Fantastic Peanut Butter-Filled Chocolate Easter Eggs
A suggestion to serve two eggs “over Easter” with toast and bacon
Pretty much any holiday-related candy evokes positive memories. Even industrial offerings, confectionery that isn’t really of particularly high quality, can still bring smiles to faces and warm hearts. We made these last year for the first time and people really loved them! Now they’re back and just as darned delicious! Seriously, if you’re having a gathering at home or work, buy a bunch, put them out as they are, and watch people’s faces. First curiosity—who doesn’t love chocolate? Then a tentative taste—they look good, but what’s in them? And third, for most of us, a big smile as the complex flavors of sweet and salt and bitter all begin to unfurl at the same time.
The good news here, though, is that these peanut butter-filled chocolate eggs that Jamie LeBeouf and the crew at the Candy Manufactory are crafting are both emotionally engaging Easter eggs and amazingly delicious regardless of anything to do with Easter. Whatever your motivation, they’re remarkably tasty!
About a centimeter thick, peanut butter-filled dark chocolate shells, the “eggs” really are exceptionally delicious. You get the slightly sweet dark flavors of the Guittard chocolate, set off against the slightly savory, terrificness of the St. Laurent Brothers peanut butter from Bay City inside. A small bit of sea salt takes the flavor up even further. The eggs are decorated for the holiday by Jamie and the craft crew at the Candy Manufactory!
In the spirit of the great, but all too often underappreciated European combination of bread and chocolate, I used the Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Eggs to create a confectionery version of “eggs on toast with bacon”! It takes just a couple of minutes to make it, and it’s both pretty darned fun and flavorful.
To make it, start by toasting a small slice (a bit bigger than the chocolate egg) of Bakehouse Better than San Francisco Sourdough, Rustic Italian, or French Baguette. Spread with butter—I used that great Vermont Creamery Cultured Butter we have at the Bakeshop, Roadhouse, and Deli. Then, lay the chocolate egg on top. In the spirit of many people’s passion for chocolate and bacon, serve small bits of Nueske’s (or other artisan) bacon arranged on the side! And if peanut butter and jelly is a particular passion for you, put a small dab of artisan jam on the side as well! I tried all this out last year and it worked really well—a lot has changed in the world in the last 12 months, but here the culinary song combo remains the same. The combination comes together as well as ever and the idea of it is guaranteed to make your guests smile.
Alternatively, if you prefer to take a pass on the meat, you can use small slices of the amazing chocolate cigars we stock from the folks at Venchi in the north of Italy—they will look a lot like circles of just-cooked breakfast sausage.
The whole dish is truly delicious, lovely to look at, and pretty much a guaranteed conversation starter. If you serve one chocolate egg per person after dinner, you’ll have an amazing dessert! All that said, you can also just do what I did the other evening. Appreciate the artisan artistry of Jamie and the Candy Manufactory crew, eat the egg in small, tasty bites, and enjoy it just as the world-class work of confectionery art that it is.
And, hey, if you’re in a hurry, just pop one into a Bakehouse brioche bun, order a cup of coffee, and enjoy your “egg sandwich” for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!
An egg-cellent treat
