Easter eggs

This week I took delivery of my own tub of cocoa butter. The postman seemed a little taken aback by my puppy-like bounding to the door, but after I'd failed to source cocoa butter in the north east's cookshops (one advised me to try the Body Shop...) my only option was to order online and wait.

The postman was barely out of the gate by the time I'd made some Easter egg cake pops, warmed my cocoa butter and daubed them in pretty colours.

 

I learned handpainting on a masterclass earlier this month at Little Venice Cake Company with the Queen of Couture Cakes, Mich Turner MBE. The class was brilliant fun and Mich was very generous with her time and advice. I painted these two cakes (baked and covered by Little Venice) and am excited about practising this technique some more. The cakes were absolutely delicious too!

While I'm talking about Easter eggs, yesterday I did a chocolate egg making class at Davenport's Chocolates with the lovely Jane Williams. It was fascinating to see how artisan chocolates are made and quite a thrill to pack my own Easter egg with a selection of them. Mostly I indulged my obsession with violet creams  - I swear there's a little old lady inside me trying to get out. When I decorated my egg, I forgot my own mantra of "less is more" and over-egged it (ha ha...)

My nephew Alex is only 6 months old, so I am hoping he'll share his Easter egg with the family. To be honest, he's not going to have any choice in the matter.

Lastly, Easter isn't Easter without a chocolate rice crispie cake with a couple of mini eggs. Here's a twist on the theme - a nest with a lemon chick cake pop.