Home made praline cocoa nut Felchlin chocolate bunnies

Does anybody out there remember Suchard praline Easter Eggs? As a child and adult I was obsessed with the things eating kilos at this time of year. Sadly there doesn’t seem to be a tradition of praline eggs in Australia.

I’m forced to make my own but every shop in Melbourne – including my usual chocolate source where I find Sarah working – has sold out. Instead I’m making praline chocolate bunnies and it really isn’t too difficult to do at home.

First I make two types of praline out of the nuts and things I have in my cupboard. The first lot is made from pistachio and the other with some organic cocoa beans.

I’d bought them from a market stall and was wondering what to do with them. Apparently some people take them as a health food but it would be preferable to use them in suppository form (something not to be uttered in the same breath as Felchlin chocolate).

To make the praline I heat up an equal quantity of cocoa beans and raw caster sugar in a pan. When the sugar is melted and caramelised I pour the sticky mess onto greaseproof paper and cool in the freezer.
Later I pound the mixture into an uneven dust.

I repeat with the pistachio.
The chocolate – pretentiously, a single origin Felchlin picked-up from Monsieur Truffe at Prahran Market –is simply melted in a copper bowl over boiling water – a make shift bain marie.
With a teaspoon I drip the chocolate into each rabbit, spreading a thin coat.
The mould is now cooled in the fridge. I reserve some of the molten chocolate and mix the remainder with thick pure cream and the praline until the mixture is fairly solid.
Now the messy bit as I attempt to spoon the praline into the rabbits. With a spatula I spread the praline flat and I seal each confection with the reserved molten chocolate.
The moulds are again cooled in the fridge before I flip the bunnies out and trim the excess chocolate.
I thought the pistachio praline would be superior to the cocoa beans but actually the “chocolate chocolate” praline truffles are the best.
They are not Easter eggs. But the bunnies actually taste better than the Suchard ones I remember. And what’s more I’ve impressed friends and neighbours who currently are barricaded out of the house.