Happy Easter!

The tradition of eating and gifting chocolate at Easter dates back centuries ago when Christian Europeans began exchanging eggs as symbols of rebirth during Lent season. This evolved into candy-filled eggs made from sugar paste or marzipan, which became popular during springtime festivals at the end of Lent on Easter Sunday. Later on, these treats were replaced by hollowed-out chicken eggs filled with sweets. It wasn’t much later that solidified cocoa butter was used to make edible “chocolate” eggs – a practice that continues today in many countries around the world.

The Victorian era saw a significant rise in the popularity of gifting chocolate at Easter. At the time, it was seen as an extravagant and luxurious chocolate treat, so gifting chocolates became a sign of status. The British chocolatier JS Fry & Sons are often credited with being the first to produce a hollow chocolate egg. To keep up with the growing demand for this new treat, they created a special machine to produce their eggs in 1873. This advanced technology allowed them to create hollow eggs at an unprecedented rate, which would soon become the most popular Easter treat in the UK.

But not all chocolate has to be made into eggs – try these recipes instead for a sweet treat throughout the year – you are worth it!

CHOCOLATE DELICE

• 200g dark chocolate (cooking or posh) 
• 1/pt single cream (if you only have double use that with half milk)
• 1 egg

Break up the chocolate in a bowl.  Bring the cream to a boil and pour over.  Whizz till all melted and add the egg to blend.  Pour into individual dishes and put in fridge till ready.

Find a quiet corner with a your book, take a teaspoon and enjoy.

TIFFIN BARS

• 100 g Butter
• 25 g Caster Sugar
• 3 tbsp Cocoa Powder
• 4 tbsp Golden Syrup
• 225 g digestive biscuits approx. 15 (or Rich Tea or Ginger snaps or any of the broken biscuits lying at the bottom of your biscuit barrel)
• 100 g Raisins
• 230 g Milk or Dark Chocolate

Line your tray-bake tin with greaseproof paper Set aside. Crush your biscuits. You want most of it to be quite fine but leave some bits in bigger chunks to give your Tiffin a bit of texture. Add the butter, sugar, cocoa powder, golden syrup and 30g of milk chocolate to a large bowl over a saucepan of boiling water, stirring often. Stir in the biscuits and raisins and mix well. Press the mixture into your pre-lined tin. Melt the remaining chocolate in another bowl over water, stirring often. Pour over the biscuit mixture and smooth over evenly. Leave to set in the fridge for at least 2 hours but ideally over night before cutting into individual portions. You could also add chopped marshmallows/cherries/dried apricots/maltesers – whatever takes your fancy!

FRENCH CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM

• 2 oz caster sugar            4 tablespoons water         6 oz plain chocolate
• 3 egg yolks (freeze the egg whites individually for later or make some meringues)
•  1/2 pint double cream

Melt the sugar and water together till a light syrup.  Break up the chocolate into a bowl and pour the hot syrup over.  Mix to smooth and add yolks.  Whip the cream until stiff, fold in the chocolate and freeze.  Simples!