Today I'm going to tell you how to make a sugar Easter egg. I used to do this project with the students in my kindergarten class. Some years we made small eggs and a couple of years I was brave enough to make the larger ones. The janitor of the school didn't exactly love this project because there was sugar everywhere. The children loved making them so that was what counted.
Here are some smaller eggs with the large one. Now for the directions..
I use a large bowl, a four or five pound bag of sugar and some water.
I added 1/4 cup of water to the 4 pounds of sugar.
Mix the sugar very well. If you leave any dry sugar you will have tunnels in your egg.
Pack the mixture in the bottom half of a plastic egg. I got my egg at the local $ store.
Use a knife to shave off the extra sugar.
With a spoon, scoop out the center of the egg. I probably left at least 1/2 inch of sugar in the egg.
Scoop the sugar from the small end of the egg to make the peep hole.
Repeat these steps with the top of the egg.
Blow the sugar with a hair dryer for about 5 minutes.
Place a foil covered book over the egg.
Flip the egg .
Carefully remove the plastic mold.
Repeat with the top of the egg. Put the eggs aside until the next day. Don't be tempted to see if they are dry because you will risk breaking them.
I had this much sugar left over. You could either start another large egg or use this to make some small eggs. The small ones do not need to be scooped out. The difficult thing about the small ones if finding a plastic egg that opens the right way. Most of the eggs you find open in the middle rather than from end to end. (If that makes sense) You can add a little food coloring to the sugar if you want the eggs to be colored. Now gather your chicks and bunnies that you will put inside the egg. That will be the next step after your egg is dry.
Now your egg is all dry and ready to decorate. First you need to mix your icing. I use Royal Icing because it hardens nicely. There are several different recipes for this icing but this is the one my sister, the wedding cake decorator, recommends.
1 egg white
2/3 cup confectioners sugar
Mix that and microwave for 30 seconds
Add 2/3 cup of confectioners sugar and beat until it is firm.
The peaks will stand when you have mixed it enough.
I used paste coloring to tint the icing.
Before putting the icing on the egg hold the egg over the sink and brush off the loose sugar with your hand. Then cover the bottom of the egg with green icing.
Add the decorations to the front part of the egg. I usually have little plastic figures but this is what I had on hand left over from last year.
Put icing around the seam and stick the two halves together. I use the throw away decorating bags so I don't have to wash them when I'm finished. I start with a leaf tip.
I pipe a bunch of leaves on the top of the egg.
On this egg I added leaves around the peep hole and a few around the seam.
Then I added other flowers and vines. I'm not giving instructions on how to made the flowers. If you have never done this before there are lots of video tutorials on YouTube that you can watch. Always keep the icing tips covered with a damp cloth when you're not using them. The icing will dry in the tip if you don't do this and your flowers won't come out nicely. Also, make sure that you hold the twisted end of the decorating bag to keep the icing from coming out of the wrong end. When I do this with young children I let them put their hands in front of mine and I hold the bag closed. That is the voice of experience speaking.
These are some special kids that made eggs with me.
This picture shows the different sizes that you can make the eggs. These eggs can be stored in a dry place and saved from year to year. When we made these at school I always read The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes , by Du Bose Heyward. It's the perfect book to go along with this project. I hope you enjoy making these. Have a blessed Easter.
