But first, while we think about this, let's enjoy some chocolate.
This idea was inspired by this recipe for healthy Cadbury Creme Eggs over at Chocolate-Covered Katie's blog.
I started with two Navitas Naturals Organic Superfood Chocolate Kits, which I had previously purchased at Whole Foods in anticipation of an occasion such as this. The kit is apparently no longer for sale, but the ingredients for the chocolate are organic cacao butter, organic cacao powder, organic mesquite, organic lucuma, and organic maca. These are ingredients I like to keep on hand for special occasions, but do not use every day. The kit also contained some goji berries, which I did not use for this recipe.
Navitas Naturals has some great recipes on their website, by the way.
Raw Vegan "Cadbury" Eggs
4 oz. raw cacao butter
2 tbsps raw cacao powder
1 1/2 tsp mesquite
1 tsp lucuma
1/2 tsp maca
For the egg white filling
2 young Thai coconuts, reserve the coconut water
1 tbsp raw honey
1/2 tsp vanilla bean powder
For the "yolk"
1 10 oz package frozen organic mango
1/2 cup orange juice
Tools: Egg-shaped confection molds, bowls, spoons, either a double boiler or a saucepan OR a dehydrator to melt the cacao, high-speed blender, sharp heavy knife, spatula.
Wash and thoroughly dry the mold and place it in the freezer. Melt the cacao butter at a low temperature. Cacao butter has a melt point of 100 degrees Fahrenheit. I found that just by putting the bowl of cacao in the Excalibur dehydrator and setting it at 105 degrees, it stayed at the perfect temperature to work with.
When the cacao butter is melted, add the cacao powder and other ingredients and stir. When the ingredients are smooth, take the mold out of the freezer and use a spoon to coat thoroughly coat the mold. Return the mold to the freezer.
Meanwhile, begin opening the coconuts. If you don't know how to open one, here is a pretty good illustration. Blend the coconut meat with just enough liquid to help the blades turn. You' ll want about two cups total of the blended coconut meat. Add in the vanilla powder and honey and blend. Place in a container and refrigerate. The vanilla flavor will develop if you can refrigerate it overnight.
After the cacao eggs have hardened, take them out of the freezer and add another coat of chocolate. Look carefully at each eggshell for thin spots and holes because your eggs will crack when you un-mold them unless the chocolate is thick enough. I had better luck with four coats of chocolate. Freeze the eggs between each coat, and let them get really hard before you un-mold them. I froze mine overnight.
After un-molding the egg shells, return them to the freezer and make your "yolk." Place the orange juice and frozen mango in your high speed blender and blend until thick and creamy. If needed, add additional liquid.
Remove the eggshells from the freezer and carefully fill each one with the coconut mixture. Top each egg with a teaspoon or so of the mango mixture.
Notes: My cacao came out of a pre-measured kit, and so I listed the ingredients on the box and estimated how much I would start with of each ingredient if I didn't have the kit. While it's probably not a good idea to add water to your cacao butter, you may want to experiment with other ingredients, such as coconut oil, honey, carob, vanilla powder, etc.
So how do the two eggs compare?
I cut open a Cadbury Creme Egg so that the two could be compared side by side. My taster said that he could taste the sugar and the chemical artificial flavoring in the commercially produced egg.
In my opinion, if we must have some confection this time of year, raw vegan confection is the way to go.