3D Chocolate Bunnies Part 3 | Finishing Your Easter Showpiece
Chef Alan TetreaultIn this tutorial: Overview and Mold Prep · Painting the 3D Bunny Mold · Filling and Assembling the 3D Bunny · 2D Flat Bunnies · Easter Lollipops · Unmolding the Finished Pieces · Peanut Butter Filled Eggs · Coconut Bon Bons · Filling and Sealing the Candies · Decorating Small Easter Eggs · Adding a Chocolate Bow
In Part 3 of his candy-making series, Chef Alan Tetreault covers everything needed to create stunning Easter chocolates at home – from hand-painted 3D hollow bunnies to peanut butter filled eggs, coconut bon bons, decorated lollipops, and striped mini eggs. This comprehensive tutorial builds on the basics covered in Parts 1 and 2, walking through each project step by step so candy makers of any skill level can follow along.
📌 This is part of the Candy Making series: Part 1 – The Basics · Part 2 – Transfer Sheets & Quick Recipes · Part 3 – 3D Bunnies & Easter Candy (you're here)
What You'll Need
- 3D two-piece chocolate bunny mold –
- Flat bunny molds (2D) –
- Easter egg molds (large and small) –
- Easter lollipop molds –
- Bon bon molds –
- Silicone bow mold –
- Compound coating chocolate (dark, milk, and white) – such as Merckens or Guittard –
- Colored candy melts – blue, yellow, pink, orange, green, white –
- CK Candy Writers – tubes of colored chocolate for detail work –
- Candy brushes (3/8-inch and 1/4-inch) –
- Small paintbrushes – for painting fine details
- Squeeze bottles – for filling molds quickly –
- Lollipop sticks –
- Cotton candy gloves – to prevent fingerprints –
- Paper clamps or clothespins – for holding 3D molds together
- Parchment paper triangles – for piping cones (Wilton 15-inch)
- Instant-read thermometer
- Lint-free cloth – such as a flour sack cloth, for buffing molds
- Desiccated coconut – for bon bon filling (2 1/2 cups)
- Light corn syrup – for bon bon filling (3/4 cup)
- Peanut butter filling – recipe available at globalsugarart.com
Overview and Mold Prep
This video is Part 3 of the candy-making series. Parts 1 and 2 cover the fundamentals – how to care for molds, how to wash and buff them, how to melt chocolate, and how to package finished chocolates. Chef Alan recommends watching those videos first for anyone new to working with compound coating chocolate.
Before using any mold, wash it thoroughly with hot water (no soap), dry it completely, and buff the interior with a lint-free cloth such as a flour sack. The more thoroughly the mold is buffed, the better the shine on the finished chocolate.
💡 Tip: The 3D bunny mold arrives as one flat piece. Simply cut it in half along the center line with scissors – the soft plastic cuts easily.
When the two halves are separated, small alignment buttons on each side show exactly how to line the pieces up. These buttons are for alignment only – they do not snap together.
Painting the 3D Bunny Mold
To add color details to the bunny, melt small amounts of colored chocolate in glass cups set in a pan of very hot (not boiling) water – approximately 190–200°F.
↪ Painting Order
Always paint the outermost color first, working from the front of the finished piece backward:
- Blue eyes – Use a very small paintbrush to fill the pupil area. Twirl the brush in the chocolate to prevent dripping and splattering inside the mold.
- Let the blue dry completely – If hot yellow chocolate is applied over wet blue, the colors will bleed together and turn green.
- Pink ears – Fill the inner ear areas on both sides of the mold.
- Pink nose – A small area that fills quickly.
- White teeth – Consider what base color the bunny will be. White teeth show against dark or milk chocolate but not against a white chocolate bunny. For a white bunny, paint the mouth pink behind the teeth.
- Green carrot top – Paint the leaves at the top of the carrot.
- Orange carrot – Use a slightly larger brush for this bigger area.
- Yellow iris – Once the blue pupils have hardened (check by touching gently), paint the yellow around them to complete the eyes.
- White tail – Paint the tail on the back half of the mold. Apply two coats, letting the first dry before adding the second.
▶ Watch the painting process (4:06)
💡 Tip: If a drip or string of colored chocolate lands where it shouldn't, let it dry for 10–15 seconds, then use a clean paintbrush or Q-tip to lift it right out.
💡 Tip: When painting multiple molds, do all of one color across every mold before switching – it saves significant time.
After painting, chill the mold halves in the refrigerator (not the freezer) for about 5 minutes. Thin layers of painted chocolate will crack if frozen and then brought to room temperature.
Filling and Assembling the 3D Bunny
⚠️ Do not pour hot chocolate into a painted mold. The heat will melt the colored details and create a mess. Cool the melted chocolate to 90–92°F using an instant-read thermometer before pouring. The chocolate will still be liquid and pourable at this temperature but will not disturb the painted layers.
↪ Assembly Steps
- Pour chocolate into the deeper half (the back) – Fill it about two-thirds full. The ears will fill in as the mold is rotated.
- Align the two halves using the alignment buttons.
- Clamp with paper clamps – Place one at each end and two on each side.
- Rotate the mold slowly – Tip it upside down and gently roll it from side to side and back to front so the chocolate coats the entire interior evenly.
- Check for air holes – Look through the mold from both sides. Tap the mold lightly to release trapped air bubbles.
- Chill in the refrigerator face-down for 4 minutes, then flip and chill another 4 minutes, then flip once more and leave for 45–50 minutes total.
▶ Watch the filling and clamping (13:38)
↪ Unmolding the 3D Bunny
Make sure the chocolate is completely chilled before unmolding. Hold the mold with the face up, gently peel the back half away, then carefully remove the front. The result is a beautiful hollow 3D Easter bunny with all the painted details intact.
2D Flat Bunnies
For a simpler approach, use just one half of a 3D bunny mold to make a flat (2D) chocolate bunny. Paint just the eye with a dot of blue and yellow – even this minimal detail creates a striking effect.
Since each half of the mold faces a different direction, using both halves separately produces one right-facing and one left-facing bunny.
To fill, pour or spoon chocolate into the mold cavity. Tap on the counter to release air bubbles. These are solid pieces, so they can be chilled in either the refrigerator (15–20 minutes) or the freezer (5–6 minutes).
Easter Lollipops
Easter lollipop molds come in many fun shapes and are a great project to do with children. Have lollipop sticks ready before filling.
↪ Steps
- Paint any desired details and chill in the refrigerator until hardened.
- Fill each cavity with chocolate – don't overfill on the first pass.
- Tap the mold on the counter to release air bubbles.
- Lay a lollipop stick into the chocolate, then turn it so the stick is fully enrobed.
- Top off with a bit more chocolate if needed.
- Chill in the freezer for 5–10 minutes (these are solid pieces).
💡 Tip: For large batches of lollipops, use a squeeze bottle instead of a spoon – it is faster and more precise. Squeeze bottles also make it easier for children to fill the molds themselves.
Unmolding the Finished Pieces
Wear cotton candy gloves when handling finished chocolates – body heat will melt the surface and leave fingerprints. To check if pieces are ready, touch the back: if it feels cool, the chocolate is set. Simply flip the mold over and the pieces pop right out.
Peanut Butter Filled Eggs
↪ Decorating the Mold with Candy Writers
CK Candy Writers are tubes filled with Merckens chocolate in various colors. To use them:
- Place the sealed tubes in a jar of hot tap water (no hotter than 90–100°F) and knead until the chocolate is smooth and fluid.
- Cut a small opening at the tip.
- Squeeze the chocolate directly into the mold details, then use a small paintbrush to spread it into fine crevices.
- Tap the mold to settle the chocolate and release air.
- Chill in the refrigerator for about 5 minutes until firm.
💡 Tip: Candy Writers can be recapped and stored in the freezer for months between uses. Simply reheat in warm water when ready to use again.
↪ Creating the Chocolate Shell
- Add about a teaspoon to a teaspoon and a half of melted dark chocolate to each egg cavity.
- Use a 3/8-inch candy brush to paint the chocolate up the sides, creating a thin shell.
- Hold the mold up to the light – if any spots show through, brush on more chocolate.
- Refrigerate for 5 minutes until the shells are solid.
↪ Filling and Sealing
The peanut butter filling recipe is available on globalsugarart.com. Press the filling gently into each shell, keeping the surface below the rim of the mold so there is room for a chocolate back seal.
Pour melted chocolate over the filling, using a spoon to spread it to every edge. This seals the candy completely. Tap on the counter to settle, then chill until firm.
💡 Tip: The filling does not require refrigeration, so finished peanut butter eggs can be stored in a cool place in a sealed container and will last a long time.
Coconut Bon Bons
↪ Coconut Filling Recipe
- 3/4 cup light corn syrup – bring to a boil
- 2 1/2 cups desiccated coconut – stir in and mix
⚠️ Use desiccated coconut, not standard "Angel Flake" grocery store coconut. Desiccated coconut is a very finely shredded, dried variety that produces the right texture for bon bon filling.
↪ Making the Bon Bons
- Brush chocolate shells in the bon bon mold the same way as the egg shells.
- Chill until solid (about 5 minutes in the refrigerator).
- Roll the coconut filling into small balls and gently press into each shell – do not press hard enough to crack the chocolate.
- Keep the filling surface below the mold rim.
- Back-fill with melted chocolate to seal, then chill until firm.
Bon bon molds come in many colors and shapes. Try using lemon-flavored or orange-flavored chocolate, or tint white chocolate with candy coloring for variety.
Filling and Sealing the Candies
Whether making peanut butter eggs, coconut bon bons, or any other filled chocolate, the technique is the same:
- Make the shell by brushing chocolate up the sides of the mold.
- Chill until solid.
- Add the filling, leaving room at the top.
- Back-fill with the same chocolate used for the shell.
- Spread to every edge to create a complete seal.
- Tap to settle, then chill until firm (5–10 minutes in the freezer or longer in the refrigerator).
Decorating Small Easter Eggs
For striped and polka-dot eggs, unmold solid chocolate eggs and space them apart on parchment paper – if they are too close, the piped chocolate will bridge between them.
↪ Striping
- Fill small parchment cones with melted colored chocolate and cut a tiny opening at the tip.
- Start the line before the first egg and pipe a continuous stripe across all the eggs in a row.
- Add two or three stripes per egg, then switch colors and repeat.
↪ Polka Dots
Using the same parchment cones, gently squeeze small dots onto each egg. Don't press too hard – the chocolate is liquid and flows quickly.
💡 Tip: Professional truffle makers use stripe colors to identify flavors – for example, orange and green stripes for orange-flavored eggs, yellow and green for lemon. This is a practical way to tell flavors apart in a mixed assortment.
Adding a Chocolate Bow
Use a silicone mold with a shiny interior to create a small chocolate bow. Fill the mold with colored chocolate using a parchment cone, push the chocolate into the corners with a paintbrush, tap to release air, and chill until set.
To attach the bow to a flat bunny, brush a small amount of matching melted chocolate onto the back of the bow and press it onto the bunny's neck – the chocolate acts as edible glue.
▶ Watch the final project (45:57)
💡 Tip: All of the techniques in this video work beyond Easter. 3D molds are available in animals, sea creatures, Christmas trees, and many other shapes. The shell-and-fill method works for homemade peanut butter cups, caramels, cream-filled chocolates, and more.
This tutorial is part of Global Sugar Art's library of free cake decorating videos by Chef Alan Tetreault. Browse all tutorials →
