Compiled by Molly Tait-Hyland 

Taste test: the best chocolate Easter eggs and hot cross buns

The cook and author Melissa Hemsley tastes and rates Easter confections
  
  

The cook and author Melissa Hemsley holding an Easter egg aloft.
The cook and author Melissa Hemsley. Hair and makeup by Tahira Herold using S5 Skincare, Kjaer Weis and Rahua; dress by Whistles. Photograph: Phil Fisk/The Observer

Bunnies

Cocoa Loco Thumpingly Chocolatey Marbled Rabbit
200g, £9.95, abelandcole.co.uk
Like something an old lady would have on her fireplace. Beautiful chocolate. This is the one I would buy.
★★★★

Sainsbury’s Nibbles Milk Chocolate Bunny
150g, £2.75, sainsburys.co.uk
It’s got some character, that’s a lovely smile. Standard milk chocolate, nothing particularly special. Maybe a bit grainy, not super smooth. It’s cute, a kid’s gonna like that.
★★★

Waitrose Milk Chocolate Easter Bunny
120g, £5, waitrose.com
It’s a little bit less friendly. Milky, creamy, sweet. Maybe not for a child. My boyfriend would probably like it … it’s a cool bunny, interesting looking, not your average.
★★★

Michel Cluizel Milk Chocolate Rabbit
45g, £10, harveynichols.com
This bunny-duckling hybrid, it’s got a sweet little bottom is really smooth. It’s small, a kid might feel a bit shortchanged but I think it’s a good size for one.
★★★

Milk under £10

Marks & Spencer Swiss Milk Chocolate Egg Decorated with Nibbed Hazelnuts
310g, £8, marksandspencer.com
I would prefer the hazelnuts to be dotted throughout but I like the yummy little eggs.
★★★

Selfridges Milk Chocolate Easter Egg with Salted Caramel Truffles
170g, £9.99, selfridges.com
Lovely thickness. Not that much snap. I like the egg. I hate the truffles though, super sweet. The chocolates bring it down.
★★★

Montezuma’s Organic Milk Chocolate with Butterscotch Eco Easter Egg
150g, £8.99, ocado.com
I kind of like the honeycomb, but I would like less. It’s not particularly attractive. I like it but it’s very sweet.
★★

Cocoa et Co Belgian Milk Chocolate Geometric Egg
280g, £9, sainsburys.co.uk
Space-agey. The colour’s come off on my hands. I don’t like the chocolates. I thought they would be like Rolos but they are flat tasting. Super sweet.
★★

Novelty eggs

Moser Roth Giant Ostrich Egg
800g, £14.99, aldi.co.uk
It’s supposed to be like a white speckled chocolate, the taste is nice, but very sweet. It’s great fun. No one has ever presented me with an egg that big … it’s like a head and a half.
★★★

Divine/Joe & Seph’s Milk Chocolate Salted Caramel Popcorn Easter Egg
200g, £10, ocado.com
OMG, it’s so sweet but quite addictive … really nice to have the crunch. I wish it was a bit saltier.
★★★

Prestat Pink Popping Prosecco Egg
170g, £17.50, ocado.com
It’s like when you’re a kid and you accidentally choose one with booze and you’re like “Ew, yuck”. It’s not a nice pink. The chocolate is ... all OK.

Heston from Waitrose The Chocolate Teapot
320g, £20, waitrose.com
I don’t like the taste of the chocolate. What am I supposed to do with the gloves? It’s all a bit weird. Too much novelty. I feel like it’s so messy.

Luxury eggs

Hotel Chocolat Extra-Thick Milk Chocolate Easter Egg
390g, £27, hotelchocolat.com
I love the snap of the chocolate. I think the wow comes from breaking it open and stuff tumbling out. Probably all-round best flavour.
★★★★

Bettys Large Milk Chocolate Spring Flowers Egg
600g, £57.50, bettys.co.uk
Very beautiful. The subtle marbling is quite lovely. A showpiece. The flowers just taste sugary.
★★★

Pierre Marcolini Big Lovely Heart Egg
500g, £49, marcolini.com
The fun factor is high. I’m not sure about the colour scheme. The inside feels very Harry Potter-y.
★★

Venchi Chocaviar Milk Chocolate Egg
340g, £44.99, selfridges.com
It’s a nice egg, but I wouldn’t pay more than £20 for it. I don’t want to open an egg and have plastic fall out, it’s not appetising … and a metal keychain? I hate it. The chocolate is tasty.

Dairy-free eggs

Asda Extra Special Free From Dairy Free Belgian Dark Chocolate Easter Egg
200g, £5, asda.com
Balanced flavour, didn’t taste free from. Not much snappability factor but it’s a nice texture.
★★★

Tesco Finest Free From Belgian Dark Chocolate Egg
200g, £5.50, tesco.com
I like the thin crunch and snap of it. It improves. I don’t like the chocolates or their filling at all, it loses a point for those.
★★

Marks & Spencer Made Without Dairy Dark Chocolate Egg
160g, £7, marksandspencer.com
The flavour is nice but the buttons are more interesting. You can’t tell it’s free from.
★★

Moo Free 65% Dark Dairy Free Easter Egg
160g, £7, ocado.com
I quite like the smell of the inside of it, like an old school cafe with hot chocolate and coffee on the go. It’s got a lovely snap.
★★

Hot cross buns

Tesco Finest Extra Fruity Hot Cross Buns
£1.50 for 4, tesco.com
There’s a lovely mix of dried fruit. It has all of the makings of a good bun. I like that the top isn’t perfect.
★★★★

Co-op Irresistible Richly Fruited Hot Cross Buns
£1.25 for 4, food.coop.co.uk
Moist, doughy, bouncy, full of fruit. It’s got some different textural points - it’s a bit chewy in the corners, which I enjoy a lot.
★★★★

Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Fruity Hot Cross Buns
£1.25 for 4, sainsburys.co.uk
There’s something I don’t love about the smell. It’s nice and fruity but a little bit small. Better toasted, needs butter.
★★★

Waitrose 1 Perfectly Fruited Hot Cross Bun
£1.89 for 2, waitrose.com
This feels drier and harder to open up … I don’t like the dough so much, it’s not bouncy. Personally, I don’t love an overly glazed bun. This is my least favourite.
★★

 

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