Cadbury Crème Scotch Eggs

My middle son has it right (or second eldest as I like to call him, so fearful am I of ‘middle child’ syndrome); he gives up chocolate for Lent.

Now this is not a humble-brag about how wonderful my son is, how he is already able to deny himself pleasure in the quest for enlightenment. Oh no. He actually doesn’t like chocolate. He’s a chocolate rejector (what did I do wrong?!) so for him, giving up chocolate is no hardship. He doesn’t eat it anyway. But it does get him brownie points with his teachers and other parents.

I am channelling his approach this year and have been thinking of a few things I might give up for Lent. I certainly will NOT be giving up chocolate given I adore the stuff and can regularly be found in the pantry, with the door closed, stuffing chunks of the stuff into my mouth. (Anything consumed standing up and without an audience does not make up part of your calorific intake). So, no, there will be no chocolate denial in this house. Instead I might give up licorice, (have never gotten to like it, possibly related to a Pernod incident in my youth), buying optimistically sized clothes online and failing to return them, judging myself for not enjoying playing Playmobil castles and any talking before my morning coffee. These are all denials I can totally get on board with.

Now, back to the chocolate theme. It is Easter after all. I give you a no bake Cadbury crème scotch egg. Great for the kids to help with and possibly so large they may need help eating them. Go on, do it for the kids…

Cadbury Crème Scotch Eggs

Makes 4

Ingredients:

· 80g salted butter

· 200g marshmallows

· 50g milk or dark chocolate, broken into pieces

· 160g Special K cereal, blitzed to fine breadcrumbs in a food processor

· 4 x 40g Cadbury Crème Eggs, foil removed

· 2 x 32g Crunchie bars, blitzed to fine breadcrumbs in a food processor

Melt the butter in a saucepan on a low heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until melted before adding the chocolate and stirring until completely smooth. Remove from the heat, add the Special K, stir well and set aside to cool a little.

Take four pieces of clingfilm about 20cm x 15cm and place a quarter of the marshmallow mixture into it. Place a Cadbury Crème Egg on the top and then ‘wrap’ the marshmallow mixture around the egg, using the clingfilm to push it around and seal it. Wrap the egg completely in the clingfilm and then use your hands to form into an egg shape. Repeat with the other three eggs. Place in the fridge for an hour.

Remove from the fridge and reshape if necessary using your hands (the eggs can get a bit flat where they have been resting), then roll in the Crunchie crumbs, pressing the eggs down to ensure they stick well.

Photography: Scott Choucino (http://scottchoucino.com/ )

Props: Woodrow Studios (http://www.woodrowstudios.co.uk/ )

This recipe first appeared in Back to School magazine.