Cascarònes – A Fun Latin Tradition for Easter!

by Tina Trevino

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter Fashionistas!

Growing up in a Mexican family, we not only had our traditional easter egg hunts out on the lawn, but we also made “cascarònes” which are pretty much little mini pinatas of eggs filled with confetti that you break over your friends’ and family’s heads for luck. The hard part as a kid was knowing which eggs were actually hard boiled and which were actually filled with party confetti which led to a lot of hair washing after an egg hunt! I still vividly remember all of these great times with my parents, brother and sister, and cousins. And I’m sure this blog will remind all of my family about the many great Easter food and decor traditions at our house in Ohio!

Filling the eggshells with confetti

These days I’ve seen cascarònes also used for Halloween, Day of the Dead, Cinco de Mayo, and weddings too!

Celebrating Mexico on Cinco de Mayo

 

Day of the Dead cascarònes

 

Wedding cascarònes

Prepping eggs for the fun part of the decorating process!

So…..the most disgusting part of making these little beauties is emptying all of the eggs. We would make sure that the weeks prior to Easter, when we would be using eggs for meals, we would remember to empty them out in the correct way that leaves the egg shell “cascaròne ready”
This involves making a hole in the egg and breaking the yoke to get the egg goopiness to run out of the hole to hollow it out.

Take a thick pin, nail or screw and gently push it into the egg on the narrow end.  You can use a scrunched up paper towel to help protect your finger while you punch it in.

Take the pin and put it into the hole gently making the hole bigger.  Then break the yolk with the pin.

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Gently letting the egg start to pour out of the pin hole.

Empty the egg into a bowl by gently shaking the egg out the hole.

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Drip…drip…..drip…

The hole may end up bigger after the egg comes out  so watch out for shell pieces if you plan on using the egg yolks and whites for cooking.

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Gently wash the shell in warm soapy water. Then rinse it and lay it back in the egg carton with the hole down to continue to dry out entirely.

 

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The final hollowed out egg!
A full tray of cleaned out hollowed eggs!
Even if your holes are quite large like this–it’s OK because we’re going to cover them up with a tissue paper cap.
You can decorate your eggs as simply or as artistically as you choose–there’s no right or wrong way to do it! Simple egg dyes, wax resist crayons, fancy marbled finishes, watercolor or acrylic paints. The only thing you have to be careful of is that the eggs are going to be very delicate since they are not the typical hard-boiled egg so BE GENTLE!!
After the egg decorating process, fill them up with confetti..
And then add a tissue paper “cap” to cover your hole. You can use just a thin layer of a regular craft glue to adhere this on. Let them sit for just a while and you are ready to get crackin’

 

If you have a chance to make some of these with your kids or young cousins, it is still a very fun tradition that creates lots of memories for everyone! Just remember to only use the cascaròne eggs!!

Yep…that’s how it works–just crack them over your friend’s head!

 

Your fashionista and her little brother in the ’70’s getting ready for our Easter egg hunt!

 

And little sis gets some quality time with the Easter bunny himself back in the day!!

There are still so many other ways to use these empty shells. This is one I like in particular that is a pretty way to use at the holiday Easter table…

 

Happy Easter to all of you and your families!!