Hi all,
After the Kinnerton Chocolate stampede, I just wanted to let you know that I went into the Essential Deli on Mt. Eden Rd today where they were stocking some dairy free Easter bunnies. One of the companies they were stocking is a NZ one called Swiss Bliss and here is their website:
http://www.organicdelights.co.nz/about.html

You can order them online, I have sent them an email regarding cross contamination to see how big an issue it is. It is dark chocolate for those who are interested : ). Just know how hard it is to find dairy free, egg free, nut free treats.

Just wanted to update, got this response back, which I found very interesting and a bit of an eye opener... They seemed lovely and I actually really appreciated their honesty.

"we have systems in place to prevent cross contamination
we are a very small company, work in such a niche market, and can't afford bad publicity.
its our passion to work above standards and take those issues seriously.
(edith is a trained swiss chocolatier with more than 20 years of experience. started her carrier in the best 5*hotel kitchens in switzerland, so grew up with very tight food handling procedures...)

but we have to admit that the couverture we use is labeled "may contain traces of nuts"
in fact, ALL couverture available on the market is labeled like this. none of the manufacturers can warrant you a 100% traces of nut free chocolate. the ones we use caused us no trouble so far.
-> we can't guarantee you what happened in the process from the cocoa bean to couverture making, but we can tell you that we take every care that no cross contamination happens on our side from when we turn the different couvertures to our own blend and then to the handcrafted end product.
but we like to stress that there is ALWAYS a risk especially if your boy has a severe nut allergy..."

what a great response, they sounds like a very responsible company!

Good to know - thankyou!

Spottywot, do you know if there are any dairy free bunnies left at Essential?

Just thought I'd also add that Sweet Williams have released some individually wrapped choc bunny bars, mini bar size, great for hunts etc. They come in a pack of 15 and I paid just under $10. I got a packet from my local health shop so I would say any shop that stocks SW should be able to order them in?

Hi Tweet,
They did yesterday, but it was holding a marzipan type carrot and the ingredients stated they had egg (not sure if you are avoiding it). So if you are wanting a plain bunny, the lovely "woman who appears to be in charge" said she would order some and they would be in next week : ).

Cool about the SW bunnies, was that the Natural Health place? Just wondering if they have them in Onehunga, was just in there today too : S. DS is now old enough to enjoy Easter egg hunts.

hi there,
just wondering how much soy these chocs contain? its difficult to get a list of ingreds online. i saw a sweet william one in nw today but it contained soy flour

Yes SW contains soy flour. The only other chocs I have used are Kinnertons with soy lecithin and Enjoy Life with no soy at all. But I only have their choc chips and it's from America so not easy to get! I got them from Ntolerance but she said at this stage she's not sure if she's going to import anymore as the exchange rate isn't good.

Hi again,

I just emailed them again about soy (they are also fab as they respond really quickly), and here is their response:

"...yes, our chocolate contains soy lecithin.
we don't add any, although it would make handling easier for us -> improves the flowing characteristics.
the couverture manufacturers add some on their side, as it improves their working processes. What they is added is plenty for us (less than 1%), its anyway all handcrafted here, so fast workable chocolate masses are not an issue for us.

-> the soy lecithin they add is less than 1%, and its GMO free.

if you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask...

They didn't mention soy flour, and I specifically asked about "soy or any of it's derivatives" so I'm figuring it's just the soy lecithin. Hope this helps, they are super helpful, if you live close by you can even go and talk to them personally as they told me they are open to the public on Fridays. I LOVE companies who are so helpful.

thanks i emailed them too and got a very prompt response also. they said their decos on the easter bunnies contain egg white?

how do everyones kids get on when the chocolate is really dark though? surely they wont like it?

Choc is such a rare occurance in this house it could be black and bitter as anything and the kids would love it! I always used ot use Kinnertons till SW went nut free (till then they had almond warnings) and NEVER had it given back!

IgE - what shop did you get the SW mini bunnies?

Today I got Alpha mini easter eggs at Huckleberry's in Greenlane. They are milk, gluten and nut free. Only thing is that it lists its lecithin as 322 which isn't an ideal lecithin (as could be corn, soy, peanut, or even egg yolk according to the internet). Hucks also said they were getting in the Swiss Bliss choc and also dark Bella choc (but they have nut and dairy traces on their standard choc).

Ode to live in Auckland! I have to make all my easter and christrmas treats etc. I cant get any ready made stuff here uin Invercargill unless I pay horrendous amounts in courier fees.

I do get my choc in auckland and courier that down. Buit still cheaper than sending a ready made product.

If anyone knows where I can get it cheaper ....................

My daughter used to be a BIG lover of chocolate but we found the soy traces a killer for her ezcema. She hasn't had a piece of chocolate in over a year now and doesn't seem to miss it or ask for chocolate so we're not bothering.

We might hard boil a few eggs and get her to paint them for fun. Then she can eat the egg too.

I have some easter egg moulds that I might make jelly in or some type of dessert instead.

I'm thinking of doing marshmallow in my moulds. It's surprisingly easy to make. Just have to work out how to stop it sticking...

I make flour molds for my marshmellow eggs. I 1/2 fill roasting tray with 'safe' flour, and use a toy egg to put in indents in the flour and then pour my marshmellow into that. Then when they are set I put two together as the tops are still sticky and then coat in thin choc, but you could roll in coconut, cocoa powder or something instead.

Oh that's the plan. Thanks Referee! ...I think that might have been on my last year's Easter thread but I hadn't really registered it because we didn't have very many foods then... we've come a long way really

Maybe I need to bump that thread and take a read because it looks like we might not get soy lecithin after all so that's it for choc.

3boys you could try putting glad wrap in the mould to assist it to come out. That's what I've found works.

Referee what a good idea about marshmellows. My daughter doesn't like them but keep the good idea alternatives to chocolate eggs ladies.

I was thinking about making fondant eggs. My daughter loves the hideous sweet stuff and gobbles it up when I decorate her cakes. Not very healthy but very sugary.

SB - Village Organics in Frankton stock the SW mini bunnies...

Ask for them if you can't find them - I think they are still in a box out the back.