Vegan Easter Creme Eggs

Vegan Easter Creme Eggs

Easter is coming up quickly and pretty early this year - it totally snuck up on me! Luckily I don't have kiddos of my own and am not much of church-goer, so my Easter is really all about eating and enjoying sweet treats these days. Last year we celebrated with these Carrot Cupcakes with Orange Vanilla Cream Frosting, two years ago it was veganized Homemade Reese's Chocolate Peanut Butter Eggs...this year? This year we've damn near perfectly recreated a Cadbury Creme Egg - but with completely vegan ingredients! Let me stop you right here - I didn't ditch the sugar and these are in no way 'healthy'. What they are is delicious and a re-creation of one of childhood favorites. And in that sense, we nailed it. We even took the time to add dyed yellow 'yolks', just to be authentic and such. But don't worry, no chickies were harmed in the making of these gems...just my waistline! They were just too good to say no. Which is why you should really do yourself a favor and make these up for Sunday. You won't regret it and you'll impress the Easter Bunny, for sure! 

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons hot water
1/4 cup vegan butter
1 tablespoon unsweetened almond milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups powdered sugar
a few drops of yellow food coloring (we used this brand)
10 ounces chocolate chips or chopped bar chocolate 
8 egg-shaped molds (or any-shaped mold, really!)

DIRECTIONS
Heat a small pot over low heat. Pour in the sugar and water, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved. Turn off the heat and pour the mixture into a large mixing bowl.

Add in the butter, milk, vanilla and salt and beat the mixture together. Pour the powdered sugar into the bowl about a cup at a time, beating continuously until a thick fondant-like paste forms.

Scoop about 3/4 of the mixture into a small bowl, and the remaining 1/4 into another small bowl. Into the smaller bowl, add a few drops of yellow food coloring and stir until the entire mixture is evenly dyed. Set aside.

Using the double boiler method, melt the chocolate. Pour melted chocolate into the molds, gently turning the mold pan to evenly coat the inner molds. (Obviously we used eggs, but if you only have heart shaped, you 'em! You could probably also just roll the fondant-like sugar mixture into balls and dip it in chocolate, but no guarantees on how they'll look). Tap out the excess chocolate and pop the molds into the fridge or freezer for a few minutes to harden. 

Once hardened, fill the molds about 2/3 of the way full with the white fondant mixture (which for us was a little under a tablespoon), then add a small amount of the yellow fondant mixture (a bit under a teaspoon for us) to the middle. You want the eggs nearly full but not so full the you can't easily add the chocolate top layer. Place the molds back into the fridge to set the fondant layer, about 15-20 minutes.

Gently pour melted chocolate over the top of each filled egg mold, using the back of a butter knife or spatula to scrape any excess chocolate from the top of the molds. Pop the molds into the fridge or freezer to set, about 30 minutes. Once the chocolate has hardened and set, you can immediately enjoy the creme eggs! Otherwise see the notes below for saving them.

NOTES
Makes about 2-inch 16 eggs OR you can get crafty and apply a bit more melted chocolate to the backs of two half-eggs, connecting them to make 8 large creme eggs. 

These are best kept refrigerated or kept in a cool place, but are fine on the counter (or in an Easter basket) for several hours. They last up to a month in the fridge or indefinitely if kept in the freezer. 

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