Surprise-Inside Easter Eggs

Imagine children running around the yard looking for Easter eggs. They gather and collect an array of colours and squeal with glee with each new find. Now imagine their excitement when they crack one open and find that instead of the hard boiled egg they were expecting it is filled with bright and colourful jello!

My kids went gaga over these. And, let me tell you, they were so much fun to make. They may seem complicated but really they’re not. They do take some time to make but they don’t feel like a lot of work. I filled mine with homemade jello (made from juice) and vanilla panna cotta. You will find the recipe below but for now I’m gonna cut right to the chase and fill you in on how to make these beauties.

Gently crack the bottom of the egg with the back of a spoon. Carefully remove pieces to make a small opening. Stick a toothpick into the hole to break up the egg yolk. Drain egg into a bowl (we made scrambled eggs for breakfast the next day).

Place the empty shell into a large bowl of hot soapy water. Repeat with remaining eggs. Fill eggs and empty with water several times, swishing the water around inside to clean. Rinse several times with clean hot water.

Place hole-side down on a clean kitchen towel to drain. Make jello (recipes below).

Now, you can either fill them fully with the same colour or you can split up the colours for a fun effect. I choose do do jello and panna cotta, although the panna cotta was a little harder to peel. The flavour was great but if little fingers are peeling I might just do two colours of jello together. Regardless, either fill them all the way to the top and then let them set (then you’re done!) or follow the instructions below to add a little more fun.

Pour jello into eggs to fill half way. Place eggs in carton, hole side up. Place some at an angle if desired (this makes the colour-split diagonal instead of straight across). I chose to do some of each. Refrigerate for one hour.

If you will be filling them with additional jello, do not refrigerate the jello as you do not want it to set. If you will be filling with panna cotta, pour any extra jello into jars or cups and refrigerate (we had fun layering different jello’s in the jars as well).

If making, prepare the panna cotta.

Check to make sure the jello is set by tipping the eggs. Mark the egg carton so you can tell which eggs have which fillings, if desired (I did this just so I could match the flavours with the colours on the outside of the egg). Fill eggs with panna cotta mixture, or additional jello (switching up the colours). Place all eggs hole side up. Do not place them on their side at this point. Refridgerate for 2 hours or until they can be tipped over and hold shape.

Dip dye if desired. Flip so that the hole-side is down. Store, covered in the fridge until ready to serve. If you really wanted it to be a surprise you could skip the dying process altogether.

You could go even more intense and make many more stripes of colours. As mentioned, the jello is heartier than the panna cotta so if you’re going for sturdiness you may want to stick with just jello, which is just as fun. I chose the panna cotta because I liked the idea that it was white on the bottom so it wasn’t obvious what was inside. And the flavours of the fruity jello and creamy panna cotta were so delicious together. So, feel free to make it, but make at your own risk! 😉

Now for the recipes. These are made like jello jigglers so they are firmer then regular jello – that way they will actually keep there shape and not just fall apart when peeled. I found them easiest to peel by gently cracking the top (just FYI, when you peel them the membrane of the egg will stay intact on the jello, this is good as it protects the jello from the sharp edges of the shell. Simply peel the membrane off after all of the shell has been removed). If you want to hide these for an Easter egg hunt I would make sure to set them on top of something to keep the bottoms clean or wrap them in cellophane.

The jello is extremely easy to make (just as easy as the packaged kind) and you can come up with as many flavours and colours you like. I wanted to avoid dyes in the jello so I chose juice that was as close to the colours that I wanted to achieve as possible. I chose blueberry pomegranate, pineapple, and pink grapefruit. The pink grapefruit wasn’t as pink as I wanted so I pureed it with strawberries and strained the mixture through a coffee filter. Mix and match, and have fun!

Surprise-Inside Easter Eggs

For the eggs that are half jello, half panna cotta, I made 3 recipes of jello and one recipe of panna cotta, this makes enough for approximately 24 eggs. I made 12 eggs and set the rest in jars. If making all jello, 3 recipes of jello should be enough for 12 eggs.

Ingredients

Juice Jello Jigglers

• 1/2 cup juice, desired flavour/colour
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1 envelope powdered gelatin
• 1 tablespoon sugar, or to taste
• 1/4 cup cold juice, same flavour as above

Panna Cotta Jigglers

• 2.5 cups heavy cream
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 2 packages powdered gelatin
• 1/2 cup cold water

Instructions

Juice Jello Jigglers

1. Place juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat.
2. Measure water in a liquid measuring cup with a spout. Sprinkle gelatin over. Let sit for 3 minutes. Pour hot juice over, stir for 2 minutes to dissolve. Add sugar and stir for 1 minute to dissolve. Stir in cold juice.
3. Pour into eggs to fill half way. Place eggs in carton hole side up. Place some at an angle if desired. (Alternatively, you can fill the eggs to the top and refrigerate for 2 hours, until firm, then you’re done!)
4. Pour any extra jello into jars or cups and refrigerate. (Or, save at room temperature to use again in place of panna cotta)
5. Rinse out saucepan and measuring cup and continue with remaining flavours/colours of juice.
6. Once all eggs are filled as desired, refrigerate for 1 hour.
7. Meanwhile prepare panna cotta, if making.

Note: One recipe of jello makes enough for approximately 4 whole eggs or 8 half eggs (if splitting colours).

Panna Cotta Jigglers

1. Heat cream and sugar until steaming and sugar is dissolved. Stir in vanilla.
2. Measure water into a 4 cup liquid measuring cup, with a spout. Sprinkle gelatin over. Let sit for 3 minutes. Pour cream over and stir for 2 minutes to dissolve. Let cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. You can place it in the fridge to help it cool faster, just don’t forget about it!
3. Check to make sure jello is set by tipping the eggs. Mark the egg carton so you can tell which eggs have which fillings, if desired (that way you can dip dye the outside of the eggs to match). Fill eggs with panna cotta mixture. Place all eggs hole-side up. Do not place them on their side at this point. Refrigerate for 2 hours, or until they can be tipped over and hold shape.
4. Dip dye, if desired. Flip so they are hole-side down. Store, covered in the fridge until ready to serve.

Note: The panna cotta makes enough for 24 (half-filled) eggs.

Tip: The panna cotta is a little more difficult to peal then the jello. If little fingers are peeling you may wish to swap the panna cotta with additional jello, switching up the colours.

Jello jiggler recipe adapted from Eating Well. Jello eggs inspired by Oh Happy Day.