Make clever use of Easter chocolate
There’s often lots of chocolate still left over from Easter – we’ll show you a few cool ways to make clever use of it!
Let’s face it: as delicious as Easter bunnies and the like are, once Easter is over, you eventually get tired of all the chocolate. Instead of keeping it stored in the cupboard for months (or even throwing them away), there is a great variety of ways in which to use the chocolate – and we’ll show you how!
Easter is a time for family. While the search for colourful eggs is an important part of Easter Sunday in Switzerland for most families with children, there are many other customs, some of which vary from canton to canton. Have we piqued your curiosity? Find out more about Swiss Easter traditions
Hot chocolate on a stick
Hot chocolate on a stick always goes down well with recipients of all ages – for a warming hot chocolate on cooler evenings or for those little cravings between meals. And the best thing about it? The hot chocolate will keep for a long time if kept in the refrigerator! Wrapped in cling film, it makes for an ideal gift for friends or to serve to guests as a small dessert (for example, at a children’s party).
For the chocolate
300g leftover chocolate from the Easter nest (chocolate bunnies, chocolate eggs or similar)
50g icing sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder
Optional: Spices such as cinnamon or cardamom to make the whole thing a little classier
For garnish
8 slightly larger ice cube moulds (preferably made of soft silicone, as this will make it easier to release the chocolate from them)
8 wooden sticks
Some chopped nuts, mini marshmallows or smarties
Coarsely chop the chocolate. Put 250g of the chocolate into a metal bowl, suspend this over a bain marie. Slowly melt the chocolate over medium heat. At the same time, weigh and prepare the icing sugar and cocoa powder.
Once the chocolate has melted, remove the saucepan from the heat and add the remaining chocolate. Stir until this chocolate has also melted. Add the icing sugar and cocoa powder (optionally also the spices) and stir.
Prepare the ice cube tray. Pour in the chocolate mixture. Insert a wooden stick into each ice cube tray and sprinkle chopped nuts, smarties or colourful mini marshmallows onto the surface of the chocolate. Allow the chocolate to set.
Carefully pull the chocolate out of the mould by the stick – and your hot chocolate on a stick is ready! For a nice finishing touch, don’t forget the pretty packaging at the end. Especially if you want to give your creations as gifts or use them as pretty table decorations for your next family gathering. Wrap the chocolate in transparent gift wrap cellophane or wrapping paper, for example.
As the icing on the cake, you can complement the wrapped chocolate with a personal photo greeting card that includes instructions on how to make hot chocolate on a stick – so that your friends and family will know how to put their leftover chocolate to good use too!
Are you looking for a somewhat larger gift – for a birthday or as a present for your host, for example? Then the most obvious thing to do would be to gift the hot chocolate together with a mug! It becomes even more personal when you customise it for them. Add shared memories and experiences to the mug in the form of photos, and the recipient will be all the more pleased with their gift!
Beautiful with chocolate
Cocoa beans are said to have positive effects for our beauty! They moisturise, promote the flow of blood to the skin and are said to protect against skin ageing. The beauty factor of chocolate comes from its high polyphenol content. No wonder many beauty products now rely on chocolate as an ingredient. We show you how to make your very own chocolate face mask for rosy and fresh-looking skin!
For the chocolate face mask
20g leftover chocolate from the Easter nest
½ tsp honey
1 tsp yoghurt
For an added exfoliating effect, add ½ tsp coarse salt
Simply melt 20g chocolate in a bain marie (be careful not to let the chocolate get too hot!) and then stir in the rest of the ingredients. Apply the chocolate mixture to the face and leave on for 10 minutes – and you can enjoy the delicious scent while doing so! Then rinse off using lukewarm water and apply cream to the face.
The mask not only smells really delicious, but also looks funny and is at any rate worth a funny snapshot! With the option to send a postcard directly from the ifolor app, you can send this as a joke gift to friends and family right away.
Moist chocolate cake
For a moist chocolate cake, you can use your choice of dark, milk or white chocolate – such a perfect way to use up all kinds of Easter chocolate! It still looks very decorative if you put half of an Easter bunny on the lukewarm cake and let it melt slightly on top, or of course small Easter eggs, sugar eggs or other delicious leftovers from the Easter nest are perfect too. One more thing: the cake will still be nice and moist even after a few days in the refrigerator!
For the Easter chocolate cake
300g leftover chocolate from the Easter nest (chocolate bunnies, chocolate eggs or similar)
300g butter
250g sugar
8 eggs
Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Coarsely chop the chocolate. Dice the butter. Then slowly melt both together with the sugar in a small pan.
Add the eggs and a small pinch of salt to the cooled chocolate mixture and whisk until well incorporated.
Then pour the mixture into a springform pan, greased if necessary.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180 °C for approx. 25–30 minutes. Let the finished cake cool for around 10 minutes before removing it from the springform pan. Now place the Easter leftovers on the cake or simply sprinkle with icing sugar, just as you like.
Chocolate fondue
The fastest way, of course, is to invite friends to enjoy the remaining chocolate together in a dignified way. Each person brings their leftover chocolate from Easter. Melt chocolate in a fondue pot (or in small individual bowls) and dip delicious pieces of fruit into it!
Send matching invitations right away!
Or, even better, fun coasters featuring the most amazing memories with your friends as a decoration for your chocolate fondue event! Not only will they prevent annoying chocolate stains, but they will also bring some colour to the dining table.
Samira Hammami
Samira is actually an art history student, but she has always had a passion for writing. It all started with small blog articles about her biggest hobby: traveling.
Now she writes about all sorts of creative aspects of life, and for some time she has also been supporting ifolor with her articles. Because she is most drawn towards reporting she is especially happy to be starting a master degree course in Cultural Journalism in September.