PROJECT

Don’t get me wrong. I was always happy to have that chocolate bunny on Easter Sunday. But every time I bit into the big soft rabbit head, all I tasted was betrayal.

It was hollow. Just like the neighbor I had who, after I mowed his lawn, shook his pocket, brought out a huge handful of change and gave it to me. Fifty-three cents in pennies. Big deal! The classic game of bait and switch was an adult favorite. I got taken all the time.

All bitterness aside, however, now is the time to right some of those past wrongs. Here is a recipe for a solid chocolate Easter bunny, 100% solid. It can work as a doorstop if you like. Admittedly this is a rather weighty cottontail, but I’m dealing with a larger issue here.

The first things you need are a mold and enough chocolate to fill it. (I got a mold from Mise-En Place in Los Feliz and used 23 ounces of chocolate per bunny.) Milk, white or dark chocolate will do. (I just used the milk and the white chocolates.)

Then comes the difficult process of tempering the chocolate to stabilize the cocoa butter and sugar found in sweetened chocolate. This creates that seductive shine and uniform texture found on most chocolate candy. The process takes a fair amount of time and effort in a home kitchen. And during the whole ordeal no water can come in contact with the chocolate. Even the slightest drop will cause the chocolate to seize up and crystalize improperly. You’ll need a good thermometer and a lot of patience. Here is the basic procedure.

1) Chop the chocolate into small pieces and melt 1/4 of it over a hot water bath. Add the remaining chocolate in 1/4 increments as it melts. The bath must not be too hot or chocolate will burn. Maximum temperature for milk chocolate is 115 degrees, 110 degrees for white chocolate, 120 degrees for dark. (White and milk chocolates are more susceptible to heat because of the milk solids they contain.)

2) Quickly bring the completely melted milk chocolate down to 78 degrees (75 degrees for white chocolate and 82 degrees for dark chocolate) by stirring it over a cold water bath.

3) Bring the tempered chocolate back to a working temperature (86 degrees for milk, 82 degrees for white and 88 degrees for dark chocolate) by stirring over a warm water bath. Next pour the chocolate into the mold and refrigerate it until firm, about 1 hour. Then the bunnies may be unmolded and decorated or wrapped up. If well-wrapped and stored at around 68 degrees, milk and white chocolate bunnies will last several months. Dark chocolate, wrapped, will last twice as long.

Note: If you wish to perpetuate the hollow-bunny scam on your children, you may chill the molded chocolate for about 10 minutes, poke a hole in the bottom and drain the liquid center. You should then continue to refrigerate the mold until the charade is complete. But you should be ashamed of yourself.