Most foods are improved with a simple dip in chocolate. Pretzels, strawberries, and even biscotti cookies. And buttercream is another we’ll add to the list! Yes, this is a buttercream-like filling covered in chocolate. Do your teeth hurt at the thought of all this sugar? If it makes you feel any better, we’re good friends with our dentist and she loved these. Ha!! But that’s what candy is all about. It’s sugary, it’s sweet, and it’s perfect around holidays, including Easter. Instead of purchasing store-bought chocolate eggs filled with who-the-heck-knows-what, give these Easter egg buttercream candies a try. You can jazz up the buttercream filling with a variety of flavors or even add shredded coconut. Give them a dunk in chocolate and let each bite completely melt in your mouth. Trust me, you’re going to be very happy about these.
What Are Buttercream Candies?
Let’s chat a little more about this buttercream filling business. Do you know the vanilla buttercreams found in chocolate boxes? They’re absolutely delicious, remarkably creamy, and typically filled with fondant. I prefer a shortcut approach using butter and confectioners’ sugar. As a bonus, this shortcut method retains the same delightfully creamy consistency. I published a strawberry version in my cookbook Sally’s Candy Addiction. Today’s buttercream eggs are plain, but I definitely wouldn’t consider them boring! They’re flavored with a little vanilla and almond extracts and taste remarkable enrobed in dark chocolate. This buttercream filling is not ideal for frosting a cake. It’s very thick and ideal for molding into shapes such as balls or Easter egg shaped candies.
How to Make Buttercream Filling
Pretend like you’re making regular vanilla buttercream. We’re using the same exact ingredients, but different ratios to produce a mega thick filling. Start with room temperature butter and make sure it’s the proper room temperature. Not overly soft, not melted in the slightest, and still cool to touch. Good rule of thumb: let the butter sit out on the counter for 1 hour before beginning the recipe. You also need confectioners’ sugar, heavy cream or half-and-half, and flavorings. Chilling: The most important part of this homemade Easter candy recipe is chilling. Chill the buttercream filling before shaping into Easter eggs. Otherwise it’s way too soft to mold into shapes. After molding the cold buttercream filling into Easter egg shapes, refrigerate again for at least 1 hour. The colder the buttercream, the easier it is to cover in chocolate.
How to Shape Filling into Easter Eggs
Each Easter egg candy is 1 Tablespoon (about 1 ounce) of buttercream filling. When the filling is nice and cold, it’s much easier to shape. The filling gets a little crumbly, but the warmth of your hands brings it back together. First, roll the buttercream filling into a ball. Flatten it between your palms so it’s about 1/2 – 3/4 inch thick, then use your fingers to thin out one end for the top. It’s really easy and they certainly don’t need to be perfect.
Coconut Buttercreams: Replace almond extract with coconut extract and add 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut. If desired, pulse the coconut in a food processor so the shreds are smaller. Lemon Buttercreams: Replace almond extract with lemon extract. Chocolate Filled Buttercreams: Replace 2 Tablespoons confectioners’ sugar with unsweetened cocoa powder. Orange Buttercreams: Replace almond extract with orange extract. Strawberry Buttercreams: Pulse 1 cup of freeze-dried strawberries in a food processor to yield about 1/2 cup strawberry “dust.” Replace 1/2 cup of confectioners’ sugar with 1/2 cup strawberry dust. Coffee Buttercreams: Add 1 teaspoon espresso powder. Taste, then add more as desired. Peanut Butter Eggs: Use the recipe for these homemade peanut butter eggs.
Have fun with different extracts and flavors. You can even divide the buttercream filling up to make different varieties from 1 batch. This recipe yields about 20 Easter egg buttercream candies.
How to Dip Candies in Chocolate
I repeat: Do not use chocolate chips. They’re great for cookies, but since they contain stabilizers, they do not melt into the correct coating consistency.
Coating in Chocolate – Troubleshooting
Your Easter egg buttercream candy is perfectly shaped and cold, but dipping them into chocolate is giving you some problems. Let’s work through them together.
Chocolate is too thick: 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil thins out the chocolate so it’s the best consistency for dipping. If you find your chocolate is still too thick, add a little more vegetable oil. Coconut oil works too, but I prefer vegetable oil. Chocolate isn’t smooth on the candies: It was likely too thick. You want a very thin chocolate. See above. Chocolate is hardening before I’m finished: This is an easy fix! First, make sure you are working quickly. Second, keep the chocolate fluid by reheating in the microwave for 10 seconds or use a double boiler. If you don’t have a double boiler, spoon the chocolate into a glass bowl set over a pot of simmering water. This keeps the chocolate slightly warm. Don’t let the water touch the bottom of the glass bowl. Buttercream filling is melting: The chocolate is too hot. Let it sit for a few minutes to slightly cool down and then try again.
Have fun with these! We have some leftover in the freezer and, admittedly, I love gnawing on them frozen. The filling tastes like ice cream! Looking for more Easter inspiration? See all 18+ of our favorite Easter brunch recipes. And here are 18+ Easter dessert ideas, including these adorable (and super easy!) jelly bean sugar cookies.
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