One could easily pass egg off as an avocado. Another has scales like a dragon's. Here's a look at how chefs and home bakers are crafting modern versions of the modest Easter egg
Crack it open
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For pastry chef Prateek Bakhtiani, Easter evokes memories of spring camping trips that he'd take on while in college in the Pacific Northwest region of the US. He would soak in the woody scent of oak trees, make s'mores in a bonfire and enjoy the perfect sunny side-up cooked in a skillet over wood fire. "I love the flavour of stuff cooked over wood fire; it's smoky and delicious," he says.
Inspired by these elements, he has created Easter campfire at his chocolate atelier, Ether. The dessert comprises oakwood-smoked Ecuadorian chocolate mousse with a toasted maple marshmallow encased in a graham cracker crust. This decadent version also features a cracked egg - emulated by a bonbon and mirror glaze - as a modern spin on the whole Easter egg.
ON: April 20 and 21, 7.30 am to 10 pm
AT: Koinonia Coffee Roasters, Chuim Village, Khar West.
COST: Rs 300
Avocado egg, anyone?
The Easter egg gets a millennial makeover as chef Karishma Sakhrani transfigures it into an avocado - the kind that needs no toast. Made in collaboration with Toujours patisserie, the chocolate egg is filled with salted caramel ganache and covered with a layer of green-tinted white chocolate. The pit is replaced by chocolate truffle with a vanilla ganache centre. "It takes about two hours to make a single piece," says Sakhrani.
TILL: April 28
LOG ON TO: toujours.co.in
COST: Rs 1,200
Pic/Sameer Markande
Bite into a dragon egg
They look feisty and have shimmering scales that the Khaleesi would approve of. Except, these are 100 per cent edible. With Game of Thrones being the flavour of this season, the team at Poetry by Love & Cheesecake has created dragon eggs for Easter, inspired by the show's star creatures. "The eggs are made of Belgian dark chocolate. We've crafted the scales from sugar paste," says chef and co-founder Amit Sharma. Meanwhile, their bakery Love & Cheesecake's Easter menu has blue-and-gold eggs made with 64 per cent dark chocolate sitting on a nest of chocolate strands. Available till the Easter weekend.
TILL: May 19 (dragon eggs), 8 am to 12 am
AT: Poetry by Love & Cheesecake outlets at Kala Ghoda, Lower Parel, Bandra and Juhu
COST: Rs 4,000 (for a box of three eggs)
Celebrate like an Italian
A month before Easter, Stephanie D'Souza's home-run cake studio Bewitched 'n' Baked in Wadala resembles a science lab as she experiments with ingredients and designs to make innovative Easter eggs. Last year, she attempted unicorn-themed ones. This year, she has filled up chocolate eggs with espresso coffee-and-Kahlua-soaked génoise sponge cake and mascarpone frosting to recreate flavours of the classic tiramisu. "I hand-cut the cake into thin layers to fit into the tiny, 3.5 inch egg," says the 28-year-old self-taught baker.
TILL: April 21
LOG ON TO: Bewitched 'n' Baked on Facebook
COST: Rs 350 per piece
Keep it light
Feel stuffed every time you bite into the icing and fondant flowers of marzipan Easter eggs? Try cioccolato con lampone at CinCin instead. It features light and fluffy chocolate mousse nestled in a broken, hollow chocolate egg. The dish is sprinkled with chocolate dust. "With the summer sun shining over us, we've also added raspberries to lend a fruity and citrus-y hint to the mousse," says executive chef Daya Singh.
TILL: April 30, 12 pm to 1 am
AT: CinCin, ground floor, Raheja Towers, BKC.
COST: Rs 400
For a quick bite
Planning to make your own Easter eggs this time? Take tips from Bandra-based home baker Danielle Mascarenhas. "Melt cooking chocolate in the microwave, mix it with milk, pour it into egg moulds and freeze the mix till it's solid. You can add crushed biscuits, roasted almonds or raisins in the mix too," she says. It takes about six hours for the eggs to freeze enough so that they can slide out of the moulds easily. Join the halves and wrap them with chocolate foil.
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