Making your own panoramic sugar Easter eggs isn’t difficult, it just takes a little time. But making them with friends or family will create memories that last even longer than the beautiful eggs.
First decide how big you want your eggs to be. Buy plastic Easter eggs that open to the length you want. They are a bit more difficult to find than the typical plastic eggs.
Gather your ingredients:
- Granulated sugar
- Powdered meringue (find this with cake decorating supplies at craft or discount stores)
- confectioner’s sugar
- Cream of tartar (in the spice section of your store)
- Coco (optional – use for grass in your panoramic scene)
- Food coloring (paste colors recommended; find with cake decorating supplies)
Make sure you have these supplies on hand:
- wax paper
- Spoons, beaters and teaspoons
- Icing Decorating Bags
- frosting decorating tips
- spatulas
- mixer with wire whisk
After you determine how many eggs you’d like to have by the end of your project, plan to make at least double that number. Sugar eggs are delicate and not all will make it to the end of your project.
make the shells
Mix granulated sugar with a small amount of water, just enough so that the sugar holds together when pressed into a ball.
Fill one half of a plastic Easter egg with the wet sugar mixture. Turn it onto waxed paper. If the sugar holds together, proceed. If not, try again. If you can’t get the sugar to hold after several tries, add a little water.
Once you have successfully poured the sugar onto the wax paper, carefully cut off about 1 1/2 inches from the narrow end. You may need to cut more if you are using very large eggs or less if you are using small eggs. This will form the opening that you can look through.
Cut a semicircle of waxed paper that is about 1/2″ smaller in diameter than the opening. Place it against the sugar and lean something against it to hold the waxed paper in place. A stack of pennies should work fine, except with lots of big eggs.
You will need to wait several hours for the outer shell of the eggs to harden. If you try to pick them up too early, your eggs will fall apart (but you did more, so this isn’t a problem). If you wait too long, the egg will be too solid and you won’t be able to get the soft sugar inside.
The amount of time this will take varies depending on how much water the sugar initially contained and the temperature, airflow, and humidity in the room. But think in terms of hours and not minutes.
Once you can hold the eggs without breaking them, remove the soft sugar with a teaspoon, leaving a crust about 3/8″ to 1/2″ thick, perhaps a little thicker for very large eggs.
Let the eggs dry for several more hours. They should be quite difficult before moving on to the next step.
make your scene
While you are waiting for the shells to dry is a good time to make the figures for your scene. You may have decided to make crosses, chicks, or bunnies out of icing. Or maybe you’ve collected plastic figurines that you want to dip in icing to make them look handcrafted. You can decorate small cookies like teddy bears. Remember that cookies will not last as long as straight icing decorations.
To make all-frosting decorations, use the following royal meringue icing recipe. This type of frosting dries hard and lasts a long time. You’ll also be using this type of glaze later to assemble the eggs, so be sure to save some for later or plan to make more.
Meringue Royal Icing
- 3 level tablespoons of powdered meringue
- 1 pound. icing sugar, sifted
- 3-1/2 ounces warm water (1/2 cup minus 1 tablespoon)
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
Mix all the ingredients in the bowl of a mixer. Beat on medium high speed for 7 to 10 minutes. Any fat or oil in the bowl or on any utensil will prevent this frosting recipe from working, so be meticulous. Beat until the frosting is firm enough to hold its shape. As soon as it’s done, cover the bowl with a damp towel. Keep it covered at all times as it dries out and crusts easily.
assemble your eggs
Choose the bottom half of an egg and set up your scene on it. Use royal icing in the background as “grass”. Just use food coloring to make it green. You may also want to tint some coconut to add an even grassier touch.
Insert your crosses, bunnies or other decorations. Be sure to orient them toward the opening.
Use white royal icing to “glue” a top in place. Allow the egg to dry before continuing.
Once the egg is dry, use icing with a decorating tip to pipe decorations over the seam and around the opening. You can also add a flower or other design to the top.
Allow the eggs to dry overnight before handling them again.
If your egg rolls to the side, use a file to flatten the bottom out a bit. Or place a ring of frosting in the bottom to help stabilize the egg.