Coco Caravan Caramel Vegan Easter Eggs

A big thankyou to Coco Caravan for today's review. They kindly sent me some of their Raw Vegan Chocolate Caramel Eggs recently so I was super excited indeed - it's rare to get a vegan caramel! These are available from Coco Caravans website and consist of 8 raw dark chocolate eggs, containing a runny caramel made with coconut blossom sugar, coconut cream and oil and cashew nut paste. A caramel made without dairy - yay!

I like the simple and non pretentious packaging - they're wrapped in simply brown paper which feels rather rustic, plus makes it easy to recycle.

When trying to take a pic of the innards I accidentally squashed it - oops! As you can hopefully see above the caramel is super sticky and runny.

The eggs are two halves stuck together rather than a whole shell completely filled with caramel. I took a bite, and it wasn't quite what I expected. The flavour is earthy and punchy, and definitely that of a raw chocolate. It was nice and flavoursome and definitely made a change from regular dark chocolate. The caramel had that distinctive coconut sugar flavour, quite earthy and it tasted nice and sweet but I did feel the texture was just a little bit too runny to be a proper caramel.

Overall, these are very nice and a real treat if you're avoiding dairy, although personally I would prefer a chewier caramel. (I'm a sucker for chewy caramel, admittedly!)

Find them on cococaravan.co.uk

8 out of 10. 

Ingredients: Raw cacao butter, cacao powder (cacao mass 72%), coconut blossom nectar, ground vanilla pod. Soft Center Caramel: Coconut blossom sugar, virgin coconut oil, cashew nut paste, coconut cream.

Montezuma's Absolute Black Easter Egg with Cocoa Nibs & Buttons

A huge thankyou to Montezuma's for sending me this Absolute Black Easter egg to review recently! Since I first heard of it I was eager to try it; I do enjoy Montezuma's Absolute Black bars - they're a godsend when trying to cut back on sugar intake and still enjoy some chocolate. So in Easter Egg form it makes the perfect treat for anyone wiahing to stick to a sugar free diet over the Easter period! Not only is it made with 100% cocoa chocolate, the shell contains cocoa nibs and there's a sachet of 100% Dark Chocolate buttons with it too.

The egg was silver foil wrapped, a nice touch compared to some of the shiny plastic wrappers found on many Easter Eggs.

Ripping open the foil, the egg looked super shiny - I didn't want to break it!

But it had to be done...for reviewing purposes! The shell is nice and thick with the cocoa nibs peeking out in places. Biting into a piece, there's the classic rich cocoa flavour of the Absolute Black Dark Chocolate punctuated with some earthier notes from the nibs, which do a great job of breaking up the texture and preventing it becoming boring, as I imagine it would without any additions at all. The buttons make for a nice accompaniment to nibble on separately, although due to the rich nature of them you won't be eating a lot at once. They're nice to have a few with a cuppa.

I do think it would have been nice if Montezuma's had included some other kind of addition, like coated nuts or something, although that would be unfair to those with allergies. This egg is certainly king when it comes to being allergen free - no sugar, dairy, nuts, gluten or soya, so it caters for everyone! It's made in a factory that processes dairy and nuts, of course, so if you are super sensitive please be aware of this.

Overall, in my opinion this is a superb egg and probably better than the Hotel Chocolat 100% Dark I reviewed last year. Although that one was nice, this one is a bit smoother in taste and easier to eat.

If you're avoiding dairy or sugar - this is the egg for you! Find it on montezumas.co.uk (they deliver within 24 hours, so hurry if you want one by the weekend!)

On the topic of Easter Eggs, if you've ever wondered why we eat Eggs at Easter here's an article from Montezuma's that explains all! https://www.montezumas.co.uk/blog/2017/04/why-do-we-eat-eggs-at-easter-2/

8.5 out of 10. 

Hotel Chocolat & Vegan Easter Egg Guide 2018

There's an increasing range of dairy free/vegan chocolates in supermarkets these days, and Hotel Chocolat are really championing quality vegan eggs with their range this Easter. Today’s post will focus on vegan eggs available from there as well as a few other companies.

Hotel Chocolat 100% Dark Egg:

This is one I reviewed last year - check it out here. It includes 100% cocoa solids dark chocolate, Californian almonds and Turkish raisins in the shell, plus panned 100% dark chocolate Piedemont hazelnuts separately. It's definitely one for the serious dark chocolate lovers!

Hotel Chocolat Dark Egg Sandwich:

The unique "egg sandwich" treat from Hotel Chocolat, suitable for vegans and dairy free!

Hotel Chocolat Dark Big City Bunny:

A cute hollow dark chocolate bunny without the dairy.

Hotel Chocolat Dark City Bunnies:

Plus, mini city bunnies that are perfect for sharing!

Hotel Chocolat Dark Kids Easter Egg:

One for the kiddies is this smaller 70% cocoa Dark egg. Also contains dark orange bunnies - yum!

Hotel Chocolat Ginger Dark Chocolate Egg:

This is one that tickles my fancy this year...a ginger flavour dark chocolate egg studded with Piedmont hazelnuts, plus Dark Chocolate Crunchy squares with hazelnuts and ginger pieces. Yum!

Hotel Chocolat Dark Chocolate Rabbert:

A bouncing 70% dark chocolate rabbit hops over dinky drops of dark chocolate. Cute!

Thorntons Dark Chocolate Easter Egg:

Good old Thorntons are also doing a dairy free dark chocolate egg.

Lindt Dark Chocolate Noir Gold Bunny:

Plus the classic Lindt Gold Bunny comes in a Dark version that is dairy free.

Lindt Excellence 70% Cocoa Dark Eggs:

There's also these Lindt 70% Cocoa Eggs available from most supermaarkets.

Lindt Excellence Dark Extra Fine 70% Easter Egg:

Plus a larger Lindt Excellence Dark Easter Egg complete with mini dark chocolate eggs. 

Montezuma's Absolute Black 100% Cocoa Egg with Chocolate Buttons:

Montezuma's have promised me one of these to review, which I am rather excited to try. Features their Absolute Black sugar free dark chocolate studded with cocoa nibs, as well as Absolute Black dark chocolate buttons.

Montezuma's Dark Chocolate Egg with Mini Dark Peanut Butter Eggs:

For those who like a bit of sugar in their chocolate, Montezuma's are also doing this vegan friendly egg complete with mini dark chocolate peanut butter eggs, hurrah! Who said being dairy free must be boring?

Montezuma's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Mini Eggs:

As well as the Easter egg, the Dark Peanut Butter Mini Eggs also come in their very own pack! Available from motezumas.co.uk.

Montezuma's Organic Dark Chocolate Eco Egg with Cocoa Nibs:

One for the eco-conscious with eco-friendly degradable packaging, this egg has cocoa nibs in the shell.

Booja Booja Artists Egg:

No post on Vegan Easter eggs would be complete without Booja Booja, who make some beautifully decorated gourmet eggs filled with their classic truffles in a variety of flavours, from Champagne to Almond Sea Salt to Hazelnut. Available online and from selected stores.

Moo Free Easter Eggs:

Available from Waitrose, Holland & Barrett and supermarkets like Morrisons, the Moo Free brand make an excellent variety of dairy free creamier eggs, in flavours such as Honeycomb (or "Bunnycomb"), Cheeky Orange and Original with Dairy Free Drops.

Plamil Organic Easter Eggs:

Also available from Holland and Barrett, online or at selected stores are these Organic Milk Chocolate Alternative eggs from Plamil, which are Fairtrade and made with rice milk.

Plamil Organic Milk Chocolate Alternative Half Eggs:

Also available from Plamil are these "half eggs", a dairy free alternative to mini eggs. Available from plamilfoods.co.uk or selected stores.

Plamil No Added Sugar Dairy Free Half Eggs:

For those who want to go a step further, Plamil also make these Dairy Free Milk Chocolate halves without sugar, using the sweetener xylitol instead. Available from plamilfoods.co.uk and selected stores.

Coco Caravan Vegan Caramel Easter Eggs:

Made with raw chcoolate, these caramel filled eggs from Coco Caravan are vegan and dairy free, with caramel made from coconut sugar, coconut cream and cashew paste. I have some of these to review so stay tuned for that soon! Available from the Coco Caravan Webstore.

Asda Extra Special Belgian Dark Chocolate Cherry Egg:

Asda are also doing some rather special dark chocolate eggs this year, including this Extra Special Cherry Egg!

Asda Free From Chocolate Bunny:

And for fans of sweeter chocolate, there's this Free From Bunny!

Tesco Finest Free From Salted Caramel Flavour Egg:

Tesco also increased their Free From range this Easter, with this Salted Caramel Flavour Egg complete with Fondant truffles.

Tesco Finest Free From Belgian Dark Chocolate Egg with Orange Truffles:

Plus a Blegian dark chocolate egg with dark orange truffles.

Lidl Deluxe Ecuadorian Single Origin Dark Chocolate Egg:

Even Lidl are doing dairy free dark chocolate eggs this year, with this Deluxe Ecuadorian Single Origin 73% Cocoa egg...

Lidl Deluxe Madagascan Single Origin Dark Chocolate Egg:

Plus a 66% cocoa Deluxe Madagascan Single Origin egg. Fancy!

Marks & Spencer Made Without Dairy Dark Chocolate Egg:

As always, M&S are not doing just any Dairy Free egg, but a Made Without Dairy Dark Chocolate Egg complete with fancy wrapping in both blue and pink.

Green & Blacks Organic Dark 70% Easter Eggs:

It would be wrong for Green & Blacks not to do a dark chocolate egg at Easter! I have only seen these in 70% versions - no 85% unfortunately.

Waitrose Salted Hazelnut & Raisin Dark Chocolate Egg:

Waitrose also do a few dark chocolate eggs in their own label range, including this Salted Hazelnut & Raisin Egg. Sounds a bit different!

North Chocolates Hot Cross Fun Bar:

Last but not least, these Easter bars from North Chocolates are available from Fenwicks and consists of dark chocolate with spices, orange and sultanas.

Well, that's all for this post - there's a few other companies making vegan Easter treats so this is by no means an exhaustive list. Hopefully though it will help anyone needing dairy free chocolates find something suitable!

Mr Kipling Unicorn Slices, Baileys Almande Dairy Free & More!

Not so much a Spotted In Shops today but a New In Shops...because I haven't yet spotted any of the products featured. I'm on the hunt for several of them however!

First up - Mr Kipling Unicorn Slices! Unicorns are infiltrating everything these days, from cakes to chocolates to...shampoo (yes really!), so it's only fitting that Mr Kipling have gotten in on the trend. These multicoloured cake slices are apparently available from Tesco although I haven't seen them in mine yet.

Baileys Dairy Free Almande Almond Drink:

Made with almond milk, this new Baileys liquer is both dairy free and gluten free, hurrah! It's one I am on the search for and hopefully Asda will be stocking it soon. Suitable for vegans.

Costa White Hot Chocolate:

This white hot chocolate came out several years ago as part of one of Costa's Christmas ranges but it's bck again, this time for the Spring season! Available in stores now.

Costa Easter Choco Crunch:

Looking somewhat like doughnuts, these new chocolate coated treats from Costa are made up of rice kirspies. Also part of the Spring Menu.

Blacksticks Blue Cheese Easter Egg:

Easter is just around the corner and it wouldn't be complete without a weird novelty egg...this "Cheester Egg" is available from Asda.

Nestle Orange Smarties Limited Edition:

As well as launching Orange Smarties Mini Eggs and an Easter Egg, Nestle have brought back Orange Smarties in both small and large tubes for the Spring period. It remains to be seen if they will come back permanently, so make the most of them while you can!

Fox's Glacier Limited Edition Tropical:

Fox's are celebrating their 100th anniversary (this seems to be the year of anniversaries!) with this tropical variety featuring pineapple, mango & passionfruit and coconut flavours. It will cost £1.40 and is in stores until September. There's also a new Spearmint variety in the Glacier Mints range.

Flower & White Chocolate Meringue Bar:

A new type of treat, these gluten free low fat bars will be available from The Spar and are available in Raspberry and Chocolate flavours. They cost £1.29.

Walkers Nonsuch Salted Caramel Toffees:

Walkers Nonsuch have introduced a salted caramel variety to their famous toffee range, which costs £1.50 for a 150g bag and is gluten free.

Jelly Belly Bean Boozled Despicable Me Jelly Beans:

This limited edition Minions variety of Bean Boozled jelly beans contains some weird "look-alike" flavours – Green Apple and Minion Fart – join existing Pencil Shavings and Ba-na-na, Barf and Peach, Booger and Juicy Pear, Canned Dog Food and Chocolate Pudding, Caramel Corn and Mouldy Cheese, Dead Fish and Strawberry Banana Smoothie, Rotten Egg and Buttered Popcorn, Spoiled Milk and Coconut, and Stinky Socks and Tutti-Fruitti flavours.

Anyone else feel slightly nauseous?

Starburst Red Berry Sugar Free Chewing Gum Sticks:

Bridging the gap bewteen chewing gum and candy are these new Starburst chewing gum sticks.

Fruittella Sugar Free Fruit Drops:

Retailing at £1 these will be available in a flip top box, in Citrus and Mixed Red Berry flavours.

Innocent Almond, Hazelnut & Oat Milks:

Innocent Drinks are launching their own plant-based milk range, in Almond, Hazelnut and Oat varieties. Curiously no coconut version! Good news for those who are dairy free.

Muller Corner Lactose Free Yogurts:

Not dairy free, but free from lactose these new Muller Corners will be good news for those who are lactose intolerant. Although personally I think it's just easier to avoid the stuff full stop.

That's all for today's post...hope you've enjoyed reading! Stay tuned for more new products in shops!