Big Giant Coconut Cream Easter Eggs

A really lousy picture of a completely divine confection

I love coconut. I seriously do. Everything is better with coconut. Except coconut shrimp, but only because the shrimp ruins it. But coconut in brownies, lemon bars, chocolate, cream pie, mmmm, mmmm, mmmm.

My grandmother had a candy business when I was a child, and she hand dipped all her own chocolates. She's still doing it, all these years later, and even though the store is long gone. She gave this recipe to my mom, who made it for us kids every year, and now I continue the tradition.

Here is the beloved Coconut Cream Easter Egg recipe. Thanks for asking.

2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk

1/2 lb. butter (no substitutions, not even margarine, don't even think about it.)

Blend all of this together. I use my Kitchen Aid (wheeeee!)

When it has come together, add in 1/2 cup coconut. I will freely admit I use more. Maybe even double. Check the consistency, and add a little more powdered sugar, if needed. If the cream filling is holding its shape well, you can form it into eggs at this point, but if not, stick the bowl in the fridge for a bit and once it has chilled you can shape it into eggs. My mom wrote on my recipe card in parentheses, "Larger ones taste better." I couldn't agree more.

Place the shaped eggs on a wax paper lined cookie sheet and put the whole thing into the refrigerator to get them nice and firm.

Next:

Melt 1 lb. milk chocolate and 1/2 lb. dark chocolate in the top of a double boiler.

Also, melt 3/4 cup paraffin wax in a glass measuring cup over boiling water. (You can buy paraffin wax in the baking aisle, and though it seems weird to eat it, it makes the chocolate shiny and not melty in your hands. I also don't measure it too well, I just use one of the rectangle slabs that comes in the box and melt that. I don't know how if it's a full 3/4 cup.)

Once both are melted, stir the paraffin into the chocolate. At first it seems as though they will never come together, but they will. Just keep stirring and be patient. Trust me. And once they do, it's a beautiful sight. Now, let the chocolate cool just a bit, or it will be too runny.

Now to dip. I'm not very graceful at this part. Use a meat fork to stab each egg and dip into the chocolate. Lift and let the chocolate run off and then let the eggs set on waxed paper. I usually dip them all and then give them each a double dip.

Then you can decorate as desired with colored icing. I left this part off this year, but I usually decorate with piped flowers and stripes and write each child's name on the eggs.

We keep ours in the fridge because I like them cold, and then we slice them, but feel free to act like a Barbarian and just start shoving that giant egg into your mouth.