Decorative Easter Egg

Directions

1. Directions: Prepare egg and icing according
2. to the recipe below.
3. EGG: Combine 3 tablespoons of water and 10 drops of yellow food coloring in a small bowl. Mix well. Add sugar and beat for 1 minute or until combined. Set aside.
4. Dust a work surface and the egg mold with cornstarch. Firmly press sugar mixture into each egg half and level the top with an icing knife. Immediately unmold onto prepared work surface. Using
5. a serrated knife, cut 1-1/4 inches from the small end of each egg half without moving the cut piece away from each egg half. (This will help keep the egg halves intact.) Let pieces stand, uncovered,
6. for 1-1/2 hours.
7. Using a serrated knife, carefully remove cut pieces and discard. Starting in the center of each half, gently scoop out the sugar, leaving a 1/4-inch shell. Discard the removed sugar.
8. Place egg shells dome side up on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 200° for 20 minutes or until dried.
9. ICING: In a bowl, combine the confectioners’ sugar, meringue powder and remaining water. Beat on low speed for 7-10 minutes or until stiff peaks form. If you are not making your own icing roses, cover icing and set aside.
10. If you are making your own icing roses, place 1/3 cup of icing in a small bowl and tint purple with red and blue food coloring. Place 3 tablespoons of icing in another small bowl and tint green. Cover and set aside. Leave remaining icing white.
11. DECORATIONS: Grass and lamb: For grass inside egg, place 2 tablespoons of coconut in a plastic bag and add 1-2 drops of green liquid food coloring. Shake until color is evenly distributed.
12. Fill inside of bottom egg half with coconut grass and plastic lamb or a decoration of your choice. Spread a thin layer of white icing around edge of bottom shell and place top shell on bottom shell
13. with edges matching.
14. Zigzags: Cut a small hole in the corner
15. of a pastry or plastic bag. Insert star pastry tip #21 and add white icing. Referring to the photos for position and holding bag at a 45° angle, pipe zig - zags around the seam and window opening.
16. Roses: If you are using store-bought candy roses, refer to photo for position and attach roses to top of egg using a
17. dab of icing.
18. If you are making icing roses, cut a hole in the corner of a pastry or plastic bag. Insert round tip #12 and fill with purple
19. icing. Holding the bag straight up, pipe a dome-shaped mound of icing on the flower nail. See Fig. 1a.
20. With petal tip #103 and purple frosting, hold pastry bag at a 45° angle, wide end of tip down. Turn nail and squeeze bag to form bud as shown in Fig. 1a.
21. Holding pastry bag with narrow end farther away from the rose tip and turning the nail, pipe a row of three standing petals. See Fig. 1b.
22. Pipe a second row of petals, holding the narrow tip end at a greater angle. Repeat for a third row as shown in Fig. 1c.
23. Gently slide the ends of scissors underneath rose and remove it from nail. Referring to photo for position, place rose on top of egg.
24. In same way, make two more roses and add them to top of egg.
25. For leaves, cut a hole in the corner of a pastry or plastic bag. Insert leaf tip #67 and fill with green frosting. Pipe leaves around roses.
26. FINISHING: Arrange Easter grass on cake plate. Place egg in center of plate. Arrange jelly beans around egg.