Brace yourself, spring readers* your minds are about to be blown.
* Disclaimer: If you read this blog I know you’ve gotten used to recipes that integrate fresh produce, deliciousness, and… nutrition. This one just focuses on the deliciousness part. There is nothing from the garden in this recipe. This is the dark side of Spring Around the Bend, and fighting it would be futile.
After several years of making beautiful and amazing vegan Cadbury eggs as an annual springtime treat, Emma had a stroke of genius. She fully embraced her British roots and the result is absolute perfection, a love-child of the Cadbury Egg and Harry Potter’s chocolate frogs. That’s right: a homemade candy, vegan, chocolate covered, and decidedly nerdy, life is good.
In order to accomplish this for yourself, you’re going to need to find the following very healthy ingredients at your local earthy-crunchy store:
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup earth balance, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups powdered sugar
4 drops yellow food coloring
2 drops red food coloring
1 12-ounce bags vegan chocolate chips (2 bags needed for frog molds, or 4 cups)
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
I was kidding about the earthy-crunchy store; buy this stuff somewhere you won’t be ashamed to go to the check-out.
You’ll also need a frog-shaped chocolate mold. Thankfully, Harry Potter waved his wand and increased the availability of these much-needed household items, so it shouldn’t be hard to find.
To make the filling (or innards, as they are called in our household):
1. Combine the corn syrup, earth balance, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl. Beat well with an electric mixer until smooth.
2. Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, mixing by hand after each addition. Mix until creamy.
3. Remove about 1/4 of the mixture and place it into a small bowl. Add the yellow and red food coloring and stir well to combine.
4. Cover both mixtures and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or until firm.
5.When mixtures have firmed, roll a small, marble-sized ball from the orange filling, and wrap around it a portion of the white filling that is roughly twice the size. Form this filling into the shape of an egg and place it onto a cookie sheet that has been brushed with a light coating of shortening. Repeat for the remaining filling ingredients, then refrigerate these centers for 3-4 hours or until firm.
You can eat the innards on their own pre-chocolate, as I did while Emma was out of town this past week. I don’t recommend eating more than one this way as my teeth nearly staged a coup. And honestly, they are nowhere near as delicious without the dark chocolatey coating (nor are they as cute as they are when froggy).
Get your chocolate on:
6. Combine the vegan chocolate chips with the shortening in a glass or ceramic bowl. Microwave chocolate on high speed for 1 minute, then stir - if your chocolate is still a little lumpy, microwave again for 30 seconds to a minute, and stir until smooth and lump-less (no one likes a lumpy frog).
If you were unable to locate a chocolate frog mold, or just really enjoy choose-your-own-adventures, please skip to the alternate, number 7 & 8 egg-shaped directions below.
7. Spoon about a tablespoon of chocolate into the frog mold, enough to coat the little feet and face. Roll your center in your hand to make it a little flatter, and place it in your mold. Cover with another spoon full of chocolate. Chill.
8. After 2-3 hours of chilling, it’s time to eat. Makes 2 dozen candy frogs.
For an egg-shaped candy:
7. Use a fork to dip each center into the chocolate, tap the fork on the side of the bowl, then place each candy onto wax paper. Chill.
8. After 1-2 hours of chilling, dip each candy once more and chill for several hours, or until completely firm. Makes 2 dozen candy eggs.
I am deeply appreciative of Emma’s discipline. If she weren’t strong enough to maintain a firm rule that these are only allowed once a year – I would probably be found rocking on the kitchen floor drooling corn syrup on myself gleefully.
If you're finding that this blog post opened your eyes to the sugared debauchery hidden in the world of vegan cooking, and you feel that you're going to need another fix of this deliciousness soon. Rest assured, look what just arrived:
Yup. Vegan Twinkies. Coming soon.
original recipe source used for this veganized version of Cadbury Creme Eggs was found at Top Secret Recipes
... except it looks like they don't have it posted there any more, so its also here and here.
enjoy!
- em and em
