Vegan Creme Eggs

...without the yolk! Come on, even before I was vegan I thought the "creamy yolk center" was gross. It made me think of raw egg encased in chocolate (gag reflex).

Anyway, I was at my neighborhood Safeway when I saw this egg plate amongst all their usual pastel bunny fare. And, after being holed up for almost a month with this scary flu that's been going around in my family, I was itchin' to play in the kitchin!'





























(In hindsight, I wouldn't use this egg plate to make chocolates, as it was hard to release them without breaking them. I would recommend your average crafty egg molds.)

Instead of the sickly-sweet fondant of the original, I made the creamy centers more healthy and not as sweet- almost like a custard or pudding. The agar helps it set up when cooled, but allows it to stay creamy in texture. These turned out to be half-eggs, but they're still very cute and get the Easter-y message across.

I froze some of them, and my friends liked them even better. They taste like frozen bon-bons.

Note: I made 12 chocolates, but had about twice as much filling left over. So if I would do it again, I'd either halve the filling or double the chocolate (probably double the chocolate) -!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C. vegan chocolate chips, melted
(filling)
2 T. agar flakes
1 C. water
1 14oz. block of extra firm tofu
1/4 C. raw cashews
1 tsp. lemon juice
3/4 C. confectioner's sugar

Spinz:

In a small sauce pan, heat the water and dissolve the agar flakes in it, stirring often. In a blender, put the tofu, cashews, lemon juice, and confectioner's sugar, and blend with the agar mixture until very smooth and creamy. Set aside. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler (or as directed in the microwave). Spread chocolate into your mold and make sure you get an even thickness on the sides (about 1/8"). Spoon in the filling (no heaping). Then cover with another layer of chocolate, spreading carefully to cover all the edges and not to mix with the filling. Put into the fridge or freezer to cool and harden. Release chocolates. If difficult to release, you can try dipping the outside of the molds in warm water briefly. Enjoy!

Happy Spring!

Chocolate Covered Pomegranate

I'm adding pomegranate to the long list of things that are good covered in chocolate. After receiving a case full of them from Dad's tree, I decided to juice them, and save some (ok, a lot) to make chocolates. They're very easy to make. The hard part is getting the seeds out without pom juice squirting in your face. But once you got the hang of that, easier than pie!

Just place 3 or 4 cups of the seeds (called arils) on a towel to make sure they're dry on the outside. Melt chocolate in a double boiler (I used a bag of semi-sweet vegan chocolate chips), fold in the seeds and place spoonfuls onto parchment paper to cool. Put them in the fridge or freezer until hardened, and enjoy!

When you bite into them, you get a burst of the tart pomegranate juice mixed with the rich sweet dark chocolate. SO GOOD!