Six scrummy Easter eggs worth shelling out for – and two I’d leave on the shelf
WELL, they’re at it again, those dastardly chocolatiers. Not content with cutting 10 per cent of the weight of a Galaxy bar, and still charging the same price, they have now moved on to Easter eggs.
Yup, some of those ornate, beloved and often overpriced ovoids that symbolise rebirth, new life and the start of spring (as well as causing slightly nauseous dyspepsia towards the end of Easter Sunday) are being subjected to the nefarious ‘shrinkflation.’ Same price, less chocolate.
Is nothing sacred? What would the Easter Bunny say? I can hear Willy Wonka turning in his grave.
Because Easter eggs are one of the crowning joys of the confectionary world. And one of the few gastronomic specialities where we still reign triumphant.
Sure, things have got a little more, well, baroque, since the simple days of my youth. Back then, a Crunchie Egg in a Crunchie mug was the very pinnacle of Easter ecstasy. Along with a Smarties egg. Obviously. Now, though, there’s an Easter egg for every taste and pocket and while you can still get your chocolate hit for a little as a pound, you can also splurge a whopping £375 on a whopping 5 kilos of Swiss chocolate, with the monster Grande Egg from Bettys of Harrogate.
But when it comes to chocolate, my tastes are resolutely cheap. Give me Cadbury over grand cru, Double Decker rather than 90 per cent dark, and Maltesers instead of pretty much anything. Meaning the posh eggs have to be pretty special to impress.
So I put eight eggs to the test, ranging from £3 to £80, to find out which of this year’s batch are worth shelling out for.
GOING NUTS FOR FRUIT & NUT Cadbury Dairy Milk Fruit & Nut Inclusions Ultimate Easter Egg, €18
‘EVERYONE’S a Fruit & Nutcase’ as the old jingle used to go. I’m not sure that would get through the New Puritan language police these days, but the Cadbury Fruit & Nut is the Grande Dame of the Dairy Milk range, an understated classic with that frisson of sophistication. This egg is studded with raisins and almonds, and is as good as the bar.
You also get ten individually wrapped ‘Chunks.’ The only problem is that last year, the egg cost €18 and weighed 532g. This year, you only get 400g of egg. And it’s still €18!
CAUSING RIPPLES Aldi Milk Ripple Egg with Honeycomb & Pretzel, €4.99
THE Belgian milk chocolate is perfectly OK, with a decent depth and creaminess, while the honeycomb and pretzel add crunch, and a hint of salt. It looks a little different too, the eggs ridged with ripples. In fact, it could easily pass off as a more expensive product, which is, I suppose, the point. But very respectable all the same.
BITTER . . . NOT SO SWEET M&S Salted Caramel Eggspresso Martini Egg,, €11
THIS is one for the grown-ups, as it comes with a small can of Salted Caramel Espresso Cocktail. Which is every bit as teethachingly sweet and cloying as you would expect. Think Baileys but three times as sickly. Ugh! The chocolate egg is small, and looks pretty enough, but the coffee flavour is unpleasantly bitter, and overpowers everything, while the chocolate has no real character.
This is the sort of egg that might have sounded, ur, eggcellent in the marketing meeting. But in reality, it’s a dud.
GO FOR MINTED Grá’s Mint to Be Easter Egg, €49, grachocolates.com
WOW! This showstopper by Galway chocolatier Grainne Mullins is beautiful to both look at and eat. The shades of dark and light green are hand-painted onto the giant 35% milk chocolate shell with the finest quality peppermint. Also comes with 4 Mint to Be chocolates from the Grá Chocolate box. The creamy milk chocolate delicately combines with the mint, making this the ultimate after-dinner delight.
GORGEOUS GLOSS Galaxy Minstrels Milk Chocolate Large Easter Egg, €3
WHO doesn’t love Minstrels, with their crisp, glossy coat, and smooth, rich milk chocolate centre. At Bellamy’s one of my favourite restaurants in London, a small bowl arrives with the bill. Pure class. Because they’ve always been a cut above the norm.
The chocolate egg is a classic, if you like Mars milk chocolate. Which I do.
But whereas last year, €3 got you 243g of chocolate egg, and two bags of Minstrels, this year, there’s just 234g of egg, and a mere bag of Minstrels. Miserly old Mars.
MARSHMALLOW MADNESS
Skelligs Chocolate Co’s Milk Chocolate Honeycomb & Marshmallow Egg, €30, brown thomas. con HALF a solid chocolate egg paired with a thick chocolate shell and filled with a rich truffle centre - what’s not to love? The perfect egg for the sweet toothed person in your life, as chewy mini marshmallows and sweet honeycomb pieces are paired together. An instant hit of happiness.
BUTTERY BRILLIANCE Pump Street Croissant 62 per cent Dark Chocolate Easter Egg, €40.95
‘THIS chocolate egg transports you to the moment of tearing off a crisp corner of fresh croissant in the morning,’ purrs the blurb on the back of the box. Hmm! Sounds a little silly, but then it’s from Pump Street, one of the country’s great chocolatiers.
The croissants (also baked by Pump Street) are ground into the base chocolate, alongside whole flakes and it works rather well. The chocolate is 62 per cent Ecuadorian single estate, clean and slightly bitter, while the croissant not only adds buttery delight but texture too. OK, so it’s not cheap but it’s beautifully packaged and utterly lovely, too.
ORANGE IS ORDINARY Terry’s Chocolate Orange Milk Mini Eggs Easter Egg, €4
WHAT’S the point of a Chocolate Orange egg without a chocolate orange. You know, the one you tap, and it falls apart into neat segments.
Sure, the Chocolate Orange mini eggs are fine, if not a patch on the classic Cadbury original.
And although the chocolate egg is flavoured with orange oil, it errs on the side of the dull and tastes a bit cheap. Worse still, not only has the big egg shrunk from 230g to 200g. But they have put the price up a little too. Shame on you Terry’s. One to avoid.