Artisan Easter Egg making at Davenport's Chocolates
This showcase of our Easter Eggs was filmed a few years after Davenport's Chocolates started in 2007. The egg decoration, design and flavours have changed over the years but the essence of the handmade production method still stays the same. We're still one of the few chocolatiers putting chocolates inside our Easter eggs.
Transcript:
Hello! I'm Jane Williams chocolatier at Davenport's chocolates you may have been given one of our handcrafted Easter eggs. I'd love to show you how they're made and what makes them unique.
Our Easter eggs are crafted using antique molds passed down to generations. preserving traditional techniques the smooth sheen of cocoa butter on the surface of the mold increases over time resulting in beautiful glossy chocolate.
It may be no surprise that we actually do have chocolate on tap the molds are filled by hand and placed on a vibration rack to remove the excess. These are then placed face-up and left to set. Each Easter Egg is molded twice to give a thick double layer of milk or dark chocolate. The second time the eggs are placed facedown allowing the chocolate to seep towards the edge and give the shells a stronger rim.
At just the right time as the chocolate is setting the excess is trimmed off with a knife. If you're worried about what happens to the trimmings they're melted down and used again - Chocolate is particularly environmentally-friendly!
Chocolate shrinks slightly as it sets letting the shells fall naturally out of the molds.
Our eggs are artistically decorated in a number of ways either by laying decoration in the mold before the chocolate is poured. Or by hand piping chocolate in subtle colors to create abstract motifs.
Most other chocolate eggs are made entirely by machine and molded in one piece this makes it impossible to presenting inside. We are one of the only artists on chocolatiers in the UK to conserve the rare delight of finding chocolate inside the egg.
With the selection of chocolates laid in one half of the egg; the shells are then sealed by gently melting the edge. It may be quite labor-intensive but we like to think the joy of breaking open the egg to discover the chocolates inside makes it all worthwhile.
Lastly the eggs are placed on their base wrapped in cellophane and ribbond. And all this is what makes each Davenport's chocolates Easter Egg so special.
