Make mine a proseggo
Raise a glass to a boozy choccy treat
EASTER EGGS aren’t just a fun treat for the kids any more. There’s now a selection of delicious new alcoholic eggs that are very much aimed at adults. ALICE SMELLIE tucked in to see which are worth hunting for.
BEST FOR CONNOISSEURS Prestat Marc de Champagne Truffle Easter Egg, £17.50, ocado.com
Prestat is an actual chocolate house, and it shows in the luxurious taste of the chocolate, which I savour rather than scoff. Inside the thick chocolate egg are large truffles containing real champagne. Normally I don’t like champagne without the bubbles, but these have a rich velvety texture and a strong taste of quality fizz. 8/10
BEST FOR GETTING IN THE SPIRIT Famous Names Signature Collection Easter Egg, £7.82, amazon.co.uk
a Large, dark — 45pc cocoa solids — chocolate egg in a box which makes me think less of easter and more of Christmas with the grandparents. It’s deliciously rich and comes with eight dark chocolates with real spirit and liqueur centres including teacher’s Whisky, Irish Cream, Harveys and Courvoisier. I test the Cointreau one and have a tinsel and fairy lights Proustian moment, as this is a drink I consume only at Christmas.
Utterly delicious but beware — the Irish Cream is 6.9 per cent. eat enough and you’ll find yourself full of easter spirit. 8/10
BEST FOR A HEALTHY G&T The Treat Kitchen Gin and Tonic Egg, £10, moonpig.com
as sooN as I open the box to reveal this simple chocolate egg with a pretty green pattern, an overwhelming smell of everyone’s favourite preby supper tipple rises up to greet me. Impressively, it also contains healthy spirulina. Less impressively, it’s full of gin and tonic flavouring rather than the real deal, although I’ll admit, as a hint in the chocolate, it tastes exactly the same. 6/10
BEST TO SHARE Aldi The Ruby Heist, £12.99
tHIs pink, jewel- shaped egg comes with a pyramid of six different truffles, including a milk Chocolate Kir royale and — just as exciting — a dark chocolate and maldon sea salted Caramel. ruby chocolate is obviously
the thing, and this tastes like white chocolate with a tang. However, it’s too sweet for me.
there’s real champagne in the utterly delicious Kir royale truffles, which also have a juicy blackcurrant flavour. seriously yummy. meanwhile the kids are very happy to ‘help’ me test the non-alcoholic ones. 8/10
BEST FOR COCKTAILS Edinburgh Gin Elderflower Liqueur, 5cl and Easter Egg, 85g, £14.00, johnlewis.com
UNasHamedLy about the alcohol, this is a green foil wrapped chocolate egg with a fine sized 5cl bottle of elderflower liqueur. the chocolate is perfectly nice, but unexciting and feels like an afterthought.
But this edinburgh distillery, founded in 2010, does create excellent gin, as well as fruity liqueurs. the scent of elderflower creates the misleading impression that this will taste like cordial; in fact it has a kick like a professional footballer.
a really lovely, and not too expensive, present, with a cocktail recipe on the back of the box. 9/10
BEST FOR EVERYONE Friars Luxury Chocolate Prosecco Egg, £24.50, friars.co.uk
a VerItaBLe cornucopia of chocolate shapes and alcohol. a creamy milk chocolate egg with swirls of white and dark chocolate on the shell.
then, there are six milk, dark and white truffles which contain prosecco, peanut butter, vanilla and death by chocolate. rather randomly, there is also a little milk chocolate duck, which I suppose one might give to a wide-eyed child who can’t share in boozy treats.
rather than messing around with flavoured chocolates, they’ve chucked in a 200ml bottle of prosecco, which is perfect, and just enough for a large glass while watching the telly on easter sunday. 10/10
BEST CHEAP TREAT Marks & Spencer Prosecco Egg, £5
a sHINy pink hand-decorated berry and prosecco-flavoured milk chocolate egg that contains dried prosecco (yes, that is a thing) and 30 per cent cocoa solids. But the pink glitter on the outside comes off on my fingers and transfers on to everything within reach — not ideal.
It takes ages to get off, which means I am unfairly biased against the egg (do not touch it and then hug a family member wearing a pastel easter frock).
the chocolate is wonderfully fruity; I can taste raspberry and blackcurrant, though I’d say that the prosecco is more of a concept than a presence. Pretty as well as an excellent price. 5/10