Confetti Easter Eggs (Cascarones)

Spring time means Easter Confetti Eggs in our family and a time for eating lots of eggs! When I see all the Easter decorations in the shops a few weeks before that's usually a reminder that I need to start working on the hallowed eggs untill I get about 2 dozen.

The story behind Confetti Eggs or Cascarones is rumored to have originated in China and brought to Europe by Marco Polo. In Italy they were first used as a courting ritual, filled with perfume and then capped with wax. Men would throw them at women they found attractive. The custom then traveled to Spain and was later brought to Mexico in the mid-1800s by Emperor Maximilian’s wife. It was in Mexico that the perfumed powder was replaced with confetti.

In Spanish, cáscara means eggshell. Cascarones are common throughout Latin American and are similar to the Easter eggs popular in many other countries. They are mostly used in Mexico during Carnival, but in US and Mexico border towns the cultures combined making them a popular Easter tradition. While you may see cascarones at the carnival celebrations in the US, it is more common to see them around Easter. This is because, like many other Latin traditions, there has been a merging with the US holiday tradition of dyeing hard boiled eggs. 

Having one broken over your head is said to bring good luck. 

Cascarones are increasingly popular in the Southwestern United States. They are especially prominent during the two-week, city-wide Fiesta festival in San Antonio, TX. I live in CA now, and recently to my surprise saw these sold at my local grocery store, Ralphs! I guess a sign of the tradition migrating westbound.

TOOLS

1 Egg Coloring Kit from your local grocery or craft store

2 dozen hollowed out eggs

Confetti or in my case dollar bills!

1-2 Pastel colored streamer rolls or tissue paper cut into 1.5" squares

Scissors

Glue

Paper towels

2 dozen straws or coffee stirers for holding the eggs to dry

2-3 containers or drinking glasses (to hold your straws eggs for drying)

DIRECTIONS
Making Cascarones, first open the top of an egg. You can use a pin or knife to break a hole on the end of the egg and pour the egg out. You can use the egg to make scrambled eggs or flan if you want. The shell must then be rinsed and cleaned out and let to dry.

Once the eggs have dried decorate them using an egg dye kit, watercolors, markers or paint. Egg coloring kits are available at your local grocery or craft store.

When the paint is dry, fill the inside with confetti, in my case I am using a few dollar bills in place of confetti for my teenage nieces and nephews...shh they don't know this! Lastly apply a small amount of glue around the outside of the egg, hold and cover with tissue or crepe paper. 

Wait until the glue has dried before smacking the cascarone on an unsuspecting person or save them or the egg hunt on Easter Sunday!

Happy Easter Egg Hunting!