I have hazy memories of making chocolate crispies as a small child. In fact I suspect most of us have made them either with family or at school. I was really looking forward to making them with my little boy and continuing the tradition!
I'd been holding back this recipe for Easter as I thought the recipe rather lent itself to Easter egg nests. On the Saturday Neil and I went into town to get a bit of shopping. I should have realised that trying to find mini eggs the day before Easter Sunday would be near impossible. Trust me to leave things to the last minute! We hunted high and low in a supermarket and had to admit defeat. Trudging home, we popped into a newsagent and struck gold. Not only did they sell the elusive mini eggs but they were also on special offer, yipeeeee!
The following day was of course Easter Sunday. After gorging myself on chocolate eggs BEFORE breakfast and attending church with my mom and sister, it was time to get baking - not that there was much baking involved with these chocolate crispies. All I had to do was melt a terrifyingly large quantity of plain chocolate with a relatively small amount of butter and golden syrup. I was delighted to add the three ingredients straight into a saucepan. It was much quicker than heating it over a pan of simmering water.
I occasionally stirred the chocolaty mixture; it didn't take long to melt and become silky smooth. I turned off the heat and set about weighing out some cornflakes and shredded wheat. Mary says to use cornflakes but I wanted to try some of each. I hoped the shredded wheat might help my crispies take on a more nest like form!!
I took the two bowls of cereal into the living room and set them out on the table. Mum had set out Isaac's very own mixing bowl and spatula; he was wearing his Thomas the Tank Engine apron, all ready for action! As soon as the cornflakes were on the table his little hands dived straight in. He busily scrunched them up with his fingers; pieces were soon flying all over the place! He wasn't fussed about the shredded wheat, so I set about crumbling them up into fine pieces. I poured the melted chocolate mixture into two bowls and we added cornflakes to one and shredded wheat to the other. The chocolate was already starting to set and it was a struggle working in the breakfast cereals.
As Isaac is still a few months from his second birthday he didn't grasp the concept of using a spoon to stir the mixture; he wanted to use his hands. It is after all much more fun! However, this isn't great when the mixture is still fairly hot and the last thing you want is burnt fingers! One minute I was telling him to stick his hands into the cornflakes and the next I was telling him to be careful. The poor child was getting mixed messages. I couldn't help wondering if he was a little young to be making Easter egg nests, but we had started so we had better finish!
After a serious amount of elbow grease on my part, the cornflakes and shredded wheat were finally encased in chocolate. It was time to place spoonfuls into the paper cases. This should have been an easy task, but Isaac had other ideas; he had developed a paper case obsession! We were using cases of various colours. Isaac enjoyed picking one up at a time, announcing the color and then banishing it to the floor! Each time I picked up a case and placed it on the table it would immediately disappear! Eventually I successfully managed to fill some paper cases with chocolate crispies and Neil made a few nests too. His nests were obviously for a large bird such as a seagull; they were enormous!
I managed to regain Isaac's interest when it was time to add the mini eggs. I opened the packet and offered him one to try. Tentatively he placed a little chocolate egg into his mouth. He'd never eaten one before but, due to a general disinterest in chocolate, I wasn't sure he'd like it. A few seconds later his little hand reached back into the packet and he quickly shovelled another egg into his mouth. I tried to get him to place some into the nests. However, he wasn't sure about that idea! As quickly as I was adding eggs to nests he was pinching them. The birds obviously hatched and flew very quickly from our nests judging by their sparsity! In the end I had to take them away and place them out of Isaac's sight. It was clear that he liked mini eggs VERY much!
I placed the nests into the fridge to set as suggested and, half an hour or so later, I gave one a try. They were lovely and crunchy and of course very chocolaty. Personally I'm not overly keen on plain or dark chocolate, so these were a bit rich for me. In fact I think they are possibly too rich for small children.
I had a lot of fun making these chocolate crispies with Isaac. I am certainly looking forward to making them with him next year. By then I think he'll be able to get more involved. I'm not sure if he will ever resist pinching the mini eggs though!!
A must for Easter!
