I don't know what got into me, but I decided to make sugar eggs this year. We used to get one every year for Easter when we were kids. Connie and I can't remember who used to make them for us, but we loved them. So here is my version of the panoramic sugar Easter egg.
Sugar egg recipe: 3 1/2 cups granulated sugar, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1 slightly beaten egg white, food coloring (if desired, I made mine white).
Press mixture into mold. I got mine from Amazon.
Cut off tip of egg to make the viewing hole.
After letting egg dry for about an hour, dig out opening to keep it from hardening too much.
Let dry for 2 or 3 hours. Dig out the inside and form the opening. This is much easier to do at this point than after the eggs dries completely.
A few days earlier, I made flowers out of royal icing and let them harden. I also made bunnies and birds. If I lived in a more populated area where there are more choices of stores, I would have gotten some cute things to put inside my eggs. But I don't so I had to get creative and make my own. The bunnies were a little creepy and the birds were unidentifiable as to their species, except one did look like a puffin. Oddly enough though, they seemed to work.
Fill the bottom half with whatever. I used colored coconut for the grass and royal icing to hold everything in place. That stuff sets up like glue.
Attach the two halves using royal icing. Pipe icing along outside seam of egg and along opening. Decorate top with flowers. I found out that less is more on the top decorations, at least for my skills. I have seen some eggs that are totally decorated and are beautiful. But I'm not there yet.
And these are some of my finished eggs.
Royal icing recipe: 1 egg white, 1/4 tsp flavoring (vanilla, almond, lemon), 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, food coloring. Beat egg white until stiff, add flavoring and food coloring. Add powdered sugar gradually. 1 1/4 sugar is an estimate. Add just enough so that the frosting holds its shape.
Everything on these eggs is edible. I know some people worry about using raw egg whites in their frosting. We have our own chickens so I know they don't have salmonella or whatever. You can get powdered meringue at some stores and use that for a substitute.
