Panoramic Sugar Eggs

For the past couple of years, I’ve been taking my kids to the Lorna Sundberg International Center at the University of Virginia to decorate panoramic sugar eggs. When we’ve gone, all the hard work has already been done for us. All we have to do is show up and decorate our already-made eggs. If you’re feeling ambitious, making the eggs from start to finish would be a fun project for Easter or to do over the spring break.

Panoramic Sugar Eggs

Whisk 2 egg whites until frothy. You can add food coloring to the egg whites to make a colored egg.
Place 5 lbs. of white sugar in a large bowl. (Superfine sugar will give the eggs more sparkle).
Create a well in the sugar and pour in whisked egg whites.
Mix with hands 5 minutes until well blended.
Pack sugar mixture firmly into a mold. You can buy special egg molds, or just use a plastic Easter egg like this one with a flattened base:

This egg came from Michael’s.

Scrape tops of packed eggs with a knife to flatten, then remove from mold and place on a baking sheet flat side down.
Bake in preheated oven at 200 degrees for 20 minutes.
Hollow out the center of the egg halves with a spoon until the shells are about 1/2″ thick. (You can reuse scooped out sugar to make more eggs, just place in bowl and cover with damp paper towel).
Cut off the front of the narrower end of the egg and continue to hollow out the viewing window as necessary.
Let air dry for 2-3 hours, or put eggs on their backs into a 200 degree oven for another 45 minutes to finish hardening.
Gently rub two halves together to smooth edges.
Create a scene inside the egg by arranging small figures, candy, and “grass” inside egg. Secure everything with royal icing. (Beat two egg whites until stiff, but not dry. Add 4 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar and beat for another minute. Add more egg white or sugar as needed. Tint with food coloring).
Pipe royal icing along an edge and press two halves of egg together. Run finger along edges to remove excess icing.
Use pastry bags filled with tinted icing to pipe borders and other decorations on the egg. A decorative border will hide the seams where the egg halves come together. You can pipe your own flowers onto the egg, or buy frosting flowers and attach them with icing.
A vertical egg can be made by cutting through the flat egg half, using the flattened area as a cutting guide to create the window. Try creating a base by packing sugar into the rounded wider edge of a plastic egg that opens vertically. Fasten the egg to the rounded side of the base with royal icing.