Sweet treats for Easter

This candy project is simple, quick and fun

April 02, 2010|By CRYSTAL SCHELLE

By Crystal Schelle,

It's only a few days until the Easter bunny comes hopping into town with his baskets filled with goodies.

The kids have already dyed their eggs, but they're complaining of being bored.

Chocolate pops are an easy, relatively inexpensive and quick project you can do with your kids or give as Easter gifts during sunrise service.

You'll need a bag of melting candy wafers; a 14-ounce bag yields about 1/2 cup of melted chocolate, enough to fill two mold sheets with four candies in each. If you don't use all the melting wafers this year, store the chocolate in a dry, relatively cool place. Don't put chocolate in the freezer for storage.

The candy will cost about $5 a bag, but at this time a year many places have it on sale. I've found that Wilton's Candy Melts have a nice melting consistency.

Next you'll need molds. I found mine at a local arts and crafts store. What you're looking for are molds with lollipop stick depressions -- with slots for sticks that connect to the larger, candy shape. In my case, I used molds to form Easter egg candies.

1. Place your molds on the counter. Make sure they are dry and free of any other particles.

2. You can melt your chocolate in one of two ways. The first is using a double boiler. If you don't have a double boiler, which I don't, cheat by placing a soup pot of water on the stove. Place a steel or aluminum bowl on top and let the water come to a boil. Place the chips inside the bowl, continuing to stir.

Be careful. Chocolate can burn.

If you have kids helping out with the project, I would suggest using a microwave oven. When using the double-boiler method, the bowl becomes hot, which is not good for little hands. And, if you're not careful, the chocolate can also become quite hot.

To microwave the chips, put 1/4 cup to a 1/2 cup of wafers in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat them on half power at one minute. Stir. Then heat at 30-second intervals. Stir. It takes nearly 2 minutes to really get the chocolate melted. Be patient to get that smooth consistency where the chocolate is free of chunks.

3. Spoon the chocolate into the forms. Place the end of the candy stick into the chocolate and lay in into the slot. When placing, it give it a little twist, to cover the stick with chocolate. If necessary, add a little more chocolate to cover the back so the stick and the pop stay together.

4. Once you've filled up all of the forms, gently tap the mold onto the table to get all the bubbles out of the chocolate. You'll notice the chocolate seems to smooth itself out.

5. Place molds in the refrigerator on a level surface for about 20 minutes or until you notice the chocolate start to pull away from the mold.

6. Gently flip the pops onto a towel. They're ready for eating.

Any broken ones? Throw them back into the bowl for another round of melting.

To protect the pops, place inside cellophane candy wrappers available at most craft stores. Some bags come with twisty-ties to ensure the bag stays on.

A great idea is to give the pops away during Easter services. Place the pop inside the cellophane wrap. Write your favorite Bible verse on a small card and attach it to the twisty-tag.

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