Easy Easter Egg Hunt

INGREDIENTS:

METHOD:

Chocolate Ganache

Add chocolate and cream into a large microwave safe bowl and microwave for 20 seconds at a time, mixing each time until mixture is smooth.
Cover with plastic wrap and let it set at room temp.
When you pipe it, you may need to soften it to get it to a piping consistency.
To do that, microwave for 5 seconds, using a metal spoon to mix it (because it will be stiff).

Cheesecake mixture

Add room temp cream cheese into a large mixing bowl along with sweetened condensed milk and vanilla extract.
Use a hand mixer to whisk together until creamy.
Cover with cling wrap and set aside.

Egg Yolk Lemon Curd

Add yellow and orange food to lemon curd and mix until well combined.

Cupcakes

Preheat a fan-forced oven to 160C (320F) or 180C (356F) for a conventional oven.
Line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the cocoa powder, plain flour, salt, bicarb soda and sugar.
Turn mixer on low speed and allow it to mix for a couple minutes to help everything combine well! (alternatively you may do this by sifting the ingredients together).
Add the softened butter there is no butter visible and it's well incorporated into the dry.

Next, add milk and eggs in a jug and whisk until well combined.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients in a slow and steady stream until no dry ingredients are visible.
Scrape down the bowl and mix for another 20 seconds.

Fill each paper 3/4 of the way (using an ice cream scoop to transfer the batter into the cupcake liners makes this a quick and easy process otherwise you can use two tablespoons).
Bake for 20-25 min or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Allow them to cool completely on a wire cooling rack before frosting.

To prepare speckled eggs, melt turquois and white chocolate.
Combine once melted.

Wet the inside of your Easter egg moulds using a damp paper towel.
Add two teaspoon of crushed Oreos to the damp moulds and then empty.
This will allow the Oreos to stick to inside of your moulds giving it a speckled effect.
Add a teaspoon of chocolate and very carefully used the back of a teaspoon to spread the chocolate evenly around the mould bringing the chocolate a little but above the top of the mould.
Use a small spatula to take away any excess chocolate from the top to create a nice flush even straight top so that when you join your egg halves together they join nice and flush.

Chill for 20 min.
Careful take out of the mould and use a tooth pick to add some left over chocolate to the outside of one of the choc halves and stick the other half on top.
Use your finger to take away any excess chocolate.

Run a sharp knife under some hot water and dry with a paper towel.
Cut out some jig jag shapes from the top half of your eggs to make the shell appear as if a cute little bird has chipped its way out the top.
You'll need 12 eggs so a silicone mould with 6 egg moulds is ideal.

Fill a piping bag with the cheesecake filling and fill the inside of the eggs half way.
Fill another bag with some of the egg yolks coloured lemon curd and fill about 3/4 of the way before you fill the rest with more cream cheese.
Add an extra dab of lemon curd on top to make it appear as though the yolk is running out of the egg.

Core the centre of each cupcake with a large and fill with as many mini speckled eggs as you can.

Fit the end of a piping bag with a small round tip (about 4mm wide) and frost some ganache around the eggs.
Use the back of a teaspoon to spread the ganache around the top of the cake.
Sprinkle the ganache with some Oreos and pat down with teaspoon.

To make the birds nest, frost some chocolate ganache in 'U' shapes around the top of the cupcake.
Starting in the centre, going around toward the outside of the top of the cupcake and then back toward the middle.
Continue that shape until it resembles a birds nest.

Add pre-prepare speckled egg on top and.
Finish off by decorating the birds nest with crushed coloured sprinkles and mint leaves to resemble a beautiful birds nest.