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The excuse to draw on desserts with gel icing.
Gel icing is one of those things that you can only use on special occasions, you know? Like a holiday or someone's birthday, but never just because it's a Monday. (Which is probably a good thing after all seeing how Monday happens 52 times a year and would greatly increase my dessert intake, thus making the April Challenge much more difficult).
But I digress.
The point is that Easter IS a special holiday, and special holidays call for gel icing on dessert. And since gel icing on cake is so last year, I threw off the yoke of Easter traditions past and decided to go in a radical new direction.
Mainly, rice krispie treats.
But not just ANY rice krispie treats, mind you! I give you special Easter Egg Rice Krispie treats! If you've ever made rice krispie treats the regular way, you'll recognize this first part. (And if you haven't, then you have my sympathies, you poor krispie-less fool. Crawl out from under your rock immediately and make these right now because IT IS HIGH TIME YOU EXPERIENCED LIFE THROUGH CRUNCHY GOOEY DESSERT MY FRIEND).
Ready? Good.
Multi-hued Easter Egg Rice Krispie Treat Recipe- now with Gel Icing piping!
(AND bad photography AND possibly dangerous step-by-step instructions!)
Note before we get started: I made mine using three different colored "eggs". Each color gets its own marshmallow batch, so that's why we're using such small quantities here. If you want to be all boring and just do one color, then feel free to dump the entire 10 oz of marshmallows, 3 tbsp butter and 6 cups of krispies in at once. (Just know that the rest of us are talking about you behind your back).
1. Put 1 tbsp butter and 3.33 oz (roughly 12-15 regular sized marshmallows) in a bowl. Microwave on high 1 minute. (There's also a way that you can do this in a pot on the stove, but why would you since nuking it only takes one minute? Quit being difficult). After 60 seconds, stir in food coloring color of your choice.
2. Add 2 cups of krispies to freaky colored goo and stir.
3. Let that bad boy cool for a few minutes, but not so long that it completely sets up. (If you're doing multiple color batches, I find that letting this one cool while repeating the first two steps in another bowl is a nice way to pass the time).
4. Cover hands in butter. No, this isn't leading to anything kinky. This keeps the marshmallow/krispie goo from sticking to your hands. I mean, they'll still stick somewhat, but not as bad. Trust me, this step is vital.
5. Grab a hunk of krispie goodness and shape it into an egg-like orb. Basically, make a ball, lengthen it to an oval shape, the make one end slightly larger than the other. It doesn't have to be perfect. (Be warned however, if you didn't let it cool enough in step 3, you'll be sticking your hands into molten hot marshmallow which will not only burn like a mother, but also refuse to unstick from your seared flesh as you run screaming from the kitchen. Don't say I didn't warn you).
6. Line your little egg creations up on wax paper, or foil, or on a non-stick cookie sheet and stick them in the fridge to set. 5 or 10 minutes will do.
7. Now comes the fun part! Grab your tube of frosting/gel icing/chocolate/whatever floats your boat and go to town! The idea is that they aren't just eggs, they're EASTER eggs, so decorate to your heart's content. Want sprinkles too? Go for it. These babies are like the Faberge eggs of the dessert world, so there's no such thing as too gaudy. In fact, I just happened to have gel icing with sparkles (!!!) so not only are my eggs all decorated, but they sparkle too!
(I know, I know. You're looking at the picture going, "What the heck is that?" It's just a lousy photo. Trust me, they look cuter in person.)8. Now that they're all decorated, arrange your krispie creations in a clean basket. You can even put them on a bed of green coconut shaving "grass" if you want. Presentation is part of the fun.
9. Arrive to your family gathering/Easter party/whatever with beautiful basket full of beautiful rice krispie treat goodness. Accept compliments for being culinary genius. And remember to hide one for yourself for later, because everyone loves Rice Krispie treats and these babies are not going to last long.
Here's hoping your Easter (or non-denominational spring festival equivalent) is full of joy and laughter. And food. And possibly green food-colored hands. But mostly joy and laughter.
