I grew up making Cascarones with my family, and now I am passing on this tradition to your family.
You can find the confetti-filled eggs for about $2 per dozen, but using the old school method, you can make them for pennies.
Confetti-filled eggs are very popular in Latin American countries during carnival, but in the U.S. and Mexican border towns, many people use them to celebrate Easter. Since I grew up taking part in the tradition, I turned to my mom for help on this story.
"It started out for us as being part of our holy week celebration. Grandma helped us collect as many eggs as we could," my mom, Josie Lopez said.
My mom is one of 13 children and had weeks worth of egg collecting to make dozens of eggs.
"It required a lot of people because there were 13 of us, and everyone wanted at least three dozen a piece," said mom.
To make your own, you will need to collect as many egg shells as possible. Make the hole by gently cracking the top of the egg and empty out the shell. Rinse the egg shell and let dry.
"To get the egg out and still have a small enough hole to be able to put the confetti in through there and not have a big opening so you can covered it easily," mom said.
While the eggs are drying, we made our own confetti. If you'd rather purchase confetti, you can, but we used tissue paper and achieved a great result.
When the eggs are dry, dye them with food coloring following the basic directions. This is where the whole family can get involved. Let them dry, then you are ready to fill them with confetti.
"And since this is stretch your dollar, we are now going fill them with confetti, homemade confetti," mom said.
You also don't need to purchase glue when covering your hole with tissue paper. Mom says use the paper mache method instead.
"In Spanish we called it ingrudo, which basically means something that sticks things together," mom said.
She uses one part flour and one part water, then stirs the mixture for a pasty consistency. Then attach the tissue topper with the past and let dry once more.
Now, it's time for some fun.
You want to catch your victims off guard when you go to crack the eggs on their heads. Sometimes the eggs don't crack on the first try, as was the case with my 2 year old.
Follow these easy steps to for some cost-saving short cuts:
Confetti Filled Eggs (Cascarones)
Instructions:
- Gently tap the top of an egg and empty shell and peel away a small 1/2 inch hole.
- Rinse the egg and let the egg dry.
- Dye the egg using food coloring and follow those directions.
- When the eggs are dry, fill in with confetti.
- Glue the hole in the egg with tissue paper and finish decorating.
Money Saving Shortcuts: Use flour and water to create a paste (instead of glue) when topping your eggs with tissue. You can make your own confetti by cutting tissue paper in tiny pieces.
Find Patricia on Facebook at ABC13PatriciaLopez or on Twitter at @patricialopez13
