Dairy-free? What's a Chick to Do At Easter?

The concept of dairy-free chocolate was an abomination. My love affair with milk chocolate began as a child and I blame my addiction on my upbringing.

I was raised in the tiny town of Bournville. Home to 25,000 people, it is nestled in the sprawling city of Birmingham, England. Bournville’s historic homes, green parks, and babbling brook make you feel like you've encountered a little piece of the country, which was certainly the intention of its founders, the Cadbury's

My Cadbury Legacy

I was a Cadbury’s girl.

When I was three years old, I moved into a home on Maryvale Road. The house was built at the turn of the 19th century as part of the Cadbury estate, a housing project designed to revolutionize the way that factory workers lived. Therefore, each home had indoor plumbing, a garden, and a fruit tree. My Great-grandfather, Alfred Sewell, was the Cadbury family photographer and worked 30 years for the Bournville Works Magazine. I was the fourth generation of Sewell’s to attend Bournville Infant and Junior School consequently built by Dame Elizabeth Cadbury in 1910. (My Great-Grandfather was one of the first students and my dad and his cousins spent plenty of timeouts under the clock in the assembly hall!)

The school is just across the street from the Cadbury’s Chocolate Factory.

As a result, every day of every school year, my tiny, impressionable world was filled with the aromatic scent of melted chocolate. While we played outside, it hung in the air like a fine mist and permeated my pores. By the time I moved away when I was nine, I’m pretty sure my DNA was part cocoa.

Sugar Comas at Grandmas

Now my mum was almost religious in her rationing of our sweet treats but my Grandma was another story. Her sweetie tin was always stuffed with Cadbury’s Eclairs and powdered lemon and strawberry bonbons. As a result, Saturday visits to her house often ended in sweet, sweet sugar comas. As I grew up, I started getting pocket money and I clearly remember spending it all at the corner shop on Crunchies, Fingers of Fudge, Curly Wurlys, Wispas, Chocolate Buttons, Flakes, and Dairy Milk; a habit that would last until I was an adult. Decadent, delicious, thick, creamy blocks of melting chocolate would dissolve slowly in my mouth, producing a euphoric state of bliss.

And, with a glass and a half of milk in every bar, obviously, there was no such thing as dairy-free chocolate.

Easter and a Plethora of Chocolate Eggs

As a child, Easter was the Cadbury jackpot. Everyone bought everyone a chocolate Easter egg and because we had a huge extended family, there was always plenty to go around. The eggs often came sitting in a mug, wrapped in crinkly cellophane, or in equally brightly colored pastel boxes adorned with bunnies. As an added bonus, each one came filled with our favorite Cadbury’s chocolate. I might be exaggerating, but I swear I remember receiving about twenty eggs one year, and the way my mum rationed those out, it was just about enough to last till Christmas.

When I moved to the US in 1995, I clung desperately to those traditions with fierce tenacity. Despite the cost, every Christmas involved a tin of Cadbury’s Roses, and every trip my mum and dad took to visit us included a suitcase brimming with a variety of Cadbury confectionery. When I took my kids back to the UK, I naturally took them to Cadbury World, where we sampled hot, melted chocolate, old favorites, and new creations.

Dairy-Free, A Thing of Nightmares

In 2011, to my horror, I was diagnosed with a delayed food sensitivity to dairy. In some kind of sick, twisted nightmare, my body could not tolerate one of the primary ingredients in a food that tied me to my history, my family, and my culture. Once again, I found myself cut off from my familial roots, not to mention, one of my favorite foods.

In the beginning, I just quit eating chocolate. I had gluten sensitivities too so it made it really hard to find confectionary that was both dairy-free and gluten-free. I was scrambling to learn all the different and hidden dairy derivatives inside products and it was easier to quit than to try.

I finally figured out how to enjoy some of my favorite holiday treats - click here to learn how you can too. You can also enter to win your own Easter treat!

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