Easter Eggs

Easter eggs are big business. Scratch that, Eater eggs are huge, massive, humungous business. The problem I have, as a fan of fine chocolate is the amount of people who just pile their shopping trollies high with cheap Easter eggs when they visit their local supermarket. The thing is, how can proper chocolate shops, chocolate makers and chocolatiers make real, flavoursome and “wholesome” Easter eggs when you can buy three medium Nestle Easter eggs for just £4 at Asda? It just can’t happen. But there is a growing community of chocolate lovers who are ditching that mass-market rubbish and stretching out into smaller brands.

Of course you have online chocolate shops such as Thorntons who are one of the most established brands which can’t be put into the “fine” or “gourmet” Easter egg bracket, but they’re great people, and a fine British tradition. What’s more they offer personalised Easter eggs where you can get the recipient’s name iced onto the Easter egg and they’ve got a great selection of eggs suitable for the older generation if your grandmother is partial to the odd box of continentals. But that’s not to say they don’t have anything suitable for children, as they do. They’ve got the medium (340g) milk chocolate, white chocolate and dark chocolate Easter eggs with bright packaging which would be suitable for kids. They’ve also got some novelty Easter gifts such as bunny rabbits, monkeys (I’m not sure what Cadbury would say), bears, princesses, handbags, chickens, lambs, cars and various other bits and bobs, so they’d be one of the first places to look at if I was buying Easter eggs for kids.

But also have a look at Hotel Chocolat who also have a great and varied selection of Easter gifts. You can get stuff such as their extra-thick Easter eggs in the form of their Rocky Road to Caramel range and Eggsibitionist ranges. If you’re looking for dark chocolate Easter eggs then have a look at their Extra Dark Fix ones as they’re great. In terms of gourmet Easter eggs have a look at their Purist Extra Thick Eggs. Also in terms of Easter gifts for your son or daughter then they’ve got some Twinkle toes and Nibblatron Eggsposés which are milk chocolate eggs with shaped chocolates inside as well as Tiddly Pots which I just found very addictive when I reviewed them! But what I like the look of this year are the soldiers and eggs chocolates. Hotel Chocolat also make some lovely white chocolate Easter eggs for both adults and kids too such as their range of chocolate animals.

However, if you’re looking for something a little bit less commercial then take a look at Montezumas who have a range of organic Easter goodies, some of which are aimed at children. One of the things I liked was the Easter egg hunt kit which contains 20 hollow organic Easter eggs wrapped in foil. They also do an eco-egg range which is packaged using 70 post-industrial recycled corrugated card and 30% from ordinary newspaper. This is a great idea! But they don’t stop there. They also do single-origin Easter eggs from Ecuador and Venezuela and Easter egg hampers and a giant Easter egg which is 25cm tall.

Another option for organic Easter eggs is Green & Blacks who do a really good job of combining their varies eggs into collections and hampers so it’s easier to get chocolate treats for your family and friends. They also do some interesting flavours such as Butterscotch and Maya which I love. If you’re a big fan of mini eggs, as I am, then you do some awesome smaller eggs.

For those Luxury Easter egg fans then you should take a look at Melt who do a sensational milk chocolate Easter egg with butterflies on. It’s made out of 40% milk chocolate which is of very good quality as well as a dark chocolate Egg which is made from a minimum of 66% cocoa solids.

Another place to buy gourmet Easter eggs is Chocolate Trading Co. (save 12% with the voucher code EEORG12 – expires 31st May 2011) as they do some great own brand eggs as well as some novelty Easter chocolates.

If you wanted some chocolate from a small, British company then have a look at The Chocolate Cafe who make a variety of Easter eggs at the small shop and cafe in Rambsottom, Lancashire.

For those of you who wanted something different and were interested in some chocolate art then you MUST pop-along to Rococo who make some of the most attractive Easter eggs I’ve ever seen.

Artisan du Chocolat always have something unusual to offer when it comes to festivals and occasions. I’ve seen some great looking large chocolate bears that look fluffy, but they also have some interesting looking Easter eggs which you’ll be able to buy online from 28th March.

If you wanted some more fantastic and funky Easter chocolates then have a look at Demarquette. Much of his stuff is very delicate and can only be bought for in store pickup, but take a look at his growing range and see if anything stands out for you.

If you wanted buy some dairy free Easter eggs then give Moo Free a go.

I expect Paul A. Young to have a good selection of fine chocolate Easter novelties such as his salted caramel Easter egg – but I expect they’ll only be available to buy in his Islington and London city stores.

Also have a read of our review of Fairtrade Easter eggs, or if you have pets we have a quick guide to Easter eggs for dogs that you might want to have a read?