Vegan Carob Mylk Easter Eggs (two ways)

These two recipes feature carob powder which I love as an alternative to cocoa (or cacao powder) for those prone to skin issues.

The health benefits:

Carob powder is caffeine-free and low in both salicylates and amines. It is naturally sweeter than cocoa powder and also contains twice the amount of calcium. Carob powder is rich in vitamins and minerals, high in fibre and gentle on the gut. I like using this as an alternative to cocoa powder, which is very rich in amines, AND can be quite drying to those prone to dry skin. 

For the Carob Mylk Easter Eggs

This recipe is the same as our Carob Mylk 'Chocolate' recipe (as we have found this method to work the best). Instead of making this into a chocolate block you can create cute Easter inspired shapes. For the moulds, we used a silicon easter egg shaped mould which was found at a local supermarket (I have also seen these online). This recipe makes about 12 medium sized eggs. 

Types of sugars you can use

We recommend Maple Sugar for this recipe (NOT maple syrup or other liquid sugars as we found they curdled or separated the mixture). You can find maple sugar from some health food bulk stores or online, however often it's hard to find so here are some alternatives:

• Soft brown sugar (ensure it's fine) - this type of sugar may contain some salicylates so it would not be suitable on a low salicylate program. 
• Some people use icing sugar when making homemade chocolate (and it is low salicylate), so that is an option that some people find convenient, but I don't really like icing sugar, and we don't recommend it as a healthy option.
• Make it sugar-free! It actually tastes like dark chocolate without the sugar. Carob is naturally sweet, and with the cocoa butter it is quite lovely without sugar ...  this is a great option for people who want to avoid sugar but probably not for children. 

This recipe uses cocoa butter (which helps to turn the eggs into a hard, chocolate-like texture). Both are a pale buttery colour and smell divine like chocolate. But they are different from the brown powder called cacao powder and cocoa powder. The good news is, cocoa butter is classed as low in amines and salicylates and has only trace amounts of caffeine and theobromine, so it is unlikely to affect blood vessel dilation. As always you will need to test the skin's tolerance to cocoa butter, but this is a good alternative if you are not able to tolerate cashews (which is included in the next Easter egg recipe).   

                                                           

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup cocoa butter or cacao butter (from health food shops... if ordering online, check it is food grade, not the ones used for skin care making)
• 1/2 cup carob powder, (roasted usually works best as it’s darker)
• 2 tablespoons maple sugar (see notes, above, for alternatives)

METHOD:

Add the cocoa butter to a small saucepan and heat it carefully on low to medium heat until it becomes liquid. We used the double boil method which involved using a small saucepan with about an inch of water (or a touch more) and a bowl on top of it to hold the butter away from the direct heat. Not sure if this is really necessary, but it worked well. 

Then add the maple sugar and sifted carob powder and mix until almost dissolved. Let it cool slightly and add it to a high-powered blender (or use a stick blender*) and mix until smooth. If you are not using sugar, blending is not necessary. *Be safe and careful not to splash hot liquid onto yourself!  

Pour the mixture into the Easter moulds and leave it on the bench to cool down.... don’t refrigerate it yet, as a fast cool-down will discolour the chocolate, so it looks a little white on top. Once it has cooled, pop the moulds into the refrigerator briefly until they are cold and hardened. Once the moulds are firm, you can push them out carefully and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.