Chocolate Easter Egg Centrepiece

Before starting this Easter Egg Centrepiece organise all the necessary ingredients.

We prepared 3 different Easter eggs beforehand: dark chocolate, milk chocolate and caramel white chocolate. We used the easy tempering technique with Mycryo cocoa butter.

For the decoration, we will need small chocolate eggs made from the 3 chocolates listed above. Follow our recipe.

The base is a rectangular shape made of dark chocolate.

We tempered some Ocoa dark chocolate and poured it in a stainless steel rectangle frame.

Before the chocolate is fully crystallized, sprinkle coarsely ground pistachios...

... and Ocoa chocolate pistoles, coarsely ground as well. Spread carefully over the surface of the chocolate and leave to crystallize at room temperature.

If you would like to make this at home, we recommend using a mousse frame in any shape of your choice: rectangular, square, oval, round. Any shape is possible.

For the eggs, we used thermoformed plastic moulds with a striped design, but you can also use polycarbonate or copolyester moulds.

Assembling the eggs: Heat a baking sheet in a hot oven for a few minutes.

The tray should be hot enough to melt the chocolate, but not so hot as to burn your hand.

Place the half egg on the hot tray.

The rim of the chocolate egg should start melting.

Carefully lift the egg...

... and flip. Place it on a mousse ring to keep it stable.

Repeat the operation with the other half.

Melt the rim and handle gently.

Assemble both halves together...

... making sure both rims joint perfectly.

Let the chocolate crystallize at room temperature.

For the butterfly decorations: We're adding springtime decorations to this Easter recipe. We're going to make small chocolate butterflies with a transfer sheet (we used a pattern with elegant gold lines).

This method is really simple. Spread tempered chocolate to a thin layer over a transfer sheet (printed side in contact with chocolate). Before the chocolate has completely crystallized, use a cutter to create butterfly shapes on the chocolate,
as shown in the photo.

Heat a knife blade with a heat gun, then cut the butterfly shape in half to create two wings.

Create a gap between two rulers and place a sheet of greaseproof paper on top. Place the wings inside the gap (the space should be 2 to 3 mm).

Pipe small dots of tempered chocolate in the centre to assemble the two wings.

Leave to set.

Chocolate egg with brushed effect: This method should be done before assembling both halves. Scrub the smooth part of the egg with a metallic brush.

Depending on the desired effect, apply more or less pressure on the brush. The motion also depends on the desired pattern: bottom to top, right to left, slanted angle, etc.

Remove the small chocolate shavings on the surface with a pastry brush.

Assembling the centrepiece: Heat the curved part of a ladle with a heat gun or blowtorch.

Place the hot ladle on the surface of the chocolate and pistachio rectangle...

... to melt the spot where you're going to place the egg.

Pipe some tempered dark chocolate over the melted surface...

... and carefully arrange the egg on top.

Use a cooling spray to fix the egg.

Use the cooling spray over the butterfly as well to speed up the crystallization.

Remove the rulers gently.

For the finish: The remaining chocolate eggs and butterflies have all been assembled beforehand. Repeat the operation above to fix the other eggs on the chocolate base.

Fix the small chocolate eggs on the rectangle base with a drop of tempered chocolate and the cooling spray.

Technique for sticking the chocolate decorations: Pipe a drop of tempered chocolate on the base.

Arrange the decoration on top and use a cooling spray to fix it immediately.

A thin layer of frost might appear when you use the cooling spray, but it will go away within a few seconds.

Repeat the operation for the small chocolate eggs...

... then place on the base carefully and fix with cooling spray.

This chocolate Easter egg assortment will make a gorgeous centrepiece on your Easter table.

You can prepare a few days in advance, then store in a cool room at 17°C.