VINTAGE EASTER CHOCOLATE ADVERTISEMENTS

I love Vintage Advertisements. Be sure and scroll down to the 1950 Saturday Evening Post Cover of a Chocolate Easter Bunny Factory! Happy Easter!

 

 

And here's a fabulous Saturday Evening Post Cover from 1950! 

CHOCOLATE ORANGE HOT CROSS BUNS: Easter

A few years ago Jo Pratt posted this Easter recipe for Chocolate Orange Hot Cross Buns on the Mailonline. If you want to make hot cross buns and add chocolate without making a chocolate bun, you can make regular hot cross buns and add chocolate chips instead of raisins. But give this one a try. I've converted the measurements from the U.K. to the U.S. If you want to check out the original recipe with UK measurements, go HERE. Makes 12 buns.

CHOCOLATE ORANGE HOT CROSS BUNS

Ingredients
1/2 cup milk
4 Tbsp superfine sugar (castor sugar)
5 Tbsp unsalted butter
3 1/2 cups white flour
4 tsp dark cocoa powder
1 tsp mixed spice  (combo of allspice, cinnamon, clove, coriander, ginger and nutmeg)
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 Tbsp chopped mixed peel (candied citrus peel)*
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
1 3/4 fast action dried yeast
1/2 cup or 4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped, or chocolate chips
1 egg, beaten
Flour for dusting

For the Crosses and Glaze
1/4 cup white flour
1 Tbsp sunflower oil
2-3 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp orange juice
2 Tbsp caster sugar

Directions
Place milk in saucepan over low heat. Just before it boils, remove from heat and stir in sugar and butter, until dissolved. Add 1/4 cold water and leave to cool down until you can comfortably hold your finger in it for a few seconds.

Sift together flour, cocoa, mixed spice (if you're using it), and salt in large bowl and stir in mixed peel, orange zest, and yeast. Make a well in center and pour in warm milk mixture and beaten egg. Mix together until you have a sticky dough. Add chocolate chips or chopped chocolate, and knead on a floured surface for 8-10 minutes until smooth and elastic.

Place dough in large, lightly oiled bowl, cover with damp tea towel and leave to rise in  warm place for about 1 hour, or until doubled in volume. Punch dough and knead for a couple of minutes. Divide into 12 pieces and shape into buns.

Place on greased baking sheets, leaving enough space between each for rising. Cover with tea towel and leave to rise again until doubled in size – about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 F.

For glaze, mix flour and oil with 2-3 Tbsp water until smooth.

Lightly cut cross in center of each of buns with knife to mark out your crosses. Using piping bag (or  plastic bag with corner snipped off), pipe on crosses. Cook buns for 15-18 minutes until golden and sound hollow when tapped underneath.

Place orange juice and sugar in small pan, and gently heat until sugar dissolves. As soon as  buns are out of oven, brush with glaze and leave to cool slightly on wire rack before serving warm.

HOMEMADE CADBURY EGGS: Easter!

Do you love Cadbury Eggs? Are they a part of your Easter tradition? Here's how to make your own!

Instructables has a great recipe for Homemade Cadbury Creme Eggs. I think they're really good. They're easy to make, although a bit time consuming. Even if they don't come out egg shaped, or the shell breaks, they're yummy! And, you can use good quality dark chocolate for even better flavor!

HOMEMADE CADBURY CREME EGGS

Ingredients
1/2 cup Lyle’s golden syrup or light corn syrup
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp pure vanilla
3 cup powdered sugar
yellow food coloring
12 ounces dark chocolate, chopped (or a bag of bittersweet chocolate chips)

The Filling:
Cream together corn syrup, butter, and vanilla. Sift in confectioner's powdered sugar and beat until incorporated. Separate filling into whites and yolks! Take out about third of filling and stir in some yellow food coloring. Put the two bowls in fridge to set up a little.

Shaping the Yolks:
This step is sticky! Keep your hands clean and cold. Make little yolk balls out of yellow mixture. Place them on parchment. Put them back in the fridge or freezer to firm up.
When yolks are set up, start embedding them in whites. Scoop an amount of white filling out and flatten it into circle. Place yolk ball inside, and wrap white around it. Put them in fridge.

Hint from Instructables: 
If you decide to use egg molds instead of dipping method, pipe whites and yolks into chocolate molds with  pastry bag. This would save a LOT of time. 

Filling the Molds 
Melt chocolate in double boiler or short bursts in the microwave. Fill molds with  chocolate and swirl to coat  sides. Once molds are set, put filling ball into half of each mold. Using more melted chocolate, join two halves of egg together. Let set and unmold. Use freezer to help set this up.

Alternative Method: If you aren't using molds, try this:
Melt chocolate + 2 teaspoons of butter in microwave in short bursts until just melted. Either dip fillings into chocolate with fork and let set on parchment, or skewer fillings and dip them --kind of like cake pops! Once chocolate is set, dip them again for a thick chocolate shell!

Want to see another recipe -- similar...always good to have two to compare! Check out Ashley Rodriguez's (Not Without Salt) adaptation of this recipe on Food52.

Or if you can get to the market or order online in time, buy some Cadbury Creme Eggs for Easter!

PEEPS CHOCOLATE SUNFLOWER CAKE for EASTER

What are you doing for your Easter Centerpiece?This cake is perfect for your Easter Table: Peeps Chocolate Sunflower Cake. This is very fitting this year, too, as it shows support of Ukraine.

Peeps are an important part of the Easter tradition for so many people. I love to use Peeps in desserts. I usually check out the Peeps website for fun Peeps Recipes (and new PEEPS!). Here's an extremely easy Chocolate Sunflower Cake recipe. Perfect for Easter or Spring celebrations.

The recipe below uses shortcuts (boxed mixes and ready-made icing), but you can use your favorite from-scratch recipes.

PEEPS CHOCOLATE SUNFLOWER CAKE

Ingredients
3 packages (5 count each) Peeps Yellow Marshmallow Chicks
1 standard box cake mix – see package for additional ingredients
2 containers of chocolate frosting
1 bag chocolate chips
1 tube green decorating icing with piping tips (optional)

Directions
Prepare cake mix according to package directions for making two 8″ round cakes.
Cut thin slice off the top of each cake to make them level.
Place one round cake on a plate or cake stand and top with chocolate frosting. Place second round cake on top of frosting. Frost entire cake with chocolate frosting.
Place Peeps Yellow Marshmallow Chicks on top of cake around the diameter with their tails facing out. Place chocolate chips on top of cake in a circular pattern.
If desired, use a leaf-shaped tip to pipe green decorating icing at base of cake.