Sometimes, when I’m in the middle of a recipe-development flurry, I look at the bomb site which is my kitchen, and I note the look of silent despair/resignation on the face of my beloved (who I know is thinking WTF?! Where did ALL THOSE DISHES come from?). And I think to myself, there’s something a little cray cray going on here.
Case in point – this recipe.
I forfeited a significant chunk of my weekend designing it, originally with the plan of teaching it at last night’s Not for Me, Dairy! Workshop. But it was so messy and time-consuming that I figured no one in their right mind would want to sit and watch me make it. Devouring the (divine!) end product took less time than cleaning up the kitchen. (I know I’m not really selling this to you – mental note to self: revisit Marketing 101 notes).
However, these little beauties are so delicious that it would be a crying shame not to share the recipe. It never fails to amaze me that something like this can be made entirely out of plants. There may even be a dairy- and gluten-intolerant child somewhere who gets to have an Easter egg hunt with these eggs. (Please send me a photo if that happens!)
Caramel Easter Eggs
Chocolate:
1 cup cacao butter, grated or 1 cup coconut oil (or a combination of the two)
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 cup cacao or quality cocoa powder (I use Equagold), sifted to remove lumps
1/2 teaspoon freeze-dried raspberry or strawberry powder (I use Fresh As) or cinnamon
Caramel filling:
1/4 cup (3 or 4) fresh dates
1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
2 tablespoons almond or cashew butter (I use Ceres)
2 teaspoons maple syrup
2 – 2 tablespoons warm water
Set out silicone or plastic Easter egg moulds on a tray.
Make chocolate: Gently melt cacao butter/coconut oil and maple syrup together over hot water. Add cacao/cocoa powder and fruit powder/cinnamon and mix in a blender on low speed or with a whisk until well combined.
Pipe or spoon chocolate into moulds, reserving about 3 tablespoons of chocolate mixture. Place in fridge or freezer for about 10 minutes.
While chocolate is setting, make caramel mixture: mix dates, orange rind, nut butter and maple syrup with a stick blender/mini food processor. Gradually add water to reach desired consistency.
Remove chocolate moulds from fridge/freezer when mixture is set. Placing a clean tea towel on a firm surface, turn moulds over and tap lightly onto tea towel to remove chocolate. Using a teaspoon, make a small indentation in the centre of each egg half. Fill with caramel mixture. Using a small amount of the reserved chocolate (this may need to be warmed up again if it has started to set), spread enough chocolate between two halves to “glue” them together. Remove any excess and return (on a tray) to fridge/freezer to set. Wrap in fancy foil if you like!
I can’t tell you how many this makes, as I ate way, way too much of the mixture along the way. But if you get the teeny tiny moulds, it makes a lot.
Notes: I got my Easter egg moulds from Total Food Equipment in Dunedin.
You can use either coconut oil or cacao butter as a base. If made with coconut oil, the finished products must be kept refrigerated, as they may melt at room temperature. Alternatively you can replace the coconut oil with cacao butter, which will result in chocolates which are less prone to melting at room temperature and more luxurious (although they are more expensive to make).
This recipe is a modification of my Christmas Chocolates recipe which was printed in the Otago Daily Times last year. (That one was inspired by the wonderful website This Rawsome Vegan Life). It’s a whole lot easier, and less trichotillomania-inducing, to use mini chocolate moulds to make other shapes – just half fill with chocolate, spoon in the caramel, and pour more chocolate on top. Place in freezer/fridge to set. Takes half the time (but they’re obviously not Easter eggs then!)
If you don’t have the 1.5 hours that it may or may not take to make these (to be fair, most of that time was spent doing the dishes and scraping chocolate off the walls), you may at least have 1.5 minutes to watch a dog doing yoga. Random I know, but this really made my day:
I hope you all have a wonderful relaxing Easter. Personally I plan to spend time with my family, eat chocolate, do yoga, and no doubt at some point I will cause total and utter chaos in the kitchen. Have a blissful holiday!
