One of the of eight vegan Easter treats this year is this very respectable combined 130g ‘Goose’ egg and chocolate buttons. Instead of using cow’s milk or even soya milk Hotel Chocolat have used almond powder to replace the dairy and having consumed a fair number of Easter eggs in my time, you would hardly notice. In fact, the almond actually gives it another dimension. If you absolutely focus on the flavour then you will be able to pick up on the almond, but otherwise you’ll just notice the dark chocolate. It is this that astounds me. At just 56% cocoa it tastes a fair bit more ‘dark’ than that.

And what is even more remarkable is that with such a significant sugar level it’s not overtly sweet. This truly is a paradoxical egg. Personally when I see ‘free from’ I normally think ‘free from flavour’ but this couldn’t be more wrong with the Goose Egg. It’s a stonkingly good egg – especially for the £10 price point when it could be seen that Hotel Chocolate haven’t typically catered well for. Thankfully for those people that may like to treat the extended family with a very good egg at around a tenner then they’ve hit the nail on the head this year.

You can get this egg from Hotel Chocolat direct.

This this gift box you’ll receive twelve 12 miniature eggs with four each of Banoffee caramel, Key Lime and Sea Salted flavours. And they’re certainly more geared towards stealing a moment away from the other half or the kids and just trying one every few minutes as the flavour finally manages to disappear. Quite uniquely my flavour is the salted caramel. The sharpness of the salt against the intense sweetness of the caramel is just wonderful against the 71.1% dark chocolate as the earthy shell provides a base layer for the two other flavours battle out for supremacy.

The banoffee is a mellower affair. The banana just holds back a touch and then releases a whole heap of sweet, luscious flavour that just wants to hang around in the mouth. As a huge fan of banoffee anyway I was more than please to have these sat in front of me – momentarily.

The key lime had sharpness all to its own. It’s almost a cocktail wrapped in dark chocolate. This chocolate is almost unrecognisable against the fruity blast from the lime, but this is no bad thing. If you’re needing a bit of a late evening jolt, I’d certainly save this one for that.

Marc’s chocolate is more expensive than the stuff you’ll find in the supermarkets or on many of the more popular chocolate shops, but that’s because it’s made with fresh ingredients by hand, and not an anonymous group of people operating a conveyor belt of chocolate eggs. Marc’s chocolate certainly is worth the money, and these eggs at £19.75 are too.

The visual appearance is standard and is consistent with their FreeFrom range, but what isn’t obvious was that fact that this made from 60% dark chocolate. Shockingly this egg is 39% sugar and about 1% soya lecithin (I think the statutory limit is 1% anyway). So it may be agreeable to you because it doesn’t have any gluten or dairy, but there is a whole heap of sugar present.

When it comes to the flavour it took an absolute age to get going. Even when you leave it in your mouth for a while the flavour is poor. It tastes like its some mass-produced Ivory Coast chocolate made with bulk beans. It hardly tastes of chocolate at all. In fact, after a couple of bites I couldn’t really take any more.

The thing is, ‘free from’ chocolate doesn’t have to taste this poor. Look at Grenada Chocolate, it’s awesome and is gluten and dairy free. The price might be higher, but it’s worth it.

Unfortunately none of the Lir chocolates we get in this country that I’ve seen have ever stood out enough to make me want to part with my money. It seems that these Irish chocolates are only available in supermarkets and they don’t stock the best of what they offer. These photos show their chocolates in good light, but the Easter egg I have I hope isn’t indicative of what they do make.

I was conscious of the fact apart from Hotel Chocolat and their Champagne truffles eggs; I’ve not really reviewed any alcoholic Easter eggs. So on a trip to Asda last month I thought I’d part with £5 of my own money and get The Famous Grouse Easter egg that came with some truffles. Of course, as is the case with most interesting sounding Easter eggs, the egg itself is just chocolate without any flavouring, and it’s the truffles that are the interesting thing. And here’s it’s no different. The chocolate itself is reminiscent of Nestle chocolate. It’s 53.5% sugars and 19.6% saturated fats. That’s 73.1% fat and sugar. The minimum cocoa solids works out at 30%, but it tastes much less. And if you’re concerned about the alcohol level it’s no more than 2%, which isn’t a great deal. Hic!

The egg shell measures roughly 2mm all the way around so it’s not thickest Easter egg you’ll ever try. But look at the bright side, there’s less of this awful chocolate to consume – although it’s actually better than Nestle chocolate. There is an upside though, and that’s the Famous Grouse truffles which are very nice – but not in an artisan kind of way. Visually they look like Thornton’s Melts, but taste-wise they’re intoxicating. You can feel the whisky mist draw into the back of your throat where you can feel it coat your mouth with its boozy flavours. I know I shouldn’t like them, but I do.

Also the texture is incredibly rich. It’s soft and does stick to your teeth a touch. You’ll be cleaning them with your tongue for a while after. But with such a mixed ‘bag’ of flavours and textures, I just can’t give this Easter egg any more than and ‘average’.

And if you wanted to know how good it is, I opened it three days ago and there’s hardly any left. Caramel white chocolate is all the rage these days after Valrhona started making it a couple of years ago and then Fruition in the US. There’s no wondering why it’s popular, though. It’s very sweet, along the lines of most white chocolate, but it has a tartness that just draws you in wanting more.

I can’t remember how the other two eggs tasted as they disappeared in a flash, but the hazelnut praline one is beautiful. It’s very sweet and tangy which means that normal people wouldn’t consume it as speedily as I have. That being said, they are quite dainty and reminiscent of a Cordon Bleu restaurant or a fine Japanese one. The thing to note is that the caramel chocolate board and the pistachio nuts that are placed within it work exceptionally well with the eggs. The balance may be sweet, but it’s wonderful.

The gift set also comes with a very sharp strawberry chocolate which as a white chocolate base and 12% from dried strawberries. This serves to cut through the rich and creamy eggs just as a strawberry coulis does with cheesecake.

Overall, I loved them and wish I had tried them sooner so I could stock them. The price is reasonable too at around £5.95. They couldn’t compete with much of the rubbish the supermarkets sell, but not everyone wants to buy low-quality Easter eggs for their families.

The perfect milk chocolate Easter egg for non-connoisseurs has be made out of what I call “session chocolate“. Much of the chocolate that the supermarkets sell is either far too sweet or tastes as dull as dishwater. The standard milk chocolate couverture that Hotel Chocolat use is absolutely perfect if you want to eat a whole egg on Easter Sunday as it’s far from too sweet and has a lovely, soft, velvety texture.

Over the past five years I’ve munched on quite a few Hotel Chocolat Easter eggs and despite the price steadily increasing far more than inflation I still see their Easter range as the perfect selection of eggs for people that are determined for their other halves or children to be satisfied but either don’t want to take a punt on an independent chocolatier or can’t stomach cheap mass-produced Easter eggs from the likes of Nestle or Cadbury.

That milk chocolate is incredibly moreish. I don’t know how they’ve the texture as good as this, but it is hugely appreciated. That sweetness is well under the level that most Easter eggs seem to have, but it’s balanced with some secret addictive quality that I just can’t make out. It’s doubtful that you’ll find milk chocolate Easter egg on the High Street as good as this – even though it is £27.

I know the thickness of the Easter egg isn’t uniform around the entire shell, but still, the rest of it is still a darn site thicker than traditional eggs.

For that not inconsiderable sum you also get eight treats inside. You’ll have a choice of both “ordinary” and pink Champagne (I absolutely love these), some Amaretto Amour, Bison Grass Vodka, Mojito Cocktail and a Tawny Port – you see where the money goes now? The price may be steep, but if instead of every family member buying people many rubbish eggs, I recommend you buy one very good one and try one of these or one of these.

The last review was of something incredibly sweet. But to prove that very sweet can work we have a Paul A Young Hot Cross Bun brownie. This brownie also is a case in point that Easter is not only about milk chocolate Easter eggs bought for less than it takes to make it and put it on shelves, but also about delicious and imaginative treats.

I’ve always had a soft-spot for hot-cross buns. Sunday mornings at this time of year sat in front of one with lashings of butter and a cuppa are what life is all about. Having a brownie that manages to accurately deliver the smooth, fruity flavours as a hot-cross bun cannot be easy. Traditionally Paul’s brownies are again very much on the sweet, intense side. But not this one. Here Paul allows for the orange, lemon, cinnamon, port and brandy to jostle for prominence. The end result is a mellow and tangy flavour sensation. Of course, with sugar, golden syrup, eggs, butter and the like, it’s a very rich experience. But it’s this sort of over-indulgent feel that I don’t have a problem with. There’s no palm oil in sight and I doubt a tree has been felled in its creation. Ethical (to a degree) and tasty. What could go wrong?

The only problem with this brownie is that it’s a victim of its own success. It’s made with real ingredients so the shelf-life is very short. I doubt we’re close enough to Easter today for it to last – not least because anybody’s will-power will be able to resist such a delicious temptation.

So it’s fairly restrained by the measure of previous brownies and flavoursome by the same token. It’s a very good Easter offering for those people lucky enough to be a tube ride from one of Paul’s shops. So what’s stopping you?

It’s a strange fact of live that there are hoards of people that love insanely sweet chocolate. Occasionally I’m one of those, but the phase passes very quickly. A square inch of this Full ‘O’ Fudge Easter egg from Thorntons is enough to satisfy my sugar cravings for at least a month, possibly two.

I recently spoke to a journalist about the propensity of mass-market chocolatiers to create Easter eggs that were choc-a-block with sugar, saturated fat and palm oil. This egg is no different, even if it pains me to say that my beloved Easter egg could create an egg that even the faintest whiff makes me feel I’ve over-indulged. I am a unique breed though. There will be tens of thousands of people that will happily munch their way through an egg of this sweet intensity of the Easter weekend – and who am I to say they’re wrong?

Of course fudge-lovers will appreciate this egg greatly and will not feel short-changed. It’s laden with pieces of sweet and soft fudge pieces – not only in the front part of the egg which is clearly visible through the transparent packaging, but also very much as part of the rest of the egg. The buttery fudge can be found with virtually every bite of the rest of the shell. That shell has to be fairly thick to house the fudge and it is. The shell is much thicker than you’d get from a Cadbury or Nestle egg, and despite having a similar target audience, this one is much better. Of course it uses palm oil, but at least it has 30% cocoa solids. It also has about the same level of fats and sugars, but the texture is far superior.

A couple of small pieces are sufficient for me. But if its sweet milk chocolate you’re after at a reasonable price then do consider it.

Paul Wayne Gregory has not only created the most difficult to photograph Easter egg in the history of chocolate, but perhaps also the most simply decadent. The vast majority of Easter eggs I see shout at me. They’re bright and brash. The packaging craves and pleads for your attention. You open the packaging and find yourself a dull, lifeless, unexciting, mass-produced, dour and unimpressive ovum of chocolate. More energy seems to go into the packaging and marketing of chocolate than its experimentation and refinement. Not so with Paul Wayne Gregory’s beautiful mango Easter egg.

The design of the egg is minimalist. The ripe mango colour is mimicked in hues of red and orange that are visible from all angles through the clear plastic packaging. You initially judge this Easter egg on its appearance and not its packaging. You ultimately judge it on flavour and texture, and on both counts it’s a triumph.

Breaking a piece of the egg off I noticed flakes and established they were small pieces of dried mango. Whenever a chocolatier adds dried fruits it can so easily dominate the flavour and texture of the chocolate. Perhaps dried fruits are often used to mask poor quality couverture. But not here. The couverture used is marvellous and is expertly balanced with the  38% cocoa solids that it becomes an incredibly enjoyable Easter egg. Those flavours are focused initially on the soft fruit but then the background tone of the fine chocolate picks up and the mango subsides. The tangy nature of the couverture builds up and brings the sweetness with it to give you that dominant, sophisticated sweetness that all fine milk chocolate Easter eggs should possess.

There’s certainly no razzmatazz. For that you’d go to Fortnum’s, pay twice the price and get half as good an Easter egg. This Easter egg oozes refinement, sophistication and above all: talent. And despite costing £24.95, it’s very much worth it and serves as a perfect example of why you should venture off the beaten track this Easter and try a chocolatier that you possibly have never heard of. Many people this Easter will pay £2 more and buy an egg from Hotel Chocolate that certainly doesn’t have the same mouth-feel or refined and precise flavour. That’s the power of marketing. This egg from Paul Wayne Gregory is far superior.

You had me at dried cherries. Last year Thorntons stepped their Easter egg game up quite a few notches with the Banoffee Pie and Lemon Meringue Easter eggs. Then I thought it’d be difficult to improve upon the “puddings” theme, however, I’ve been proven wrong. This year I have before me what could be Thorntons‘ finest Easter egg: a Black Forest Gateau ovum. And I’m going to cut straight to the chase on this one. Not only is it wonderful, but you’ll get a large (468g) for just £9.99 or three for £20. Normally I bring price in at the end after I’ve discussed the chocolate, but Thorntons this year are as keenly priced as I’ve ever seen them. But that’s not to say that their chocolate has any less value. Conversely, I feel their chocolate is as good now as it has ever been.

Take this dark chocolate Easter egg. It uses a 53% couverture which in itself obviously can’t compete with flavour European, and now American, bean-to-bar makers offer, but its absolutely perfect for  Thorntons‘ market. It has the bitterness that dark chocolate fans will enjoy, but so laden with cherryesque sweetness that it is almost bordering on addictive. At the very edge of the mouth-feel there is a touch of coarseness and the flavour profile misses a part of the spectrum, but for a £9.99 egg from a volume maker its perhaps the best you’ll find.

As has become voque in recent years the front part is studded with fruit and pressed into a splash of chocolate of a different hue. If it works, why change it? They certainly do stand out in the aisles of Tesco. Against the bombastic visuals that the likes of Nestle, Cadbury and Kinnerton dominate those aisles, its great that Thorntons offer a fresh-alternative. They look light, summery and inviting. For the last twenty-odd years those “down-market” companies have plodded out almost the same designs each season. But at £1 an egg can you really blame parents for buying them?

Yes. Your children deserve better. Even though Thornton‘s eggs are still made with significant levels of sugar, the quality of ingredients, to my mind at least, are far superior. And that can be established very quickly by tasting the chocolate. The balance of the slight bitterness offered by the chocolate is perfectly balanced by directness of the sweet cherries. There may be no swirling, ever-changing flavours present in the finest chocolate. There may only be two dominant flavours. But those two flavours play off against each other so expertly.

We always have to look at chocolate in context and what the market the maker is aiming at. Parents with older children, boyfriends on a bit of a budget, wives wanting to move their husbands away from crap chocolate – they’ll all buy these eggs. And they most certainly won’t be wrong for doing so.