Easter Chocolate Nests Recipe

For this fortnight's Mothercare food blog I made some chocolate nests for this Easter weekend!

Chocolate nests are so easy, and you can pretty much substitute any crunchy cereal for the Shredded Wheat if you want to. Although Shredded Wheat looks more 'nesty-er'.

I’m sure I’m not the only one out there who feels a bit sad when Easter is over and Cadbury’s Mini Eggs are no longer on sale. There’s just something about the combination of the pastel colours, pseudo-realistic speckles, that sugary smell that wafts out when you open a bag of them and the promise of sunnier days around the corner that elevates them above other sugar-coated chocolates; Smarties and M&Ms just aren’t the same.

Luckily for me (us), Mini Egg season is now upon us, with Easter fast approaching- and what better way to make the most out of them by making Easter nests? Shredded wheat nests are so cute, and like Rice Krispie cakes and Cornflake cakes, kids love making them. It’s also pretty easy to whip up a load of them in a short space of time, making them great for parties.

I made 12 regular cupcake-sized and 12 miniature cupcake-sized nests with this recipe, but it could make 36 mini nests, 18 regular nests or 12 generously-sized nests.

Here's how to make them.

Ingredients:

6 x Shredded Wheat blocks

50g milk chocolate

50g dark chocolate

70g butter or margarine

2 tbsp golden syrup

2 x 100g bags of Mini Eggs (or small chocolate eggs of your choice)

Method:

1. Line a muffin pan with cupcake cases (as many as you need, depending on how many you want to make).

2. Finely crush up the Shredded Wheat blocks with your hands into a large bowl.

3. Break up the chocolate and put it, the butter and the syrup into a bowl. Microwave in short, sharp bursts, stirring occasionally until everything is melted (or place the bowl on a pan of simmering water to melt everything, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water).

4. Pour the chocolate mixture over the crushed Shredded Wheat, and stir thoroughly with a spoon.

5. Spoon the mixture into the cases – one teaspoonful for mini ones, two for regular ones. Make a dent in the middle for the eggs to rest in.

6. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up.

7. Serve the nests in their cases for mess-free eating, or you can peel the wrappers off for a more ‘organic’ look.

Enjoy, and have fun.