Preparing eggs

Egg blowing: For a lasting decorative piece, you need to practice the art of egg blowing. First, shake the egg to break the yolk. Next, using a small nail, make a hole in the top and the bottom of the egg. Blow gently into one hole until yolk and whites slip out of the egg.

Egg boiling: For the classic decorated egg, first hard boil the eggs. Cover eggs with water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Turn off heat, cover your pot and let eggs sit for 30 minutes.

Art-inspired eggs

To keep your egg steady, use a kitchen-towl tube cut into sections as your egg stand.

Now get creative with some paint. For extra-rich colours, use a dab of food colouring paste dissolved in a cup of hot water mixed with 1/4 cup cider vinegar.

Create designs using sponges, stencils, brushes or even your fingers. Or, for a cool effect, draw on your egg with wax crayon before dipping into paint. Why not also have on hand glue, sparkles, stickers and ribbon or even magazine clippings for a collage creation? Create egg characters using photos and dyed cotton wool for hair.

Chocolate eggs

Use your favourite chocolate to make a solid chocolate egg treat.

First, blow the yolk and whites from the egg following the above instructions.

Take a 200g bar of chocolcate and melt in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Leave to cool, stirring occasionally. Once the chocolate starts thickening, cover the base of the egg with plastic wrap. Tip the chocolate into a small pouring jug.

Now pour the chocolate into the egg's top incision until the egg is filled to the top. Put the chocolate-filled egg in an egg cup and leave until set.

Here's the fun part. Remove the plastic wrap from the base, gently crack the egg and peel off the shell. You'll be left with a perfectly shaped chocolate egg. For decorations, use piped chocolate.

James Martin's chocolate egg recipe