching and I wanted to do a special post. Originally, I thought about doing leg of lamb (a personal favorite) but I didn't think that would have universal appeal. After giving it some thought, I decided to make some White Chocolate Easter Eggs.

Some of you may be familiar with White Trash Candy. White Trash is made a million different ways but it's usually cereals (such as Chex, Cherrios, etc), pretzels, nuts, etc that have been doused in white chocolate. White Trash is not my invention nor my choice of names. However, it is what it is. Today's post is nothing but White Trash that I've stuffed into plastic Easter eggs then unmolded. I originally planned to call them "White Trash Easter Eggs" but a couple of friends at work weren't fond of the name so I switched it to White Chocolate Easter Eggs.

I, personally, like seeing the pretty colors of the cereals and sweets used to make the eggs. Using less white chocolate makes the coating thinner so you can see the colors. This, unfortunately, is at the expense of not having smooth "egg shells" in the final product. If you bump up the amount of white chocolate, the egg shells are filled in and smoother but it's harder to see the trash on the inside. Oh, the decisions!

Anyway, congratulations again Dana! I hope whichever of my recipes you made turned out well. If you hated the recipe, blame my mother. That's what I do.

Enjoy – and Happy Easter!

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White Chocolate Easter Eggs
(Printable Version)

1/2 c Cheerios
1/2 c Captain Crunch Cereal
1/2 c Fruit Loops Cereal
1/2 c plain M&M's (in Easter colors)
1/2 c dried cherries
1/2 c salted cashew pieces
1 12-oz package white chocolate chips
Plastic Easter eggs, washed and dried
Cooking spray

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&M's, 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 per 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 had 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 knooks 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.

Easter Nests
1 1/2 c firmly packed light brown sugar
4 TBSP butter
1 TBSP corn syrup
1/2 c milk
Pinch of salt
4 c chow mein noodles
Butter for lubricating bowls
Cooking spray

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.