SPECTACULAR EASTER EGGS

The snap and crack is allimportant in a chocolate egg. At the hotel, we hide praline quail’s eggs inside our Valrhona egg before it is foiled, ribboned and boxed. claridges.co.uk

1.Tesco Finest Caramelised Hazelnut Egg, £8 for 240g

I like the natural acornshell look. There’s no crack at all and the chocolate falls apart. The nuts make a lovely combination, but they are carrying the chocolate here.

2. Betty’s Limited Edition Spring Bloom Egg, £30 for 315g

Beautifully ornate, but it’s a shame there’s nothing inside. There’s no nose to the white chocolate so the taste is a bit of a let-down. Good if you like white chocolate.

3. Waitrose Chocolate Avocado, £8 for 250g

A very clever idea and use of textures. It’s really well executed and has a strong chocolate aroma, plus a great crack, which means it has been brilliantly tempered. Lovely taste of good-quality, dark chocolate with bitter notes. Nicely done.

4. Marks & Spencer Hand Painted Belgian Milk Chocolate Egg, £12 for 240g

More grown-up in look than it tastes – the chocolate is a bit flat in flavour, and very sweet and cloying. The champagne truffles that come with it are sugary sweet, too.

5. Asda Extra Special Hand-decorated Belgian Dark Chocolate Egg with Cherry, £7 for 290g

A great crack and an instantly strong flavour. It’s dark and glossy, and has a clever texture with freeze-dried fruit.

6. Selfridges Selection Artisan Milk Chocolate Easter Egg, £29.99 for 190g

I love the high-gloss finish and artistic design, but there’s an unpleasant sourness to the chocolate flavour and it has an oily texture. What a shame.

7. Sainsbury’s Exclusive Godiva Milk Chocolate Easter Egg, £14 for 255g

A simple yet quite effective design, but there’s nothing on the nose and the chocolate is soft and sickly, and too creamy for my taste.

8. Prestat Pink Popping Prosecco Egg, £17.50 for 170g

The foil is an appealing look and there’s a nice surprise of truffles inside, and a brush of pink chocolate. Popping candy is a playful addition – thumbs up for the innovation and excitement factor. It’s quite charming.

9. Demarquette 71.1% Chocolate Clam On Easter Egg, £40 for approx 500g

Very beautiful and unusual, with little caramel shells and a large, thick egg of dark chocolate. It has such depth of flavour – slightly smoky, earthy and bitter – and the caramels are super-salty for contrast. A step above the rest.

10. Chococo Madagascar 65% Megamilk Easter Egg, £18 for 175g

11. Artisan du Chocolat Pineapple Easter Egg, £15 for 200g

Nicely sculpted, with a satisfying snap, but there’s no smell at all and the flavour is disappointing. The piña colada darkchocolate balls are much better, if you don’t mind the punchy filling!

I like the diamond-mould design, but the shell itself is not terribly wellfinished and has uneven thickness. It’s caramelly chocolate, with slight bitter notes, but a tad one-dimensional.