Eggs symbolise fertility, health and life, and are therefore perfect as a gesture. And before Easter it’s very important to send out letters that have shapes cut out of them and include a number of dots corresponding to the number of letters in the sender’s name. The recipient has to guess who the letter is from and if they don’t, they owe the sender an Easter egg.
Makes 20
good-quality marzipan 300g (at least 60% almonds)
dark chocolate 200g, finely chopped
walnuts 30g, chopped
unwaxed lemon zest 1-2 tbsp, finely grated
Divide the marzipan into 10 small eggs weighing 30g, and 10 smaller eggs weighing 20g, if you like some variation.
To temper the chocolate, melt two-thirds of it in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, making sure the base of the bowl is not touching the water. As soon as it reaches 50C, remove the bowl from the pan and add the remaining chopped chocolate. Mix well until all the chocolate has melted. Gently heat again over the pan of water until it reaches a temperature of 31C (it will have dropped below that when you added the chopped chocolate).
Immediately coat the eggs in the tempered chocolate and place on a tray lined with baking parchment. Place the walnuts on some eggs, and the lemon zest on others. Leave the rest plain. Once the chocolate has set, store in an airtight container.
If you like, you can add all kinds of flavourings to the marzipan before you cover it in chocolate, like Cognac, orange zest, nuts or spices. I just happen to like mine simple and classic.
From Scandinavian Comfort Food by Trine Hahnemann (Quadrille, £26)
