Chocolate Nests with Salted Chocolate Truffle Eggs

Course: Sweet treat Skill level: medium

Sunflower oil, for greasing

850 g (1 lb 14 oz) mix of milk and dark chocolate 140 g (5 oz) unsalted butter, chopped into small pieces

125 ml (4 fl oz) boiling water

2 Happy Egg yolks, at room temperature

¼ tsp sea salt flakes 100 g (3½ oz) icing sugar

1 To make the nests, grease the outside of an 80 mm wide silicone half-sphere mould for each nest.

2 Break 400 g (14 oz) of the dark chocolate into small pieces and melt in the microwave, 20 seconds at a time. Take it out and stir well after each 20-second interval. Continue until about twothirds of the chocolate is melted and there are a few lumps left. Stir well until no lumps are left.

3 Put the chocolate in a piping bag and pipe thin lines in a criss-cross manner over the greased half-sphere mould. Make it quite thick at the base. Leave to dry, and then carefully remove from the mould.

4 Using a cheese slicer or a vegetable peeler, scrape shavings of chocolate off the milk chocolate to make the straw for the nest.

5 To make the eggs, chop remaining chocolate into small pieces. Place the chocolate and butter in a heat-safe bowl. Half fill a small saucepan with water and heat until it just simmers. Place the bowl with chocolate and butter on top of the saucepan and melt the chocolate and butter.

6 Put the 2 egg yolks in a bowl and gently whisk to break the yolks. Very slowly pour 125 ml (4 fl oz) of just-boiled water into the yolks whilst stirring continuously.

7 Beat the melted chocolate and butter a few times with a whisk then place a fine mesh strainer over the mixture. Pour a third of the egg mixture through the strainer and into the bowl, beat with a whisk until incorporated, then repeat with remaining egg mixture.

8 Add the salt and continue to beat until the chocolate mixture has thickened and looks shiny. Refrigerate for about 2 hours until firm.

9 Put the icing sugar into a bowl. Dust your hands with icing sugar. Take ½ teaspoonfuls of the truffle mixture and roll the mixture into an egg shape. Roll each shaped egg in the bowl of icing sugar. The egg truffles can then be returned to the fridge and kept for up to 2 days until they are ready to be served in the chocolate nests.