Good Friday Projects

The joy of having a day off and messing about in the kitchen would be unparalleled if it wasn't for all the tidying up it creates... Despite that I've had a great time making Easter treats today. There are marzipan rabbits inspired by a picture on facebook - all you do is roll the marzipan into balls, pinch them out into an egg shape whilst flattening the base, snip out ear shapes with some scissors and lightly toast under the grill. The taste great (if you like marzipan).

I also thought it might be fun to try and make my own Easter eggs and get a bit more practice in with handling chocolate which is something I continue to struggle with - basically because it calls for quite a bit more patience than I possess in the general run of things. I think the eggs have been reasonably successful, I covered them in gold lustre to cover up finger prints and other unsightly blemishes, but it's going to take a lot more practice before I'm properly competent at this kind of thing and I really need to work out how to stick the halves of things together in a satisfactory manner - that and how to coat the inside of the moulds reasonably evenly. 

I also made some Gin and Tonic truffles (recipe from Hope and Greenwood's 'Miss Hope's Chocolate Box') which were going to go inside the eggs until I realised that would be pushing my luck/competence. This is the second lot of truffles I've made - first time round I was very heavy handed with the gin which gave the truffles one hell of a kick (great in an actual gin and tonic, disconcerting in a chocolate) second time round I restrained myself somewhat with generally pleasing results. 

I was a bit doubtful about 'Miss Hope's Chocolate Box' at first but find I keep going back to it for inspiration and instruction. What I particularly like about it this recipe is that the quantities are fairly modest - perfect for experimenting with when your not quite sure how much of a mess you'll make and don't want to overdo the calorie intake either.