Children's Easter eggs

The Co-operative Food
Loved by Us Popping Candy Egg
160g, £5, co-operativefood.co.uk
This is brilliant. Not so good to look at and the chocolate isn't great but it's so much fun it doesn't matter. It's a fantastic idea that kids will love.
★★★★

Rococo
Stroppy Teenager Egg
220g, £17.50, rococochocolates.com
A charming egg, with lovely presentation. The little eggs look tempting and the praline inside is good quality.
★★★★

Thorntons
Milk Chocolate Scooter Egg
161g, £3.99, thorntons.co.uk
Reasonable novelty chocolate that's not too sweet but it's a bit low on content. It would've been nice to have something in the centre given it's for kids.
★★

Waitrose
Woodland Friends Spike the Hedgehog
200g, £5, waitrose.com
Stars for the design, which is lovely, but the chocolate is awful, and tastes cheap and fatty.
★★

White chocolate Easter eggs

Tesco
Finest Belgian with Lemon Oil
100g, £3, tesco.com
Good for white-chocolate lovers who are looking for something a bit different, with the lemon offering a change from the usual.
★★★

Fortnum & Mason
Hand Decorated Egg
227g, £39.95, fortnumandmason.com
A classic, old-fashioned-style egg, stuffed with animal-shaped chocolates. Less sweet and more milky than the others.
★★★

Whole Foods Market
Montezuma Chunky Egg
150g, £6.99, wholefoodsmarket.com
Good, simple presentation, which unfortunately isn't matched by the quality of chocolate. It's so sweet: far too much sugar.
★★

Sainsbury's
Taste the Difference Belgian
220g, £5, sainsburys.co.uk
Awful. Heavily scented and very sweet. This is a long way from the cocoa butter that I know, and it's not even egg-shaped at the bottom.
★

Luxury Easter eggs

Paul A Young
The Golden Egg
105g, £22.95, paulayoung.co.uk
What a lovely, novel idea. The alcohol in the centre balances well with the sweetness of the chocolate. Perfect for sharing; it should come with two spoons.
★★★★

Selfridges
Pierre Marcolini Dark Chocolate
500g, £43, selfridges.com
This is beautifully made and clearly a lot of thought has gone into it. The pralines inside are better than the egg.
★★★

Tesco
Finest Medley of Eggs
1.02kg, £25, tesco.com
An unusual and impressive appearance but poor chocolate. Far too sweet, although it would make a dramatic gift.
★★

Thorntons
Continental Egg
500g, £24.99, thorntons.co.uk
Commercial, budget chocolate. The appearance is of faux-luxury and the chocolate is very poor quality. It's far, far too sweet.
★

Hot cross buns

Marks and Spencer
Luxury
4pk, £1.49, marksandspencer.com
These are lovely and soft, with a nice aroma and a good lingering taste of fruit. Light and not too sweet. Excellent.
★★★★★

Morrisons
Signature Extra Fruity
4pk, £1.19, morrisons.com
There's a decent amount of fruit in these and they're soft with a good texture. A bit bready and lacking in flavour, though.
★★★

Waitrose
Richly Fruited
4pk, £1.59, waitrose.com
These are more like bread than buns – they feel quite heavy. A bit too dry for my liking and the fruit isn't really coming through.
★★

The Co-operative Food
Truly Irresistible
4pk, £1.55, co-operativefood.co.uk
These would be good for toasting but aren't as light as I'd like. Plus there's no glaze, and they have a slight yeasty taste, which isn't good.
★★

Simnel cake

Marks and Spencer
Easter Simnel Cake
940g, £12, marksandspencer.com
Looks attractive: is nicely frosted and has a lovely inner layer of marzipan. Has a good journey of flavours, and is moist and not too sweet .
★★★★

Waitrose
Large Simnel Cake
12 servings, £12.99, waitrose.com
Moist with lots of good fruit and some subtle spice flavours. Grandma would be proud of this one.
★★★

Sainsbury's
Taste the Difference All Butter
740g, £9, sainsburys.co.uk
This is quite a bit sweeter than the others and is a little dry. The marzipan in the centre is too sugary but the toasted balls on top are good.
★★

Morrisons
Simnel Cake Bar
£3, morrisons.com
This lacks any traditional characteristic of simnel cake. It looks like a jazzed-up Dundee cake and to say it tastes rather unpleasant is being polite.
No stars

Colomba cake

Selfridges
Pasticceria Filippi Classica
500g, £16.99, selfridges.com
Really buttery with a rich and intense smell. Soft and light with a good crisp to the outside. Looks attractive and like it has been traditionally made.
★★★★

Fortnum & Mason
Pasquale La Fruttuosa
1kg, £34, fortnumandmason.com
Doesn't look traditional but is quite tasty, with a soft texture. Would be worth three stars if it weren't for the chocolate on top.
★★

Wholefoods
Seggiano Colomba
500g, £11.99, wholefoodsmarket.com
It's not the worst but it does lack some charisma and decoration. It didn't get its fair share of fruit and is also quite dry.
★★

Carluccio's
Colomba Grande
750g, £13.95, carluccios.com
Looks good but let down by flavour, which lacks richness and depth. The dough doesn't look stretched either, meaning the texture is wrong and dense.
★