Abstract Expressionist Dinosaur Eggs

Last year, I made two flavours of Easter eggs: peanut butter fudge and strawberry cream. I was happy with the final products, but the process was incredibly frustrating. One egg mold I used, with 6 half-egg wells, was made of silicone. While I loved the decorative pattern it produced, the mold itself was floppy and hard to work with. (The solution to this issue is to cut silicone molds into pieces, but I find it very hard to dismember them despite knowing it will make my life easier.) I also used 4 half-egg polycarbonate molds. These are much easier to work with because of the rigid plastic, but you're limited by the number of molds you have and tempering chocolate for several small batches can be time consuming. So, after making all of my eggs last year, I ordered a new polycarbonate mold with 12 wells and tucked it away for Easter 2023. (I pause this blog so that Present Self can thank Past Self for looking out for Future Self...)

As I planned for this year's eggs, I realized that the new mold would change the techniques that I could use. I would be able to shell the molds the way were were taught to in my professional chocolatier program -- that is, fill the wells, invert the mold, and tap out the excess chocolate, instead of "painting" the chocolate into the molds. This got me thinking that I should try decorating the molds as well, as we did for assignments. But I needed inspiration.

After trying Hummingbird Chocolate a few weeks ago and remembering the chocolatiers who inspired me during my program, I decided to riff on Brandon Olsen's (CXBO) disco eggs. Having received a set of oil-based food colouring for my birthday, I purchased a small quantity of white chocolate and coloured it orange and teal -- orange to reflect the flavour of the eggs and teal because it's one of my favourite springtime colours. After polishing my polycarbonate molds, I grabbed a fork and used it to splatter chocolate over the molds in the abstract expressionist style associated with Jackson Pollock. (Side note: Brandon Olsen would have done this using coloured cocoa butter, not coloured chocolate, but I was making do with what I had.)

Next, I tempered some dark chocolate and shelled the eggs, using my drywall taping knife to clean the molds. (Don't worry, it's only ever been used for chocolate.) Not only was this significantly easier than last year, but it's also a much cleaner way of working and very efficient. I set the molds aside for a few days. 

When I returned to my project, the first thing I had to do was make the ganache for the centre of the egg. The first batch went off the rails, but the second batch was perfect. Flavoured with orange oil (not extract) and a sprinkling of pulverized freeze dried orange slices, the ganache had an intense, real orange flavour. (One thing that the professional chocolatier program instilled in me is a distaste for artificial flavours.)

Once the eggs were filled and the orange ganache had started to crystallize, I tempered some dark chocolate and capped the eggs, again using my drywall taping knife to remove the excess chocolate. 

The result? Eighteen abstract expressionist dinosaur eggs with creamsicle centres for Easter! I'm loving the way these look and I can't wait to heat up a knife and slice through one later today!