These contain within something that to some people would come as a deadly surprise. Or at least an unpleasant one. I, though, rather like a creme egg. Albeit once a year when I've forgotten how rich and sweet they are inside.
Still, when other than around Easter would you eat one? I'm only ever reminded of their existence around this time of year and this year it was when I was asked to come up with a 'Scotch egg' version for the Christian O'Connell breakfast show, late of the 'pie-agne'. Thank God it wasn't meat-wrapped, as was my original concern.It is basically a creme egg wrapped in chocolate cake, covered in chocolate ganache and rolled in nuts. Simple.They're easy to make, you can buy the chocolate cake to mould around them if you like, and if you can't melt a little chocolate and butter together to coat them with then you shouldn't be here.I made eight different flavours, so feel free to experiment with your own. If you're feeling particularly lazy you can even buy a tub of ready-made chocolate fudge icing to coat them with before rolling in your chosen toppings.I made the following:Pistachio, rose petal and cardamomOrange and dark chocolateMatcha powder and almondSea salt and breadcrumb coated dark chocolateChoc mintHazelnut and dried raspberryChilli and cocoa powderChocolate popping candyMethodUse as many creme eggs as you need, I stopped after eight, which is another kind of chocolate I probably only have once a year.Either make your own chocolate cake according to a favourite recipe, or buy on ready-made. You could even use a packet mix, to be honest this is hardly haute-cuisine we're dealing with here.When the cake is ready, crumble it well and mould a fairly thin, but sturdy layer around a creme egg.Repeat with all the remaining eggs and chill in the fridge while you melt milk or dark chocolate and butter together in the microwave for one minute then beat with a fork until glossy (I used about 150g chocolate and 75g butter).Prepare the toppings such as chilli powder, crushed nuts, sprinkles or whatever.Mix your chosen flavour in a bowl with enough melted chocolate for one egg then spread that all over. Roll the chocolate covered eggs in cocoa or crushed nuts or sprinkles, whatever you're using and put in a large paper case. Chill in the fridge until set.