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Like many of us, chef and food blogger Ashley Rodriguez has indulged in Cadbury's Creme Eggs since childhood.
But as an adult, she admits that the list of unpronounceable ingredients had become something of a concern - to the degree that she has devised a recipe to make her own.
Writing on Food52.com, she says: 'This little chocolate tradition is egg-shaped and stuffed with a creamy center that oozes sweetness and memories with each bite... But the list of ingredients did deter me a bit -- until I decided to make my own.'
Inspired: Chef and food blogger Ashley Rodriguez has devised a recipe to make her own creme eggs
Seasonal special: The list of unpronounceable ingredients put the food blogger off traditional Cadbury's Creme Eggs
While the homemade version may not share the same distinctive flavor of the mass-produced candy, it is no less delicious.
The butter-and-golden syrup-based filling is flecked with vanilla seeds and flavored with orange blossom water.
Yellow food dye provides that distinctive yellow center, while the dark chocolate coating makes for a more grown-up take on the seasonal treat.
Here, she shares her recipe, adapted from instructables.com.
Ashley's homemade 'Cadbury's' creme eggs
Makes approx 15 eggs
INGREDIENTS:
- ½ cup Lyle’s golden syrup
- 6 tablespoons butter, softened
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 drops orange blossom water (optional)
- 1 vanilla bean, seeds removed (optional)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 cup powdered sugar
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon yellow food coloring
- 12 ounces dark chocolate, chopped (or 1 bag bittersweet chocolate chips)
METHOD:
Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer that has been fitted with the paddle attachment (this can also be done by hand or with a hand mixer).
Add the golden syrup, salt, orange blossom water (if using), vanilla seeds, and vanilla extract. Mix on medium-low to combine, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to make sure everything is mixed well.
STEP ONE: Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the golden syrup, salt, orange blossom water, vanilla seeds, and vanilla extract
STEP TWO: Place a third of the mixture into a small bowl and add enough yellow food coloring to obtain your desired color for the yolks
STEP THREE: Stir the yellow food coloring into a third of the sugar mixture, then freeze for at least 15 minutes; your mixture must be very cold while you work with it
STEP FOUR: When the sugar mixture is chilled, remove from the freezer. Working quickly, take about ½ teaspoon of the yellow 'yolk' mixture and roll it into a ball. Repeat with the rest of the mixture
Turn the mixer to low and slowly add the powdered sugar. Mix until completely smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Place a third of the mixture into a small bowl and add enough yellow food coloring to obtain your desired color. Cover both bowls with plastic wrap and put into the freezer for at least 15 minutes; your mixture must be very cold while you work with it.
When the sugar mixture is thoroughly chilled, remove from the freezer. Working quickly, take about ½ teaspoon of the yellow 'yolk' mixture and roll it into a ball. Repeat with the rest of the mixture.
Once the yolks are complete, place them on a plate or a sheet tray covered with parchment and then put that back into the freezer.
STEP FIVE: Now, scoop out a tablespoon of your 'whites' and roll it into a ball. Repeat with the rest of the white portion of the sugar mixture
STEP SIX: Place a white in your palm and gently flatten it. Make an indent in the center for the yolk, then cover it and roll the white into an egg shape
STEP SEVEN: Remove the egg from the freezer and stick a toothpick in it. Dip it into the chocolate and let the excess drip off. Place the other end of the toothpick into something - perhaps a yam - while the chocolate sets
Now, scoop out a tablespoon of your 'whites' and roll it into a ball. Repeat with the rest of the white portion of the sugar mixture. If the whites are too soft to work with, place back into the freezer for a few minutes.
Remove the yolks from the freezer. Place a white in the palm of your hand and gently flatten it a bit. Create an indent in the center to rest the yolk in. Place the yolk in the center of the white, then cover it up and roll the white into an egg shape. If at any point the sugar mixture gets too soft, quickly put it back into the freezer.
Continue this process until all your eggs are complete. Return them to the freezer.
Easter treat: The homemade creme eggs are ready to eat after another ten minutes in the fridge
While your eggs are chilling, temper your chocolate or microwave it in 30 second intervals, stirring very well in between. If you use the microwave method, add a tablespoon of canola oil to the melted chocolate and stir well; this will give you a little more flexibility with your chocolate. You will not, however, get as nice of a crack as you bite into the egg.
Working with one egg at a time, remove the egg from the freezer and stick a toothpick in it. Dip the egg into the chocolate and carefully let the excess chocolate drip off. Place the other end of the toothpick into something â€" like a yam, perhaps â€" while the chocolate sets.
Place the chocolate-covered egg into the fridge for 10 minutes while the chocolate sets. Carefully remove the toothpick from the egg and cover up the small hole with a little bit of tempered chocolate.
Check out more of Ashley Rodriguez's recipes on her blog, Not Without Salt.
EGGSTREMELY RARE: THE OLDEST SURVIVING CREME EGG
Not exactly freshly laid: The 1963 Fry's Creme Egg
The world's only surviving original Creme Egg has been unearthed and gone on display for the first time - although experts admit they don't know what it tastes like.
The silver-foil wrapped eggs were made by chocolate company Fry's from 1963 before the firm was taken over by Cadbury in 1971.
This egg, from the Cadbury archives, has not been unwrapped since rolling off the production line 50 years ago - and no one knows how it tastes.
Expert Graham Tratt said: 'This is the original, it is how the Cadbury Creme Egg started.
'We don't know what it tastes like because we don't want to unwrap it and spoil it.'
Chocolate eggs filled with cream were first manufactured by the Cadbury brothers in 1923 but the Creme Egg in its current form was not introduced until 1963.
Modern Creme Eggs are now the best-selling confectionery item between New Year's Day and Easter in the UK, with annual sales in excess of 200 million.
The egg will be on display at a new exhibition called Chocolate! at Bristol's M Shed museum.
There are 15 different brands of chocolate on display including a tin sent out by Queen Victoria to a soldier during the Boer War.
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