Monday 31 January 2011

MONDAY CHOCOLATE MADNESS

Easter is coming (okay, it's still about three months away) but can you feel it in the air tonight!! *hairy gorrilla bangs drums* Chocolate Easter Eggs are everywhere. ALREADY. They're on supermarkets shelves, children's minds and in my tummy.

Personally, I don't celebrate Easter holidays but the CHOCOLATE FEVER definately takes over my sense of self-control at this special time of the year!!

Actuallly Chocolate rules most aspects of my life, all throughout the year. Even when I give gifts. Dont you dare frown, snigger or murmur 'greedy'. 'Cause no Chocoholic can say (honestly) that they have never given someone a Chocolate box, as a gift, without hoping they'll open the box and offer them one! No such man exists, I tell ya!

Yeah, yeah, I see you blushing, giggling guiltily and nodding your head. *tuts*

Anywho, this Chocolate madness may have something to do with Chocolate being my favourite food; which is why it deserves a capital letter in my world. If you spot a chocolate without a capital letter don't be shy to pull me up on it. okay? (Spotted it yet)?

And so we come to my Chocolate-coated point of this scrumptous blog post! A while ago I came up with an idea of a regular weekly post. Every Monday I will post in true dedication to the yummiest scrummiest snack/dessert/dinner ever to be invented.

It will be called MONDAY CHOCOLATE MADNESS.

This week's post is a celebratory post to CREME EGGS! Yeah baby! *high six*. There are quite a few people out there who don't like em but I love em and I'm sure some of you do too. Mmmm... especially when the cremey fondant is all melted. Yummy.

So as a mad faithful Chocolate fan I dug up some history on the guy (sorry I tend to genderise my Chocolate). Some cool creme egg facts follow:

1. Creme eggs are created by the American Chocolate guru (Kraft) owned company Cadbury. It was first created by the original Chocolate confectioners themselves; the Cadbury Brothers (a whole other blog post in itself) in 1923 and was available to purchase in its current form in 1971.

2. As you all know, the thick Chocolate eggshell of a Creme Egg is full of delicious fondant; a mixture of sugar and water. *mouth waters* So where did this peculiar but brilliant idea come from?

No, not from chicken eggs, but from RABBIT'S EGGS!

I know, I know Rabbits give birth to live young. But legend has it that in the 17th century a British Expedition to the forests of African Congo, (a little after the first Cadbury shop opened in London), founded the discovery of a rare type of rabbit that layed eggs. Not just any eggs; but eggs that tasted sweet and creamy like marshmallows. A English Duke bought one over to London for the bemusement of the cool Cadburys and sold the wee egg for a tray of boring eggs (I'm talking about the ones you scramble). And the fantastic Choclatiers experimented to make the very first fondant and their very own CREME EGG!

3. Nowadays the Creme Egg is produced in Bournville, Birmingham (UK) at an awesome rate of 1.5 million made per a day. Which is not as outstanding as the brand's estimated value of 45 million pounds. And an estimation of  200 million are sold across the world in the 'Creme Egg Season' between New Years Day and Easter!

4. The foil packaging of the Creme Egg differs around the globe. In the UK and Ireland the wrapper used to be red, yellow and blue, however in the 21st century the iconic Cadbury purple (my favourite colour) has replaced the blue. Wheras in the US the green is part of the creme egg colour scheme.

5. A sad aspect of the life of a Creme Egg, is whilst mankind has gone fatter, Creme Eggs have become smaller. When originally introduced they were 40 grams, now they are 39 grams in the US and 36 in Canada! *awwhs* Sho Cutess... Though still the original weight in the UK (Lucky me)!

6. Finally for your information here is how the Creme Egg is manufactured:
Cadbury Creme Egg is manufactured by making a chocolate shell in a half-egg shaped mould, which is then filled with white fondant and a dab of yellow fondant to simulate the yolk. Two mould halves are closed very quickly and cooled to allow the chocolate to set. When the moulds are opened, the eggs fall onto a conveyor which transports them, first to the foiling machines and then to the finished packing.
—Cadbury PLC
And there you have it. But you and me know the life of the Creme Egg does not end there... I have had eight since the season started with many more to come. How many have you had??

*does the Cadbury eyebrow wiggle*


And so we part on the following quote, said beautifully by Malcomn Haverford Cadbury himself:

"What our cuisine lacks in taste and sophistication, we shall make up for in dessert"

ENJOY YOUR CREME EGG SEASON! HAPPY MONDAY CHOCOLATE MADNESS! GO GOO!!