Wednesday, April 16

Little Bunny Foo-Foo

This coming Sunday is Easter, and you know what that means.

Candy!

(Not to under-emphasize the religious meaning of the holiday, which is paramount in the Christian religion, or the beauty of a sunrise church service outside on a late spring day. I just think those topics are well beyond the scope of this column.)

As a person who gave up chocolate for Lent – a true sacrifice, by the way – I am especially looking forward to Easter gluttony. I won't be eating just chocolate, though. Since I am far too old to trick-or-treat, this is my best shot at going into annual sugar shock. So I give it all I've got, and hereby present the first ever littleplate Easter Candy Awards:

Best Sugary Sweet Inexplicably Delicious Candy Wonder: Peeps. Hands down, Peeps, and preferably Peeps eaten one day stale. The Just Born company supposedly makes other holiday-themed Peeps now (Christmas, Fourth of July, Halloween), but I am a Peeps purist and eat only yellow chicks or pink bunnies, and only at Easter. I would suggest that you do the same and steer clear of the new "creme" Peeps, which are not so fine. Make sure and enjoy at least one Peep in front of a Peep-hating friend, just for the joy of it.

Best Local Easter Treat: Mary Sue Easter Eggs. The Mary Sue empire was founded by Samuel Spector in 1948 in West Baltimore, and the eggs are still a favorite today. The company makes nougat eggs rolled in pecans, buttercream eggs of many variations, and a justly famous "Fruit and Nut Egg." The original eggs are about the size of a child's fist and weigh in at a whopping twelve ounces, but they also make smaller ones in keeping with today's calorie-conscious times. My Mary Sue of choice is the dark chocolate coconut egg, though the dark chocolate vanilla buttercream egg also intrigues.

Best "I can only eat one" Easter Specialty: Cadbury Creme Egg. When I was much, much younger, I could eat two in a sitting, but now I treat myself to one regular-sized Creme Egg a year. By the time I get to the "yolk" in the middle, I am a bundle of sugar-inspired energy; by the time I finish the milk chocolate shell, I am a bit sick to my stomach. Still, traditions must persevere, and there is nothing like cracking that shell and tasting that first bit of sugary "egg white." I can't wholeheartedly recommend the smaller Eggs, as their minute size makes them much less fun.

Best "Belly up to the trough, boys" Easter Specialty: Cadbury Mini Eggs. These are like super-deluxe M&Ms: creamy solid milk chocolate in a crunchy pastel sugar shell. You cannot stop eating them. Every year, I am amazed by my consumption. I don't even like milk chocolate that much! There is something about the combination of creamy chocolate and crispy sugar that is irresistible, and I am happy to report that the purchase of Cadbury by Hershey's did not result in a change in flavor but only a longer production period and bigger-sized bags for sale.

Best Homemade Easter Candy: Divinity. Even the name is appropriate for the occasion. These candy clouds have no fat and look beautiful on a table. It is hard to buy good divinity, and it is a labor of love to make, but as a special-occasion delight it is hard to beat. Sweetly vanilla, crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside: candy perfection.

I post a divinity recipe like my grandmother's on the site this week in her memory. She used to somehow make divinity even though she lived in a town on the Gulf, where the humidity was high throughout the year. Easter was always a special time for my family, since we almost without deviation spent it with our grandparents. I miss all four of them each Easter still, and hope that on Sunday they are each enjoying the candy of their choice too, wherever they might be.