Name: Easter eggs filled with praline or gianduja
Cuisine: Belgian
Ingredients: chocolate (tempered (milk/dark/white)); hazelnut praline paste (or gianduja)

Equipment

chocolate moulds (for Easter eggs)
scraper
blowtorch
baking paper
warming plate

Method

Get cooking

Preparing the moulds:

Remove chocolate residue from the chocolate moulds with a scraper.
Use a blowtorch to warm the chocolate moulds slightly, then clean them with kitchen paper.

Moulding:

Fill the moulds completely with tempered chocolate. Place on the vibrating table for 10s, then upside down for another maximum 10s (8s for white chocolate). Scrape off excess chocolate and stand the mould upright on baking paper.
Leave to set for several minutes. Then remove excess chocolate with a scraper and leave to set further.

Filling:

Take or make the filling, here praline or gianduja.
Let the filling cool if necessary. Put it in a piping bag and roll it over a marble table to cool it more quickly. The filling must be below 30°C or it will melt the chocolate already in the moulds.
Pipe the filling into the half-eggs, leaving at least one mm below the rim.
After filling a mould, tap it on the table for about 10 seconds to distribute the filling evenly.

Chilling:

Put the chocolate moulds in the fridge for at least 1h.

Joining:

Remove the moulds from the fridge and let them warm up briefly (max 10 min).
Briefly warm the top surface of the chocolate moulds with the blowtorch so they can be joined more easily.
Apply a layer of chocolate of the same type as the eggs to the mould and scrape gently with the palette knife. Do the same for the 2nd matching mould.
Align the moulds neatly alongside each other and fold them together. Secure with the appropriate binding material. Remove excess chocolate around the edges.
Turn over several times and immediately place in the fridge for at least 1h.

Finishing

Remove the moulds from the fridge, remove the binding material and tap the mould on the table to release the eggs.
Have some eggs failed to stay whole? Use a warming plate to “glue” them back together one by one.

Source / inspiration: CVO Gent – Pralines course