How-To & Diy

Homemade Cadbury Creme Eggs

March 28, 2013

Every week, a DIY expert spares us a trip to the grocery store and shows us how to make small batches of great foods at home.

Today, Ashley from Not Without Salt gives us a much more wholesome Cadbury egg -- yellow yolks and all. Go ahead, make the easter bunny jealous. (Plus, a new video how-to!)

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Last week I had my first taste of rhubarb and asparagus. I may have been jumping the gun a bit, but for me, those two tastes symbolize spring more than the presence of tulips or the gentle warmth of sun. (I'm still waiting for that sun.)

The tangy, tart bite of rhubarb combined with a buttery shortbread crust and cool whipped cream; the bitter char on a hot roast fresh out of the oven set against the mild sweetness of freshly plucked asparagus; this is the tune of spring, and I sing it at the top of my lungs after what seems to have been years of cold and dreary days.

But there is another taste that has become a spring tradition. Like congealed cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving, I hold it sacred even though it is laden with ingredients I can’t pronounce, and I eat it one overly sweet bite at a time. This little chocolate tradition is egg-shaped and stuffed with a creamy center that oozes sweetness and memories with each bite. Of course I’m talking about Cadbury Creme Eggs.

I have no intention of ending this tradition just because I am no longer a child. But the list of ingredients did deter me a bit -- until I decided to make my own. In my version, the interior is created using a generous amount of butter, Lyle’s golden syrup instead of corn syrup, vanilla bean, salt, and a couple of subtle drops of orange blossom water, which is optional but gives each bite of this homemade version a soft perfume.

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Homemade Cadbury Creme Eggs

Makes around 15 eggs, depending on size.

Adapted from instructables.com

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)

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. Turn the mixer to low and slowly add the powdered sugar. Mix until completely smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

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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. 

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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.

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.

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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.

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.

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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 – like a yam, perhaps – while the chocolate sets.

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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.

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

Update! Our friends at NowThisNews liked Ashley's recipe so much they made it themselves -- watch their how-to below. 

Photos by Ashley Rodriguez

See what other Food52 readers are saying.

  • Nicole
    Nicole
  • Gwynneth Luton
    Gwynneth Luton
  • meme
    meme
  • Laura Dembowski
    Laura Dembowski
  • Max
    Max
Author of Date Night In (2015) and creator of the blog, Not Without Salt.

68 Comments

Nicole March 10, 2015
I have not seen a recipe on this site spark such controversy on various aspects..american chocolate vs. british chocolate, religion and golden syrup. Who knew! :-)
 
Gwynneth L. January 12, 2015
Why do you have to bring religion into everything? I'm Agnostic so I'm not interested.
 
Gwynneth L. January 12, 2015
I love Cadbury crème eggs, ....but..if they are using American style chocolate, no thanks...... americans can't make proper chocolate, it tastes like bitter cocoa.
 
Dr.Insomnia January 12, 2015
You are eating the wrong chocolate. Someone already made your comment below. And here's what I replied to them:

Cadbury Chocolate is fairly bland, like most commercial milk chocolate. There's hardly any cacao in it - it's mostly sugar and milk. And I don't know what you mean by the blanket statement "American chocolate;" we have hundreds if not thousands of chocolate makers in this country, not to mention amazing imports from Latin America. There is more chocolate variety available in the U.S. than probably anywhere in the planet.

Unless you're claiming that all "American chocolate" is like Hershey's, which no one cooks with unless you count S'mores. Or like the outside of cheap candy bar, which, again, no one cooks with.
 
meme April 2, 2014
It may taste like a Cadbury egg, but is it halal? Seems Cadbury and company want to appease Muslims and so they are making Easter candy for a religion that does not even celebrate Easter. So if you really want this to be like a Cadbury egg, bow down to the prophet.
 
Dustin R. April 2, 2014
Lol
 
Dr.Insomnia April 3, 2014
This comment is rude, bigoted, and has nothing to do with the recipe.
 
Andrea G. April 5, 2014
You know something being halal doesn't change actually change it in any way, right? They're not injecting it with terrorist jizz or anything. Being halal doesn't affect the chemical composition of a thing any more than being kosher does, it's just a way of preparing meat and animal tissue. It also only makes sense for them to want to make their product appeal to as many groups of people as possible, they're a candy company, their aim is to sell candy, not promote your religion. The only reason they even sell Easter candy is because Easter is a huge consumer holiday (third under Christmas and Halloween) and they want in on the action. Did you honestly think they were selling festive junk food as an expression of their deep and true love of Jesus Christ?
 
EatsMeetsWest April 14, 2014
Not only am I a Halal foodie, but I LOVE Cadbury Creme Eggs to bits, just like many normal candy-loving kids and adults everywhere at this time of the year. I mean, we all need to eat right, regardless of religion. And food isn't made to feed religion - it's made to feed hearts, minds and souls all around the world, Muslims and Christians and Jews and Buddhists and atheists alike. If there's one thing we can all share and bond on, it's the fact that at a basic-level, as humans, we all appreciate good food and having different beliefs does not change that. Thank you to those who could focus on what we all do share :)

Anyways, thanks for the recipe Ashley! Though I wish I knew where to get orange blossom water and Lyle's golden syrup from :/
 
Laura D. March 22, 2014
I made these and just love them!
 
Max January 30, 2014
They wont taste anything like Cadbury cream eggs though..
The ingredients are completely different to the proper ones and the Cadburys chocolate is what makes them taste so good!:)You can't substitute the chocolate either.. American chocolate is terrible! :(
 
Dr.Insomnia January 30, 2014
Cadbury Chocolate is fairly bland, like most commercial milk chocolate. There's hardly any cacao in it - it's mostly sugar and milk. And I don't know what you mean by the blanket statement "American chocolate;" we have hundreds if not thousands of chocolate makers in this country, not to mention amazing imports from Latin America. There is more chocolate variety available in the U.S. than probably anywhere in the planet.

Unless you're claiming that all "American chocolate" is like Hershey's, which no one cooks with unless you count S'mores. Or like the outside of cheap candy bar, which, again, no one cooks with.
 
George A. December 24, 2014
Ummmm Max, as of a couple of years ago...Cadbury's is American owned!!! So technically...it IS American Chocolate...now! (That's probably why Dr. Insomnia doesn't like it....!) As a British chocolate, it ruled the British (and British owned) market for decades!!
 
Chloe8 June 15, 2013
These were really good! thanks for sharing the recipe.
 
Dustin R. May 11, 2013
Once they've sat in the freezer/fridge for 10 mins are they ok to leave out for good without fear melting? Assuming I didn't do a perfect tempering...
 
aneada April 1, 2013
Wow - what a sin! It was real fun to make them, even if we have no cup measure at home. We made them without lactose, with dark chocolate and magarine. Normaly we couldn't eat such sweets because of the ingredients, so this is a nice alternative for choc & sugar overdose.
 
Kat March 31, 2013
I made these and they are wonderful-yes sweet and rich, but hardly so in comparison to the real deal. And made with 'real' ingredients. Impressive to cut in half, but admittedly VERY finicky to make. Very finicky.
 
WriterToniC March 30, 2013
I made these today and love them! The recipe was easy to follow, thank you for that. I made them very small which I am now grateful for because small bites are better.
 
ZB2013 March 30, 2013
I made these yesterday with my daughter, they are great, I didnt add the flavouring and added too much vanilla for my liking, but it's a fantastic recipe. I would recommend go small, very sweet.
 
chasey March 30, 2013
Omg. I LOVE the golden syrup.
 
Me March 30, 2013
Um, Golden Syrup is quite possibly the worst ingredient suggestion ever. All it does is make the recipe have a sickeningly strong caramel taste. So I'm sure whoever created this recipe thinks that they have somehow outsmarted Cadbury but all they have really shown is how completely ignorant they are of the difference in sweetening agents.
 
Mizz A. April 3, 2013
Not sure why you have this need to be so freakin' rude...really?? Get off your high horse and just accept what it is...a different recipe version on what the store sells.
 
Lorraine S. April 5, 2014
I agree x some people make you sick, delicious I think x brilliant recipe X
 
Andrea G. April 5, 2014
Yes, anyone who likes the taste of something you don't like the taste of is wrong and bad and stupid, you and you alone know which are the correct foods. It's not as though it's a matter of taste or anything.
 
CatalunaLilith March 30, 2013
I've just made these, skipping colouring the center both to save time and not use food coloring, honey instead of golden syrup, and with almond extract instead of orange blossom water. They turned out perfectly, and I'm going to have a hard time stopping myself from eating them all before Easter dinner!
 
Ingrid C. March 29, 2013
These are ridiculously sweet. I recommend making them quite small.
 
I thought about using saffron to color as well, but was nervous it would affect the taste too much. Could you pick up on the saffron taste a lot? Did you end up trying turmeric? Thanks!
 
fiveandspice March 28, 2013
We're making these tonight in preparation for Easter. I'm planning on flavoring some of them orange and some of them lemon flavored. Do you think it would work to dye the yolks with saffron? I don't generally use any food coloring, and don't really want to buy some just for this.
 
Hilarybee March 29, 2013
Do you have plain tumeric? You can make a paste with simple syrup and it makes a pretty decent yellow dye.
 
fiveandspice March 29, 2013
That's a great idea too! Wound up using saffron, and it worked pretty well. Next time I'll try turmeric to compare.
 
I thought about using saffron to color as well, but was nervous it would affect the taste too much. Could you pick up on the saffron taste a lot? Did you end up trying turmeric? Thanks!
 
fiveandspice April 12, 2014
I only used saffron. It didn't affect the flavor much, but the yolks were very pale, not striking like in the photos of the ones made with dye.
 
SusanM March 28, 2013
What a great idea! I'm curious as to how long these last. Could I make them a few days in advance of Easter? Should they be refrigerated until serving?
 
Paige D. March 28, 2013
I made these yesterday and they are wonderful! They are quite easy to make and would be great to do with kids once you have the process down (or at least a good understanding of it). The other reviews are correct- the 'yolks' and 'whites' must be very cold-work near your freezer. Also, another reviewer commented on the amount of 'yolk' (said separating dying 1/3 of the mixture is too much) and I agree- I had about 6 extra yolks (so I made some mini yolk-only eggs!). Also, great advice on inserting the toothpicks into a potato; however, you will need to stabilize your potato(s) somehow (I wished I had cut off the bottom of mine, as it wanted to roll over once the toothpicks were inserted. My husband is not a Cadbury Egg fan, but he loved these!
 
Sharon L. March 28, 2013
looks yummy to me