Sunday, March 17, 2013

Homemade Allergy-Friendly Cadbury Eggs

A couple of days ago Brody asked me what a Cadbury Egg was.  What?!  For some reason the fact that he has never been able to enjoy one of these popular candies, and in fact had no idea what it even was, really bothered me.  Of course with all of his allergies there are lots of foods that he has never been able to try, but I remember how much I always looked forward to finding a couple of these candy eggs in my Easter basket each year.  So I decided it was time Brody finds some (allergy-friendly) Cadbury Eggs in his Easter basket too!



Homemade Allergy-Friendly Cadbury Eggs
Marshmallow Fondant (recipe below*)
Yellow Food coloring
Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

Tint a portion of the marshmallow fondant yellow, kneading until color is fully mixed in.  Take about 1/2 tsp of the yellow mixture and roll into a ball.  Now scoop out about 1 Tbsp of the white fondant and while holding it in your palm make an indent in the center and place the yellow ball (yolk) in it, then pinch the white fondant around the yellow ball and roll into an egg shape.  Continue this process until all your "eggs" are complete.  Place them in the freezer on a wax paper lined tray for a few minutes to harden.  Meanwhile, melt the chocolate chips in the microwave and stir well.  Using a fork, dip each "egg" into the melted chocolate and let the excess drip off before placing back on the wax paper lined tray.  Place the chocolate covered "eggs" in the fridge for 10 minutes while the chocolate sets.  If desired, wrap each treat in a foil candy wrapper!

*Note*  The marshmallow fondant recipe makes a large amount.  If you are only using it to make these homemade Cadbury Eggs, I would suggest cutting the recipe in half.

Marshmallow Fondant
16 ounces white mini marshmallows
2-5 Tbsp water
2 pounds powdered sugar
1/2 cup Crisco

Melt marshmallows and 2 Tbsp of water in microwave.  Stir every 30 seconds until melted.  Place three-quarters of the powdered sugar on top of the melted marshmallows and mix.  Grease hands and counter generously with Crisco.  Dump the bowl of marshmallow/sugar mixture onto the greased counter.  Start kneading the mixture like you would bread dough.  Add the rest of the powdered sugar and knead some more.  Re-grease your hands and counter when fondant is sticking.  If the mix is tearing easily, add about 1/2 Tbsp of water and knead it in.  Keep kneading until you get a smooth elastic ball that will stretch without tearing. 

Prepare the fondant for storing by coating it with a good layer of Crisco, wrap in plastic wrap, and then place in a Ziploc bag.  Squeeze out as much air as you can.  MM Fondant can be made up to a couple of weeks ahead of time.  To soften again for use, unwrap and knead a few times again with greased hands.