One of my favorite Easter brunch ideas is making Chocolate Easter Egg Nests. Not limited to one occasion, these nests can be a lovely addition to any spring celebration.

You don’t really need a recipe. Simply microwave chocolate chips to melt, stir in chow mein noodles, shape into nests, and chill until firm.

Here’s a recipe for anyone who wants more guidance. The ingredients are for one medium nest or three small ones. I’d suggest making one recipe first to try it out, before multiplying for larger quantities.

Easter Egg Nest

Makes 3 small nests or 1 medium.

• 1/3 cup good-quality chocolate chips (such as Ghirardelli 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate)
• 1/2 cup chow mein noodles plus more, as needed
• Sweetened, flaked coconut
• Green concentrated gel color (such as Wilton Edible Gel Food Coloring)
• Candy eggs or eggs made from marzipan dough (see below)

To Make the Nest

Line 3 muffin cups with plastic wrap if you are making small nests; or line a small baking sheet with waxed paper or parchment for a medium nest.

Microwave chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl at medium power in 30-second increments, stirring with a small whisk or a fork after each 30 seconds, until chocolate is smooth. This should take no more than a few minutes.

Add chow mein noodles to melted chocolate and toss with a fork to coat noodles evenly.

Turn out into 3 prepared muffin cups, dividing evenly, and use fork or fingers to shape nests, leaving an indentation in the center for the eggs. Or, to make 1 medium nest, turn the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet and shape nest.

Add a little more noodles to the bowl to incorporate any remaining chocolate adhering to the bowl, and add to the nests.

Refrigerate nest(s) about 30 minutes or until chocolate has set.

Remove from fridge and use right away or store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

To Make the Grass

Put a tablespoon or two of coconut into a zip-top plastic snack bag. Using a toothpick, scoop up some green gel color and smear onto to the coconut. Seal bag and massage color until coconut is covered evenly. Add more color, as needed.

To Assemble

Line the nest(s) with a little coconut grass and arrange candy in the nest.

Of the candy I bought, Whoppers Robin Eggs would only fit larger nests, Jordan almonds and SweetTARTS were fine for the smaller nests.

Marzipan Easter Egg Candy

Here’s what to do if you want to make your own candy.

• 5 teaspoons marzipan almond candy dough (such as Odense)
• Concentrated gel colors (such as Wilton Edible Gel Food Coloring)
• 5 toasted whole almonds

Knead 1 teaspoon of marzipan until pliable. Using a toothpick dipped in gel color, add color to the almond paste until the desired shade is reached, kneading almond paste between fingers to disperse color. You may want to use food-safe disposable gloves to avoid staining hands.

Shape marzipan around an almond, and roll in the palms of your hands to smooth and form an egg shape.

Repeat with remaining almonds, using a different gel color for each egg.

Makes 5 eggs for one nest.

Have fun making cascarones, Mexican confetti eggs, for Easter.

Notes:

• To serve the Easter Egg Nests: The nests are quite small so you may want to present them in saucers. Or simply put them on the table in colored muffin cup liners. Alternatively, package in cellophane bags, tie with ribbon, and set them at each place, as favors.
• Instead of dark chocolate, you can substitute milk chocolate, semisweet chocolate, or even white chocolate chips.
• To toast almonds for marzipan eggs, arrange the almonds in a single layer in a microwave-safe dish. Microwave on high for 1 minute, stir and microwave another minute. Continue to stir and microwave a minute at a time, until nuts are just lightly brown and beginning to smell fragrant.
• Nuts will continue to cook from the residual heat after they are removed from the microwave so be careful not to burn them. Cool thoroughly. Nuts will not crisp until cooled. Do not cover with marzipan until nuts are completely cooled.

About Chow Mein Noodles

Crunchy chow mein noodles, a common ingredient in Chinese chicken salad, is surprisingly good combined with chocolate and turned into candy. Miss T demoed chocolate haystacks for her pretend TV cooking show. And I used white chocolate with chow mein noodles to make Halloween Haystack Ghosts.

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