JELL-O Pudding Eggs

Tough times call for good eating. And with everything going on in the world right now, who couldn’t use some comfort food? So, after shutting down this blog six years ago, I’ve decided to resurrect Caker Cooking for a limited time.

This decision doesn't come lightly. And it very well may mean the end of my marriage, especially since my Italian husband felt like he had long moved past the dark chapter of his life that was this blog.

But these are extraordinary times. And we all must do our part to make the world a bit brighter. And saltier. So every week, I’ll post a brand-new caker recipe from my vast collection of coil-bound church and community cookbooks until things get back to normal. Or so I've promised.

Hey! Who's that hopping down the bunny trail? Why, it's Peter Cottontail, of course, carrying a basket full of . . . JELL-O Pudding Eggs?!? What the heck? Is Peter smoking his carrots instead of eating them? Don't worry, kids. The JELL-O Pudding Eggs are only for the caker kids. The rest of you will still get the chocolate foil kind. And none of you will get those eggs with the nasty white crap inside. You know the kind I mean. Those should be banned.

I found this recipe in a Kraft What’s Cooking magazine dating all the way back to 1994. So if you’re one of those “Gen Z” people, you’ll consider this a historical recipe. And yes, we had ovens back then. Only we had to heat them with coal and twigs. Luckily, you don’t need an oven for these eggs. In true caker fashion, they’re no-bake!

1 package JELL-O instant pudding

1/3 cup boiling water

1/3 cup Parkay Margarine (see note)

3 cups sifted icing sugar

6 squares each Baker’s white and semi-sweet chocolate

Stir pudding, margarine and water together until smooth. Add icing sugar, a cup at a time until it forms a fall. Form into 1 1/2” egg shapes. Refrigerate until firm. Partially melt chocolate in separate bowls over hot water until 2/3 melted. Remove from heat and continue stirring until melted and smooth. Dip eggs into chocolate and decorate. Makes 24 eggs. 

No comments about what this looks like, please.

When I was growing up, the best Easter eggs were the Laura Secord Easter Cream kind. I mean, there was so much sugar packed into one egg, I’d be bouncing off the walls Good Friday, Saturday and Easter Sunday. Even the crinkled paper strips they came packaged in could be used for a crimped hair wig.

I put a pudding egg next to a cherry tomato so you can see what 1 1/2" looks like. The cherry tomato is on the right. 

After I dunked the eggs in chocolate, I put them on a rack to chill, but they got stuck to the rack on account of the hardened chocolate. There was a lot of swearing in my kitchen as I tried to work them free. The bottoms are a hot mess. 

Decorating these eggs reminded me of when I used to go to the Big V and get my name inscribed on an Allan Easter egg by one of the cashiers on egg duty. That took talent. And God forbid you got a kid named Constantine.

I think I did a very artistic job decorating my eggs. Ms. Secord, watch your back LOL!

Let your creativity run wild! Decorate your JELL-O Pudding Eggs with sprinkles, sequins, reinforcements for 3-hole punch paper, bits of grass, bird seed and those hard, silver balls that break your teeth. (Not that you'll have any teeth left after eating one of these.) Also, these eggs are pretty small. So unless your name is Pat, y'aren't fitting your name. Sorry, Constantine. 

These eggs were sweeter than the Laura Secord variety, if you can believe it. They also had the texture of Play-Do, but were a lot tastier. 

WARNING: Do not hide these eggs around the house. Trust me, you don’t want to discover brown lumps behind the sofa in a couple of months, especially if you’ve forgotten that you made these eggs in the first place. It could lead to a lot of family tensions, more so if you don’t have a pet. 

I hope you all have a happy holiday weekend. Stay home, stay safe and we’ll see you next week with another delicious caker recipe. 

*Note: I can’t get with margarine. It’s soft plastic. So I used butter.