Cadbury Creme Eggs

Nothing symbolized the arrival of Spring and Easter like finding store shelves stocked with Cadbury Creme Eggs.  Whoa - hold the phone!  It's January 4th - Cadbury Creme Eggs already? A coworked alerted me to the Cadbury Creme Egg arrival.  He sighted them at a Kroger's Store in Pinckney, Michigan the previous day, Sunday January 2, 2011.  It's good to have friends. 

Personally, I think candy should follow the proper holiday rotation.  By January 1, the stores should be removing Christmas candy and focusing on Valentine's Day, not Easter, but I digress......

Cadbury Eggs at my local grocery store photographed using an Ipod Touch

These eggs came from the Kroger's in Ann Arbor on Tuesday January 4.  The check-out lady assured me that these were fresh for the season (not last year's) and were put out for sale on Sunday.  I walked out the store with a bag of 6, on sale for $0.50 each.

I did a quick search on the internet for previous Cadbury Creme Egg reviews and loved this one by http://www.x-entertainment.com/articles/0771/  it may have been posted as long ago as 2003 but still very funny.

According to Hershey's commercial, which is still in rotation well over a decade later, these delicious monsters are birthed from the ass of the infamous Cadbury Bunny - a rabbit who bucks and clucks like a chicken while shitting out chocolate. Deny not the glory, friends: it's the only candy in the world with an origin story. Only available for a short time during the year, the public must face the challenges of a limited time offer. If you don't stock up now, your well of Cadbury Creme Eggs will surely dry out by June. An entire summer without Cadbury? Could you even imagine it? Oh, how I feel for those piteous souls, taking in the rays on a chaise lounge at Sandy Hook, happily sipping a margarita before realizing how much better the day would've been had they kept just a few Cadbury Eggs. Candy yolk is as synonymous with summer as sand and sitcom reruns, so make like the squirrels and hoard enough of the shit to last you till next Easter.

I also read about the British being able to buy Creme Egg McFlurries and limited-time Creme Egg ice cream - yumo.  Other fans save the wrappers and concoct crazy recipes and eating methods.  It seems I haven't fully appreciated the lore and tradition that surrounds the Cadbury Creme Egg.  The only thing I ever did was buy them in enough packs to fill up my beloved vintage reproduction egg tray at Easter time and then beat  my children away before the Cadbury Eggs are inhaled.

Isn't this lovely - thanks Mom!





According to Wiki

A Cadbury Creme Egg is a brand of chocolate manufactured to look like an egg inside and out. The product consists of a thick milk chocolate shell, housing a white and yellow fondant filling made from egg, thick white cream, sugars and other additives. Creme Eggs are the best-selling confectionery item between New Year's Day and Easter in the UK, with annual sales in excess of 200 million items and a brand value of approximately £45 million.

They are produced by Cadbury UK in the United Kingdom, and sold by Kraft Foods in all markets except the USA market, where The Hershey Company has the local marketing rights. The eggs are manufactured at the Bournville factory in Birmingham at the rate of 1.5 million per day. The Creme egg was also previously manufactured in New Zealand but is now imported into New Zealand from the UK.

While filled eggs were first manufactured by the Cadbury Brothers in 1923, the Creme Egg in its current form was introduced in 1971.

It was a little distressing to read that my American eggs have been getting smaller over time while the British eggs are still the same size

When first introduced in Britain, the original Cadbury Creme Egg weighed 40 g (1.4 oz) and contained 171.6 calories.  Cadbury Creme Eggs sold in the UK have remained at this size, but those sold by Hershey's in the United States have decreased in size since their introduction - before 2006 they are listed with a weight of 39 grams, while today they are listed at 34 grams, as are Canadian eggs.

During an interview on the April 4th, 2007 episode of Late Night with Conan O' Brien, actor B. J. Novak drew attention to the fact that American market Cadbury Creme Eggs have decreased in size from previous years, despite the claim on the Cadbury's website FAQ that the eggs were not getting smaller, but rather, "you've just grown up!"  The site has since been updated to clarify that only American eggs have altered in size.

Not nearly the same size as a real egg - 34 grams versus at least 50 grams

Behold the beauty:

Cadburry Creme Eggs Benedict http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/03/cakespy-cadbury-creme-eggs-benedict-dessert-breakfast-recipe.html

Cadbury Creme BrulEgg http://pieofthetiger.com/2009/03/cadbury-creme-brulegg/

As a cupcake http://www.bakespace.com/recipes/detail/Cadbury-Creme-Egg-Cupcakes/46747/

And my personal favorite from Pimp My Snack, the 2.5 kilogram Cadbury Creme Egg!
http://www.pimpthatsnack.com/project/302/1

As photographed in my kitchen right before dinner:

Getting ready for the eatin'

My younger sons were impressed - eating candy out of an egg cup.

But let's not forget about Cadbury Creme Egg's other close cousin - the Carmel Egg!  The Caramel Egg is around all year in the form of a Caramello Bar but I like the shape of the Egg and the chocolate is thicker and caramel more substantial in egg form.



Oh Yeah!

I can't get enough of these little gems, I should have bought more, but now I know where to buy them.  This year, I'm going to join the other bakers and create a spectacular dessert with Cadbury Creme Eggs.  Any thoughts or suggestions?

1/6/11 - I spotted the Creme Eggs at my local Rite Aid for $0.88 each.
Astrid