Panoramic Sugar Eggs

When I was really little I found one of these at an Easter Egg Hunt and thought I'd won the lottery! It is one of my earliest memories but I remember thinking how beautiful these eggs are. So I found a "how to" on them and made one for my kids. This is the site I used but modified the instructions slightly. Mine didn't turn out the way I imagined it would...it actually was a lot harder than I thought it would be. They are super delicate. Also, I have never worked with Royal Icing except to use as snow on Gingerbread houses (how hard is that?). I decided that I really don't like Royal Icing. I had wanted to do this beautiful design with stripes and zig zags but decided for my first time that polk-a-dots were good enough.

You will need for egg:

1 large egg mold (mine is a two piece I got at Michaels, not really a mold, just a fillable egg.
sugar (enough depending on how large your egg is, I had to use about 3 cups for mine)
cookie sheet
figurines (I got mine on clearance at Michaels)

You will need for icing:

powdered sugar
food coloring
egg whites OR meringue powder
decorating bags and tips

Use your mold halves to measure sugar to figure out how much you will need for each egg. You need to mix just enough water to make it like sand for sand castles . . . about 1 tbsp. water for each cup of sugar. Add water and mix with a fork. Do not add too much water.

Pack both halves of the egg firmly with damp sugar. Level off. Place your cardboard on top and invert the egg onto it. Place carefully on the cookie sheet, and slide the egg off the cardboard. Carefully life the plastic mold off the sugar. If you want the finished product to lay flat, make a cut down through the pointed end of the egg about 1/2 an inch from the end with a thin knife. Or if you would like a larger opening, make this 3/4 inch. Leave this piece in place for the time being, as it will keep the end from drying so you can scoop out the opening. If you want your finished product to stand upright (that is how I did mine) use a very small spoon (I used a baby spoon) and VERY CAREFULLY scoop an oval hole on side of egg. (Side, meaning the top of one of the halves) I also carefully shaved off a little on the bottom to make it flat so as to be able to stand up. At this point you can leave the eggs to dry. I cheated, I placed the cookie sheet in my oven on "warm" for about an hour. Wait until you can pick one up in your hand without it collapsing. I broke one of my halves by trying to pick it up too soon and had to start over with that half.

When it is ready to handle, very carefully scoop out the sugar from inside leaving at least 1/4 inch of shell or a little more. You can use the sugar that you scoop out of your first egg to make another egg. Let the hollow shells sit overnight to let them get completely dry or put back in the oven for another 30 minutes or so. Rub the inside with your fingers, to smooth the inside surface a little.

I used this Wilton's recipe for Royal Icing. Or make icing using a couple of egg whites and enough powdered sugar in mixing bowl to form peaks. Separate into small amounts and make several colors, leaving some white to "glue" the two halves of the egg together. Do not make too stiff or it is very hard to work with.

Spread a little icing in the bottom half of the egg, using green icing to use as grass. I then added a little green Easter basket grass (optional) and then set your little figurine inside, pressing it into the icing to secure it. Or you can pipe "grass" inside. This icing will dry very hard, and hold your bunny or whatever in place.

After you secure the bunny (or figurine), spread white icing on top of the bottom half of the egg sparingly. I used a butter knife to spread it on. Match the edges, set the top half onto the bottom half. If the hole looks ragged, don't worry, your icing trim will cover this.

Using a star tip, cover the seam around the egg seams and hole. You can make flowers, bows, zig-zags, polk-a-dots...etc...I wrote the year underneath my peek hole. Do what ever you would like to decorate.

Store in a zip lock bag, in freezer or in a box. They keep for several years.

Children's Gingerbread House

I found this on Allrecipes.com, I can't wait to try it!

3/4 cup butter
7/8 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup molasses
2 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground allspice
6 egg whites
4 (16 ounce) packages confectioners' sugar, sifted

Directions:

First cut out in thin cardboard: a side wall, 4 1/2 x 8 inches; an end wall, 4 1/2x5 inches; a triangular gable, 4 1/2x3x3 inches; and a roof rectangle, 4 1/2x9 inches. Tape the rectangular end wall piece to the triangular gable piece: match the long side of the triangle, 4 1/2 inches, to one of the 4 1/2 inch sides of the end wall.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in lemon zest, lemon juice, and molasses. Gradually beat in 2 eggs. Sift the flour, baking powder, and spices together; stir into creamed mixture. Wrap dough in parchment paper, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 6 portions, 2 slightly larger than the others. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the 4 smaller pieces to approximately the size of the side wall and the end wall with gable templates; cut out two of each. Roll out remaining dough, and cut into two rectangular roof pieces. Transfer gingerbread onto greased baking trays.

In a preheated 375 degree F (190 degrees C) oven, bake gingerbread for 10 minutes, or until crisp. When removing from the oven, leave the gingerbread on the baking trays for a few minutes to set, then transfer to wire racks. Leave out overnight to harden.

In a large bowl, lightly whisk 2 egg whites. Gradually beat in approximately 5 cups confectioners' sugar. The icing should be smooth and stand in firm peaks. Spread or pipe a 9 inch line of icing onto a cake board, and press in one of the side walls so that it sticks firmly and stands upright. If necessary, spread or pipe a little extra icing along either side to help support it. Take an end wall and ice both the side edges. Spread or pipe a line of icing on the board at a right angle to the first wall, and press the end wall into position. Repeat this process with the other two walls until they are all in position. Leave the walls to harden together for at least two hours before putting on the roof. Spread or pipe a thick layer of icing on top of all the walls, and fix the roof pieces in position; the roof should overlap the walls to make the eaves. Pipe or spread a little icing along the crest of the roof to hold the two pieces firmly together. Leave overnight to set firmly.

When ready to decorate, make the remaining icing. In a large bowl, lightly whisk 4 egg whites, and mix in remaining confectioners' sugar as before. Use this to make snow on the roof, and to stick various candies for decoration. Finish with a fine dusting of sifted confectioners' sugar.