The Great Big Dairy Free Easter Egg Hunt (2013 Part 2)

You may have already perused the first part of this little mini-series. You may already have decided on your choice of egg and purchased it, in fact, or you may well be despairing at the lack of choice and bemoaning your fate. Fear not! There is more - if you're prepared to take a little risk and shop online...

I was kind of driven to it, by the plaintive voice of Baby, asking, 'Is that dairy free Mummy?' as I wandered the aisles of the local stores, in search of dairy free Easter eggs. She was pointing at the brightly-coloured, foil-wrapped mini eggs, and I thought to myself, 'Where can I find some of those?'

These egg halves ARE dairy free!

Now, if like me, you like to 'feel the width,' or, 'try before you buy,' this may not come naturally to you. However, if you're in search of a little more variety, this Easter, it really is the only way!

It may be, for example, that you'd like something a little bit more child friendly, or you'd like a clutch of mini eggs for an Easter egg hunt, or you'd like something more bespoke and artisan or maybe you are being driven delirious by distant memories of cream eggs, which are no longer an option for you. Well, fear not! All is not lost, I may just have the answer for you!!

Ready for the hunt? This basket came from The Works.

Now, if you're looking for something suitable for children, you might like to cast your eyes over Tasha's Dairy Free Delights, Free From for Kids or D & D Chocolates. They all sell a range of chocolate novelties and eggs, specifically aimed at catering for people with allergies. Why do I highlight this? Because although 'Vegan' chocolates are made dairy and egg free, from what I can gather, these are not made (or sold) with allergies in mind and I'm not sure whether there may be cross contamination issues, for those who are extremely sensitive.

Free From For Kids and Tasha both sell branded dairy free products but Tasha also makes some chocolate novelties of her own. D & D also make their own products, which are gluten, dairy free and nut free. They also sell a range of carob and Turkish delight.

The other nice thing about Tasha's Dairy Free Delights and Free From For Kids, is that they don't appear to be priced outrageously - often dairy free food and chocolate is more expensive, due to being a niche market. However, I have noticed that it's worth shopping around and following the right people, because there are still bargains to be had!!

What do I mean? Well, I couldn't help noting that Waitrose has the Moo Free Bunny priced at £0.79. In my 'local' health food shop, you can buy the same bunny for £0.69. 'Bargainous!!' thought I, until I discovered that Emma at Love Lactose Free Life (who quite frequently has special offers) has these same bunnies priced at £0. 60 each!! The Moo Free eggs are also cheaper than I've seen in the shops - priced £3.79. 

The Moo Free Chocolate Bunny.

'Big deal!' you might say, 'what about post and packaging?' However, factor in the cost of petrol and parking, and actually, you may well have saved myself some money!!

Emma also stocks a nice selection of eggs from premium makes, such as Booja Booja, Mulu and Montezuma, with Inspiralled soon to be added.

Other good places to buy premium eggs are online Vegan sites, such as The Vegan Store Animal Aid, and, online Health Store, Goodness Direct. Be aware, though, that Goodness Direct also sell eggs containing milk, alongside those that don't, so pick carefully!! Viva, another Vegan site, have a slightly smaller selection but they look quite cute.

Now, back to that Vegan cream egg. Facebook and Twitter followers will perhaps already have picked up on this one, but I was astounded to learn, the other day, that such a thing did indeed exist!! I've not tried it yet, as I somehow couldn't justify to myself spending £1.20 on just one tiny egg, plus the cost of post and packaging (£2.75 for orders under £10). However, there are other chocolate novelties available from this site, so if you buy a few other bits and pieces, it may be worth your while. If you do happen to be interested (must admit I'm still tempted), The Chocolate Wendy House is the online place to go.

I have noticed, since mentioning the vegan egg, that D & D Chocolates sell something similar - some chocolate fondant egg halves (pictured above). They're £4.96 for a pack of four (plus postage and packaging), so they're still quite pricey! However, they have some special offers on at the moment, so check out their home page, for more details.

I bought theirs though, as they are gluten free and they also had this little box in stock. It was just what I was looking for - with Easter coming up, I'm aware that some of the Baby and Toddler groups, that we attend, may well be offering little ones chocolate eggs. I couldn't go unprepared now, could I? So I bought these, just in case...

These tiny eggs look great (above) in the little basket from The Works.

Update: I've just found this post listing dairy free Easter eggs available in Canada and the US. The list for British chocolates looks incredibly similar to our own!!

NB Please be aware that details about products may change. Check out our Facebook Page for further updates, or follow us on Twitter!

Similar posts:

The Great Big Dairy Free Easter Egg Hunt (Part1)

On the trail of the Dairy Free Easter Bunny! (Last years' post)

Be the Easter Bunny (Last year's post)

Oo! Ah! Chocolat!

Sweets for my sweet...

Dairy free ways to decorate your tree.

Last weekend we bought and decorated our Christmas Tree. A common enough occurrence in many households, at this time of the year, but it was momentous in that it was the first real tree we've had since Baby was born, and the first that she's helped to choose and decorate! It was also momentous in that we bought it early - the first weekend of Advent. Usually it goes up a few weeks later, in our household. Also, The Hub (for the first time since I've known him) was the one to suggest buying it - usually he's not so fussed about whether we have one at all!

So, it was, that late, on an outrageously cold Saturday afternoon, we chose and decorated our tree. And here it is!

Once Baby had gone to bed, I redecorated bits of it (couldn't help myself) and added just a few finishing touches - namely chocolate! 

The thing is, for me, a Christmas tree is not complete without a few hanging chocolate decorations. My memories of Christmas (as a child) were that Dad may not have spent out on a new tree each year, but he did the right thing when it came to chocolate. 

I looked around on the Internet for a bit, but research didn't yield the dairy free options for which I was searching, although I did like the look of some fillable baubles, sold by Love Lactose Free Life. 

Then I had an idea! 

The idea came from some time back, when I visited a friend. She wasn't dairy free, just trying to make her money go further and she was employed, together with her children, in making her own chocolate tree decorations! The idea came back to me and it seemed perfect!

The Hub questioned the wisdom of loading the tree with chocolate - pointing out that Baby had the self-control of any normal little one and wouldn't be able to leave it alone. 

Equipped and ready to go!

However,  I couldn't imagine a Christmas tree without chocolate on it! Plus, I had a bit of a bee in my bonnet - I had already bought the chocolate (Sainsbury's Free From Chocolate Coins and Mint Crisps). The coins pictured here are silver and gold, as I bought them a few weeks ago,but at the moment they seem to have changed to  a lovely festive red and green. 

It didn't take me long to gather the rest of my equipment: metallic thread (ours was by Korbond and I think I bought it at the supermarket), stickers, sellotape and scissors. I was ready and determined to give it a go!

One I made earlier

The method is simple! You just take some foil covered dairy free chocolate coins, and stick a Christmassy sticker on the flat side.  I had some stickers left over from last year. These stickers came from the Early Learning Centre, but I also used some from a packet I bought at Accessorize. 

On the other side, where the foil is gathered, you stick a loop of metallic thread (or a slender ribbon, if you prefer) with some sellotape (the stickier the better) and hey presto, there you have it! 

The only thing I would add, is that you need to make sure that you stick the sellotape near the top, or else the coin will hang at a bit of a strange angle! 

I would love to have had Baby help me with this job, as she loves stickers, but even I thought that was a step too far for her self-control! 

The easy option

If that sounds a bit faffy to you, you could always buy some little gift bags instead, fill them with some chocolate coins and hang them from your tree (as you can see, in this picture). The bags I used came from Tesco and come in packs of three, but Hobbycraft also sell these kinds of bags, in their Wedding Favours section.

I had originally considered actually making my own tree chocolate, by melting some dairy free chocolate and filling some chocolate moulds, that I bought from The Works - only 99p and 3 for 2, at the time! 

The only reason I didn't was because I wasn't sure how good they would look once I had foil wrapped them. Well I ask you - how do you get a small square of foil to wrap to neatly around a snowman or a Rudolph? However, it would be a possibility with these bags, because I think the bags could hide my unsightly wrapping quite easily!

Candy Canes seem to be dairy free!

After the chocolate was hung, I added some candy canes. I'm sure they are an American thing, but you see them everywhere, in the shops now. Just for the effect, I bought a few from a Christmas shop in Basingstoke. 

These are strawberry flavoured, as I thought Baby would prefer that to peppermint. I've checked out the ingredients and they seem to be dairy, soy, wheat etc. free. Baby hasn't suffered from the one she's attacked so far - yes her self-control is virtually non-existent!

Still surviving!

The chocolate hasn't survived too well either! A few have gone missing - I thought they were out of reach, but obviously not!! The rest have been moved to higher branches!!

So far, the gingerbread decorations, that we made have survived - well... the two that made it as far as the tree anyway! However, I know that Baby has her eye on them...

My next plan is to try making some dried orange and lemon slices or maybe a pomander, using an orange stuck with cloves, but I think I'll save those for another day.

Meanwhile, how's your dairy free Christmas preparations going? I hope you have a good 'un!

Update! 

Would you believe it? Having just written this post, I've unearthed some dairy free decorations after all! £2.99 for a pack of six, they are available online, from The Vegan Store. This online shop also sells a lot of other great dairy free and egg free products!

Update Nov. 2014
It seems that D and D Chocolates now sell chocolate Christmas tree decorations (see here). These are made with sunflower lecithin rather than soya and are also gluten and nut free, so a great choice for those with allergies! 

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Baking with Baby 8 - Gingerbread... Bears?