March 13, 2013

Let’s Make Panoramic Sugar Eggs!

I have been obsessing about Panoramic Sugar Eggs since I was little.

Also known as Sugar Easter Eggs, Diorama Eggs and Panorama Easter eggs.

I remember receiving them as a child, and seeing them in shops in the small town I grew up in. 

They sparkled so beautifully, and had little scenes inside that just stole a child's heart.

They have been on my mind the last year, even whilst sleeping.

So, I finally plunged into the making.

I just finished making this one last night.

Sugar egg 1

I know, my frosting decor is a bit pitiful. 

But I hadn't piped frosting as such in years.

A little practice should do the trick with the next few.

I hope 🙂

They are so sparkly in person, as the sugar glitters like fairy dust.

Sugar egg 3

Sugar egg 5

I have to say, I can not remember making anything in my life which brought me as much pleasure as this sweet sugar egg.  That's saying a lot, since I make things for a living, and love making things.  And make lots of things that I loooove making, you know, the process of.

I wish I had a little old fashioned shop somewhere, where I made these all day.

For all occasions and events, not just Easter.

They have such a magic goose fairy tale quality to me.

Sugar egg 6

Fun and pretty.

Sugar egg 7

Sugar egg 8

How does one make one of these you ask?

Sugar egg 9

Well, you first need an egg mold.

I  found one at our local drugstore, since it's Easter season and the candy aisle has them pre-filled with candy and such.

What I found wasn't an egg mold per se.

It was actually a red plastic egg, filled with superman stickers and lollipops, haha!

But, the seams went around the egg, which is good for making these.

Note that, you can make these in lots of different shapes, with the opening in different places. 

See here.

To begin, all you need is granulated sugar, and water.

2 teaspoons water per 1 cup of sugar.

I used 3 cups of sugar and 6 teaspoons of water.

Then, mix up your sugar and water until you get a wet sand consistency, and pack it nicely into your egg mold. (pack it good and tight)

Sugar egg 4

I lined a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and immediately turned my mold over onto the sheet.

(flat part facing down)

Once you have your desired amount of eggs made, either let them dry for about 24 hours.

Or, put them in a warm oven (about 120-150'F) for 15 minutes.

Do not let them brown.

(video tutorial at the end of this post)

Once you take them out, do all your carving, before they completely harden.

(the side facing down will be soft enough to carefully carve)

Sugar egg 13

Sugar egg 14

Sugar egg 18

Sugar egg 15

For the base, I wanted something fancy.

I tried packing sugar into teacups, which was cute…

Sugar egg 12

Sugar egg 10

But then I remembered this mini bundt cake mold I had, so I used it.

And it worked out so lovely….

Sugar egg 11

Once I had hardened all the pieces, I set off to make royal icing, for the assembly part.

I used Alton Brown's recipe.

It's amazing.

It is so like sticky glue, incredible.

Holds astoundingly well.

See royal icing recipe here.

(lots of weird lighting night photos to follow, sorry about that)

Sugar egg 16

Then I chose some trinkets I had, to fill the egg with.

An egg found in the road years ago, mushrooms, moss, fake butterfly.

(don't worry, the egg was slightly cracked, and no bird's nest in sight)

Once I had everything set in place, I put icing around one egg half, and sealed it shut.

Sugar egg 17

Like so…

Sugar egg 20

I then piped frosting all around the seams, a little cover up decor.

I used little flowers and leaves I had on hand for accents.

That's it.

Easy, fun, awesome.

I am so addicted.

I swear, I want to run off and open a sugar egg shop.

I am giddy about the thought.

Like Chocolat, the movie, only sugar eggs instead 😉

Sugar egg 19

Funnest thing I ever made, I tell ya.

And, the sugar eggs last forever if you don't get them wet.

Sugar egg 2

Such a delightful sweet treasure to make and keep.

I'm smitten, must finish my others soon.

Below is a pretty good video tutorial I posted on my sweets blog too.

 

SO fun!!

Will you give it a try?

I so hope so!

See you soon…

Love, V

 

Sparkly heart

 

  1. Laura Tieri says:

    Thanks for posting your egg. I think it turned out great! I like the idea of using them for different occasions. That one looks so elegant, you could use it for a wedding. I’ll bet you could come up some good ideas for a Halloween egg!

  2. Sis, this egg is phenomenal! I can’t believe you made this, it looks almost fake it’s so perfect! Wow… Excellent or should I say eggscelent!!

  3. OC says:

    Elegant, indeed. I could live comfortably inside it. Not that I’m that small but it’s so inviting.

  4. Linda Diane says:

    Just beautiful, Vanessa! Thank you so much for sharing this with us! I keep forgetting about your sweets blog. Eeek. Have you thought about posting a link to it at the top of this blog? I will have to go visit and see what I have been missing!

  5. Tracy Marie says:

    I love those eggs!! They remind me of the good ‘ol days. I used to make those when I was a teenager… way back in the day! LOL! You did a beautiful job with yours. 🙂 I’m inspired…

  6. Muy fabuloso, V.
    These are FUN!!!! I think your icing looks great.
    If you have any practice ones that don’t turn out 100% you should leave them out for the birds or squirrels.
    Then you’d have a passel of really sugar hopped up critters on your place, but whatever.
    They can do Vanessa-things…..build a nest out of tinsel and human hair
    Or the squirrels might take to knitting with sticks or something.

  7. Laura says:

    I really love this sugar egg idea! I can just imagine dozens of them lined up on a picnic bench at a sweet little tea party. I will definitely give this a shot for Easter… and for other special occasions too. Thanks so much for the idea!

  8. Cameron says:

    Wow, it is a child’s dream….a secret little world just inside a tiny hole they can peer through….
    …a great project for the kid in us all!

  9. Jill James says:

    The Talented Mz. V and her Sugared Menagerie!
    The white sugar is very elegant w/the dainty flowers…..really Victorian and elegant
    It’s so fun coming here……you’re inspiring

  10. sj says:

    That’s amazing!

  11. Alia says:

    Pitiful?! It’s beautiful! I can’t believe you made that on your first try. If you had a Chocolat style sugar egg shop I would most definitely come and buy one!

  12. Alia, it was so fun! And I didnt have a trial one break or anything,
    the first try worked out. Maybe that is why it was so much fun?? 😉
    ps: sending you seeds this week

  13. Kelly says:

    This is Eggseptionally Very pretty Vanessa! I really like the tea cup design for the base! Very clever! I would think that yes, they would be Beautiful for many occasions!
    You never cease to amaze me with your creativity!!!<3

  14. Samie Kira says:

    You are so funny! I was staring in AWE at this beautiful magical thing you’ve made, and then scrolled to see you said your icing skills were sad. NO! We can’t see the mistakes, or the wish-I-could-haves….just the beauty. With everything you’ve been going through, I’m so glad you were able to have some joy.
    Ps. I sent you an email over a month ago…did you get it?

  15. Wow! That’s incredible…look at all of the fun details. It really looks amazing. 🙂

  16. Peggs says:

    How cute! What an eggstraordinary Easter dessert.

  17. Kimberly says:

    Vanessa:
    Wow…your egg looks great! I love that you used a real bird egg inside….and the wee toadstools are so sweet.
    I really want to try this.
    Since the eggs aren’t for eating, did you use pasteurized egg whites for the royal icing or did you just use regular whites?
    You must not have an ant problem in Arizona! The only thing I’m worried about with these eggs are ants. We live in an area where there used to be oodles of lemon and orange groves and I’ve heard that’s why our region has such a horrible problem with ants. I wonder if ants would devour a sugar egg in my house.
    xoxo
    Kim
    Gerushia’s New World

  18. Miss Kim,
    I guess you could try it and see with the ants? What would be cool is
    if an army of them tried to carry one away and you could photograph it, haha
    😉
    I didnt used pasteurized eggs, since no one will be eating the
    frosting. I know lots of people eat raw eggs pasteurized or not, but that
    can be dangerous if its the wrong egg at the wrong time.
    xoxo
    Blog: http://www.aFancifulTwist.com
    Website: http://www.VanessaValencia.com
    In a message dated 3/14/2013 8:33:36 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time,

  19. Vicki O'Dell says:

    Simply beautiful, Vanessa. I’ve made panoramic eggs before with a giant plastic egg but never anything this gorgeous.
    I had to share it on my facebook page because I couldn’t keep it to myself.

  20. Stacy Ross says:

    OOOOOOHHHHH the memories. I wish I was still 7 years old.
    Sigh…
    Thank you for this. It’s sorta make my day. 🙂

  21. Irina says:

    These are incredible, dear Vanessa!!! So beautiful! I love the sweet display inside…
    As I catch up on your posts, I am relieved to hear Matty is feeling better?
    Oh…a warm hug to your sweet fur babies (and you!)…
    xoxo

  22. Marilyn says:

    Yours is beeeautiful! I have always been fascinated by them. Hummm? Will I try it, I am not sure; but maybe. Also so glad Matty is recovering.

  23. Miss Linda says:

    These are so very beautiful….Totally amazing.

  24. I’ve never seen sugar eggs or heard of them before. We don’t have anything like that in Germany. But I’m completely over the moon with them and yours are so beautiful. I’m looking forward to seeing more of them in your future posts.

  25. dena miller says:

    My Dearest Vanessa,
    You are so wonderfully Talented!!!!!Absolutely lovey work!!!! Have a Fantastic Easter🖤
    xoxo
    Dena

  26. Cori says:

    GORGEOUS!!!
    I really like the white on white. It is very serene and beautiful. The use of the mini bundt pan for the base is GENIUS!!!
    Lovely!

  27. wendy says:

    thank you that brought back a nice memory my granddad was a baker and each Easter would make each grandchild a chocolate panoramic egg decorated with icing shells flowers and chicks they a were too pretty to eat but of course we would eat them in the end
    when he passed I got the metal beautiful molds …. and I was thinking of added a Easter scene to them but before I do i think I will try to do a sugar one they do last you know if you kept them dry they can last for years

  28. marjorie says:

    Oh my!!! I would like to spend a whole day making these! SO splendid!! Thank You bunches for sharing!! : )

  29. Rachel says:

    Oh wow, Your egg turned out beautifully
    I’m off work next week, I think I might have to try this, it looks like such sweet fun.

  30. Wow Vanessa!!!! It is absolutely beautiful the egg. Amazing!!! You have so many talents!

  31. Theresa says:

    Oh my! What fun! Your sugar egg is fabulous with a capital F!!!!! How sweet it is! Thank you for sharing how you created it!

  32. Nancy says:

    I use to make these years ago and still have one packed away in my storage unit. I think it’s about 40 years old now. Thanks for posting the Recipe I misplaced mine so forgot how much of the sugar and water to put in. And also after I was all finished and it was completely dry I sprayed the eggs with a sealer so that the ants or any other kind of critters couldn’t get to it. It also made it a lot more durable. Thanks again

  33. I LOVE this tutorial- it gave me flashbacks to Snoopy dancing with bunnies inside of a panoramic egg!
    Showing my age I guess, but this blog post is nothing but SWEET!
    Michaele

  34. Kathleen says:

    I may have to try this one day. I remember I had a yellow one as a child and I was fascinated by the panoramic scene and it felt like it had a world of its own! I spent Easter with my cousin Nancy and the Easter Bunny left them in our Easter baskets. You did a great job on yours. Thanks for sharing!

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