Vegan Easter Eggs – Kanten “Jello” Dessert

Made with fresh fruit juices and the plant-based gelatin agar agar, these colorful egg jellies make the perfect healthy Easter treat!

Agar agar, also known as kanten in Japanese, is a jelly-like substance that comes from algae. It has been used in Japan to make cool summertime desserts often served with fresh fruits or dark honey and soybean powder.

I first encountered agar agar when I was an exchange student in Japan many years ago. My host mother told me that it was a useful food for dieting because it has almost no calories.

Kanten (or agar agar) may look like Jell-O, but it tends to be more rigid, with a similar texture to a ripe pear.

Making Vegan Easter Eggs

I used these wonderful silicone egg molds to make my vegan easter eggs. I really wanted to find egg molds that would make whole eggs, like the Jello-O eggs my mom used to make, but alas! I could only find them on eBay, and I figured it might not be good to use old plastic with hot liquids.

Luckily, the silicone molds I bought turned out to be perfect for this recipe. I will also try making chocolate easter eggs with them.

Vegan Easter Egg Ingredients

In order to make the different flavors and colors, I used juice made from fresh fruits. For watery fruits such as strawberries, oranges, and pineapples, I simply pressed the fruit through a strainer to obtain the juice.

To make sour green apple juice, I blended 2 chopped green apples with 1/4 cup of juice, strained out the pulp, and added a few drops of green vegan food coloring and a pinch of citric acid for tartness. Without the green coloring, the raw apple juice was more brown.

You could also, of course, use store-bought juices to make these vegan easter eggs. If using store-bought juice, I would avoid adding additional sugar.