Wow your friends and family with your very own homemade Easter eggs. This recipe is for dark chocolate Easter eggs filled with crunchy salted caramel popcorn lusciously coated in more chocolate. But you could always make them with milk chocolate if you prefer.
How did this happen? I woke up this morning and realised that Easter is very nearly upon us. That will teach me to go and have a fun day off in the middle of the week. I quickly gathered pans, bowls and lots of chocolate together and a few hours later, I ended up with these homemade Easter eggs with dark chocolate salted caramel popcorn.
Salted caramel popcorn is a delicious snack all by itself, but when covered in luscious chocolate it’s raised up to a completely different level. I found this out recently when I reviewed Divine’s milk chocolate popcorn egg.
If I was going to make chocolate covered popcorn for my own delectation, I’d use a mixture of dark and milk chocolate, but the Easter eggs I envisaged were destined for my mother and my mother’s favourite chocolate is dark.
The first thing I needed to do was pop some corn. I was a bit worried about this; the only popping corn I have has been sitting in a jar, unloved for more years than I care to remember. Would it pop? Amazingly it did – phew! I then made a dry caramel with a pinch of Cornish sea salt and coated my popcorn with it as best I could. It’s a bit tricky as it hardens quite quickly.
Tempering Chocolate
The most difficult stage in the process was tracking down my Easter egg moulds. Now where on earth did I squirrel them away? After a few unsuccessful attempts at unpacking boxes, I managed to find them. So now all I had to do was temper some chocolate.
My method of tempering chocolate is a bit hit and miss. You might want to do things a little more scientifically and use a thermometer. You’ll find an in-depth guide over at Patisserie Makes Perfect. The temperatures needed for the different chocolates are as follows:
Dark Chocolate
Melt until it reaches 40-45℃ (104-113℉) → cool to 27-28℃ (80-82℉) → reheat to a working temperature of 31-32℃ (88-89℉).
Milk Chocolate
Melt until it reaches 32.5℃ (90℉) → cool to 27-28℃ (80-82℉) → reheat to a working temperature of no more than 30℃ (86℉).
White Chocolate
Melt until it reaches 30.5℃ (87℉) → cool to 27℃ (80℉) → reheat to a working temperature of 28℃ (82℉).
The whole process went well from start to finish and my chocolate turned out to be shiny, snappy and nicely tempered. I reckoned my homemade Easter eggs with dark chocolate salted popcorn were a roaring success.
Easter
There was quite a lot of the dark chocolate popcorn leftover – hooray! I turned it out onto a silicone mat, letting it fall naturally into clusters and left it to set. The popcorn keeps well in an air tight tin, but I can’t promise how long it will last.
Come Easter Day, I’ll be tripping off down my mother’s lane with a basket of eggs and an Easter cake which I’ll be posting about on Sunday. I also have a rather fabulous baking competition to announce, so do visit then to find out more.
If you don’t want to make your own Easter eggs, there’s still time to go and buy some. You may want to visit my Easter Feaster post for some ideas.
Homemade Chocolate Easter Eggs: Top Tips
I generally wipe a little sunflower oil over my moulds before using. This makes unmoulding the eggs a little easier and gives a shinier finish.
If you’d prefer to fill your homemade Easter eggs with something other than popcorn, try my recipe for Biscoff cheesecake filled Easter eggs. It’s a good one.
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make these homemade chocolate Easter eggs, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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If you’d like more Easter recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.
Choclette x
Homemade Easter Eggs. PIN IT.
Homemade Easter Eggs – The Recipe
Homemade Easter Eggs with Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Popcorn
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- 50 g popping corn
- 150 g golden caster sugar
- 1 pinch sea salt flakes (I used Cornish Sea Salt)
- 300 g dark chocolate ( I used Callaubaut 60%)
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pan over a moderate to high heat.1 tbsp sunflower oil
- Add three corn kernels and when the first one pops, add in the rest. Shake to coat them, then put the lid on. Allow the corn to do it’s thing and when the popping has nearly stopped, take the lid off the pan and the pan off the heat.50 g popping corn
- Tip the corn into a bowl and wash the pan. Put it back on a moderately low heat.
- Pour in the sugar and add the salt. Leave the sugar to melt, then allow it to bubble for a couple of minutes until it’s become a darkish red colour. Be careful not to let it burn.150 g golden caster sugar, 1 pinch sea salt flakes
- Place the popcorn back in the pan and stir to coat as quickly as you can. Scrape it out onto a lined tin and leave to set for a couple of minutes. Break apart when cool.
- Fill a small saucepan with an inch or two of water and bring to a near simmer. Place a bowl over the top, ensuring it doesn’t touch the water. Fill it with ¾ of the chocolate and leave the chocolate to melt. Keep the water hot, but not boiling.300 g dark chocolate
- As soon as the chocolate has melted, remove the bowl from the pan and add the remaining chocolate. Stir until melted and smooth.
- Use a teaspoon to coat the Easter egg moulds.
- Add the popcorn to the remaining chocolate and stir to coat. Spoon some of the chocolate popcorn into the moulds and leave to set.
- Spoon any remaining popcorn onto a silicone mat or some baking paper and leave to set. Store in an air tight tin for up to a week.
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Linkies
These homemade Easter eggs with dark chocolate salted caramel popcorn are my very chocolatey entry to this month’s #WeShouldCocoa. If you’ve made blogged anything chocolatey this month, why not join in?
I’m sending my homemade Easter eggs off to Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary for the No Waste Food Challenge. I could have consigned that ancient corn to the bin, but I don’t like being ageist and it deserved a chance.
Jo Keohane says
What a great idea. I’ve never thought to make my own Easter Eggs! Seriously impressive but also looks do-able. Wonderful recipe, thank you xx
Choclette says
Thanks Jo. The great thing about making your own eggs is that you can make the chocolate mix exactly how you like it.
Janice says
I love the look of these easter eggs, so much nicer than the super sweet shop made ones.
Choclette says
Thanks Janice. I was quite pleased with myself over those. And yes, I don’t know why most commercial eggs have to be so sweet.
Elizabeth says
I absolutely LOVE this recipe! Despite having a chocolate egg mould I never did get around to making eggs this year. Maybe next, and I’ll have to try your recipe! Thank you for sharing with the No Waste Food Challenge 🙂
Choclette says
Chocolate popcorn is my new favourite thing Elizabeth. It works brilliantly well as an Easter egg filling. I might be making them again next year.
Rachel @ GameVillage says
I love crunchy chocolates. Salted popcorn with chocolate is something I haven’t tried before and now I want to. These Easter eggs looks absolutely great with smooth finishing, as if you have got it from store!!
Choclette says
Thanks Rachel, the popcorn is well worth trying.
Kate - Gluten Free Alchemist says
These are beautiful Choclette. SO shiny….. Better than anything you can buy in the shops! And that popcorn? Amazing….. I need some in my life! I hope you had a lovely Easter x
Choclette says
Thanks Kate. Easter already seems like a long time ago now. But we had a lovely Easter tea at my mother’s and the eggs were much enjoyed.
Kate says
Ooooh I need to try this soon. I love the sound of chocolate popcorn!
Choclette says
It’s fabulous stuff Kate and so worth trying.
Monika Dabrowski says
These look absolutely fabulous! Adding it to my Easter Pinterest board. Happy Easter:)
Choclette says
Thanks Monika. Chocolate popcorn is the business 🙂 Happy Easter to you.
Sus // roughmeasures.com says
These look fantastic! Much better than store bought. Loving the popcorn on them too!
Choclette says
Thanks Sus. Chocolate popcorn is wonderful stuff I’ve found 😉
Johanna @ Green Gourmet Giraffe says
These are so impressive both with the popcorn filling and the glossy shells. I have had hit and miss success with melting chocolate for this sort of thing but more miss than hit so I really need to try harder.
Choclette says
Thanks Johanna. It’s tricky to get the right temperatures (even if you do use a thermometre) I find, especially if your kitchen is hot or cold.
Kavey says
Love these, and I adding in popcorn means eating these is a bit less sickly than eating solid chocolate! Your tempering is really good, so shiny and beautiful!
Choclette says
Thanks Kavey. I was rather pleased with the result. I don’t always get it right by any means.
Hannah Hossack-Lodge says
These look amazing! The eggs have got such a lovely shine 🙂 The chocolate salted caramel popcorn sounds dangerously addictive…
Choclette says
Thanks Hannah. My tempering is a bit hit and miss, but I struck lucky this time! As for the chocolate popcorn, there is a little bit left in the tin!
Michelle & Greedy Gourmet says
These babies look lush! So many people are making their own eggs these days, it looks as if I’m missing out!
Choclette says
All you need is an Easter egg mould Michelle – and maybe some chocolate too 😉
Angie@Angie's Recipes says
Such a fun treat!
Choclette says
Popcorn and chocolate is a very recent discovery. And it’s a good one 🙂
Dom says
these are INCREDIBLE!!!! I am making the popcorn alone but can you imagine receiving one of these as a gift, you’d be blown away. I LOVE them… and such a glossy finish. You’ve got that tempering down to a finite art. So lovely Happy Easter my dear xx
Choclette says
Aw thanks Dom. Sadly I’m still very hit and miss with my tempering, but it seemed to work today – phew! Chocolate popcorn is the business – go make some 🙂
sue | theviewfromgreatisland says
That a fun creative idea ~ I love it, especially since I hate jelly beans and peeps!
Choclette says
Thanks Sue. Salted caramel popcorn covered in chocolate is my latest favourite thing. What are peeps?