What's Easter without beautiful, colourful eggs? Not the same! Here we show you how to make fun, personalised or marbled eggs at home, or opt for the Midas touch with a set of beautiful gold ones.

When TASTE recently clapped eyes on the beautiful golden chocolate Easter eggs created by Francisco Migoya , an instructor in baking and pastry arts at The Culinary Institute of America, we were dazzled.

These spherical treats are made by filling hollowed-out eggshells with chocolate, before painting the shells with edible gold paint.

FRANCISCO'S STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE

GOLDEN CHOCOLATE EASTER EGGS (Serves 12) - click here for a version of this recipe that you can add to your online recipe book

Ingredients:

• 12 large free-range eggs
• 510 g (approximately 2 1/4 cups) white, dark or semi-sweet chocolate, melted 
• 1 1/2 t gold powder (available from baking supplies shops)
• 1 t tequila, plus drops as needed, optional of course. Or use orange extract.

Instructions:

1. Wash eggs in warm water and dry thoroughly. Insert a sterlised needle into the narrow end of the egg to make a small hole and a skewer into the large end to make a slightly larger hole. Pierce the yolk of the egg with the skewer and blow out the contents of the egg by blowing into the small hole.
2. Put the eggshells into a pot and fill with warm water until the shells are covered. Bring the water to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Carefully pour out the hot water and gently rinse the shells with more hot water. Remove the shells from the water and place large hole down on a towel. Allow to dry for 30 minutes.
4. Pour the melted chocolate filling into a pastry piping bag fitted with a small round tip and fill the prepared egg shell through the large hole. Return the filled eggs to the egg carton.
5. Place the gold powder in a medium stainless steel bowl and add the tequila. Stir until completely blended. You can adjust the thickness of the mixture by adding tequila a drop at a time until you obtain the desired thickness. The mixture should be thin enough to easily spread. Use an artist's brush to paint the eggshells gold.
6. Put the carton of painted eggs into a freezer for 7 - 10 minutes to firm the chocolate and set the paint.
7. To eat, crack and peel the shell off just like you would a hard-boiled egg, then enjoy the hardened chocolate inside.

Credit for this recipe goes to Francisco Migoya and theKitchn. 

MARBLED EGGS

Arrange these two-toned beauties in a pretty bowl or basket on your dining-room table to make a pretty - and edible - centrepiece.

They are really easy to make, using hard-boiled eggs that are dipped in two different colours. Or buy the white Easter eggs from Woolies. Either the large hen's eggs or the cute mini hen's eggs.

The marbled effect is created by adding olive oil to the second dipping liquid. 

You can also follow the procedure above and fill them with chocolate instead.

PERSONALISED EGGS - click here for a version of this recipe you can add to your online recipe book

With a couple of craft items - pencil, paint brush, acrylic paint, black felt-tip pen and some glitter pens, you can let the kids make these personalised easter eggs for each other. 

Write each member of the family's name on the eggs and decorate with the glitter pen. 

Again, you can fill them with chocolate, as described above. But this is a shortcut and is fun for Easter brunch. 

Or buy the coloured bantam eggs from Woolies, and proceed with your decorating.