In certain parts of the country, they're a longstanding tradition while in others, word has yet to arrive. But to clarify: the biggest mess when these eggs crack is confetti or glitter, not egg yolks.
And "explode" might be a little dramatic, though not by much.
We're talking about cascarones, a Mexican tradition, though it is traced back to China, of confetti-filled eggs that children (and some young-at-heart adults) crack over each other's heads or throw at each other.
These are real eggs, emptied, dried, and filled, then hidden alongside plastic eggs in an Easter egg hunt.
Along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a story in The Washington Post, the eggs are so popular around Easter time that U.S. Customs and Border Protection limited travelers entering the U.S. to 12 cascarones per person to prevent the spread of disease-causing microbes that can be found in some eggs.
They're sold in stores and on street corners in San Antonio. But once you venture farther away, they're harder to find. Some still make them by hand, a labor of love for a few minutes of mischief.
If you're interested in making cascarones, you need to start early; some enthusiasts start putting them together months ahead of time.
The process includes opening the top of an egg, either by tapping the top on a sharp corner or making a small hole in the end (no larger than the size of a quarter), then draining it. Completely clean and dry the shell to prevent listeria bacteria from forming. Then, paint the eggs or paste on pictures. After the eggs are decorated, fill them with confetti or glitter and then close the opening by gluing a small square of tissue paper over the hole.
