Well, the obvious thing to write would be “what came first: the chicken or the egg?” In this case it’d have to be an egg. In my mad rush of buying this from Tesco for the stupidly high price of £2.50 I didn’t actually read the “Egg Inside” that’s featured on the wrapping. Much to my surprise, when I broke off the chicken’s head and peered inside and saw a fairly big chocolate egg. To me Easter chocolates are all about surprises – and you get one if you don’t read the packaging.

The chicken is about 10cm long and weighs 117.5g so it’s on the average side. What isn’t average, unfortunately, is that hefty price. I’d expect £1.99 at the very most and you get Nestlé’s bog-standard chocolate for it. At only 25% minimum cacao solids it’s not going to be the most adult of flavours. Instead you’ll get their usual very sweet, almost addictive chocolate. I know I do prefer gourmet chocolate but I just can’t get enough of this chicken and egg!

What’s more, inside that inner egg there were about ten Smarties which didn’t, to me, taste like the usual Smarties you get in a tube. Instead they’re much smaller and taste sweeter.

As a rating I’d have to give it a: Good – but it is too expensive.

Their Finance Director, Mr McIlwee, said that they had “sold a lot of Easter eggs because Woolworths had disappeared and we sold out a couple of days early.”

It’s good for consumers that they can buy cheaper Easter eggs in the one sense, but in the other, it ensures that they only stick to a couple of brands and aren’t encouraged to try other types of chocolate as their prices weren’t generally reduced.

My hope for next Easter is that people explore that range of fantastic Easter eggs available a bit more.

The first thing I noticed about the Moo-Riel is the price. £3.99 is fairly expensive especially when you consider some of the absolute bargains they had on last year.

What I think they’re counting on is “pester power” from the kids as it is an Easter egg that really does stand out! Its striking, and although there wasn’t a great deal else on the shelves, I feel it’ll still sell well closer to the time.

But what is the chocolate like?

Well, its 200g of average chocolate, well what did you expect? It’s aimed at kids so it’s not going to be chocolate for connoisseurs such as the fantastic stuff from The Chocolate Trading Co.. But that said, I’d say it’s still a fairy good choice for Kids as it’s not massively laden with sugar.

The taste reminds me of the Nestle Rolo Easter egg but with a slightly weird after-taste. If you’re buying for a child that is likely to get a whole load of Easter eggs then I think this could be a good choice.

The chocolate was reasonably thick, but nothing overly so. It’s acceptable, however.

Moo-Riel Hollow Milk Chocolate Cow Nutritional Information:
Just going off what the packaging says – 1/8th of an egg contains 140 calories or 1120 in total, 102g of sugar in total, 72.8g of fat in total of which 44g are saturates.

Overall they estimate that there’s a minimum of 34% cocoa solids.

Allergy Advice: They say it contains milk and soya. There’s no nuts in the recipe, but the equipment used to make it previously had nuts on it.

Packaging:
Very low use of card and a reasonable amount of plastic. There was no foil used.

Easter Eggs Rating 6/10 – Targeted at kids, so nothing special.

Search for other Moo-Riel products or Amazon.

The box is great just as the Triple Chocolate Easter egg was. It really is an Easter egg for your loved one and I’m sure your other half would be extremely glad to get such a fantastic egg.

When you get the egg out of the box you’re met with a very pleasant aroma that entices you in to taste its delights.

But you have to get past the very attractive “bow” which does add a touch of class to the egg. As you pick it up you’ll notice its thicker and heavier than the other Tesco’s Easter eggs.

It’s the summer fruits that give it some “piquancy” (I watch cooking programmes too!). It’s great to counterbalance the texture and mellowness of the chocolate with something a bit sharper. Truly delightful!

I must admit that Tesco’s have done an absolutely fantastic range of Easter eggs this year. If they want me to take part in designing some next year, they know where I am! As I certainly think they should extend the range on offer.

Overall, the Tesco’s Belgian Chocolate Summer Fruit Easter Egg was a fantastic egg and I’ll certainly enjoy finishing off.

Easter Eggs Rating 9/10

The Banoffee eggs stood out as one of the most interesting they had – despite not being the most expensive – at a reasonable £4.99.

The is great as it tells you exactly what you get inside and has a nice
material-handle.

When you open up the box you’re me with a rich banana aroma which was highly inviting. And when you see the 6 mini eggs you’re just as excited.

The egg was surprisingly light and was easy to break into, but when you take a bite; OMG! It was crispy, fizzy and fantastically delightful! It really did surprise me. I didn’t expect it to have such a delicate but yet complex flavour.

When ever I review eggs I try not to have too much as I know after a couple of hours of trying them I’d feel ill. But with this one I really didn’t want to stop!!! If you do buy it for somebody else, you’ll be hiring a sniffer dog to find out where they hide it – if it lasts that long!

I was slightly disappointed by the mini eggs as they were very, very sweet. But that doesn’t take anything away from a fantastically delightful Easter egg.

So overall, I’d say the Tesco Milk Chocolate Banoffee Easter egg is a must buy if you’re trying to find one that’s a little-bit different.

Easter Eggs Review: 9/10

Tesco have a great range of Lindt Easter Eggs to buy online. They’ve massively increased their selection since I looked last month and now offer for home delivery:

Lindt Gold Bunny Luxury Egg 250g
Lindt Lindor Egg & Truffles 360g
Lindt Gold Bunny & Swiss Classicschoc Bars 475g
Lindt Lindor Solid Mini Eggs 175g
Lindt Gold Bunny Egg 125g
Lindt Gold Bunny Drum 200g

Visit Tesco online to buy, but I think you can also arrange to pick up your shopping from your local store too, as well as obviously pick and pay there.

It appears that some customers of Tesco Online are able to get Free Cadburys Mini Creme Eggs when they order online. The only problem is that it appears to be totally random who are offered them!

If you’re lucky enough you’re met with a nice welcome message:

Happy Easter from Tesco.com
Cuddly bunnies, fluffy chicks, yummy eggs – we love Easter and there’s no better time for a little treat.
As a small token of our appreciation for being such a loyal customer, we’d like to offer you a pack of chocolate mini eggs to enjoy this Easter.
To receive your free mini eggs simply click on the ‘add to basket’ button on the right and your free mini eggs will then be added to your basket.
Enjoy your chocolate mini eggs and have a Happy Easter from Tesco.com

I’ve just got back from Tesco and it looks like they’ve added a load of Easter eggs targeted at children for the low price of just £1.49 each – and they’re doing buy 1 get 1 free too!

They’re made by Kinnerton who make nut free confectionery. Their site isn’t up-to-date so I can’t give you the complete range of kid’s Easter eggs that they offer, but what I can see from visiting Tesco is that it looks like they sell:

• The Simpson’s Easter Egg
• Spider-man Easter Egg
• Peter Rabbit
• Bob the Builder / Pingu / Thomas The Tank Engine / Fireman Sam
• Barbie
• World Wrestling thingy-bob

I’m waiting for my eggs to review, but initially I doubt they’ll be high quality Eater eggs for that price. But they’re effectively 75p each so you can’t really argue!

As you can see, the packaging is well designed and some of them state they are made on nut-free production lines, which I think is a major achievement – especially with the increase in nut-allergies (or at least the reporting of!) I’m trying to ascertain exactly which eggs are “nut free”, so hopefully I’ll have that information soon.

I’ll add the full details of the products (and hopefully a review) as soon as I can!

2011 Update – It seems they’re slower off the mark this year to get their full range of Easter eggs on the shelves. They have, just like Asda got the usual Nestle Easter eggs on the shelves in the form of Smarties, Milky Way and Maltesers which can be bought for 3 for £3 (Asda is 3 for £4) where both sell them for £2 each.

Tesco also have their micro sugar coated eggs in stock plus the naff Toy Story Easter eggs from Kinnerton as well as a strange looking Haribo Easter egg for £4.

2010 Update – Their Finest Easter eggs are actually fantastic this year so give them a go if you’re buying online or in store. But if you wanted a great bargain on Easter eggs for kids then I suggest you visit Cadbury Gifts Direct who offer some great bargains on Cadbury Chocolate Hampers with a special Easter theme.

Currently Tesco are doing a variety of Easter egg and chocolate bargains:
2 for £3.00 on Cadbury Mini Egg Easter Cakes.2 for £2 on a variety of Nestlé Easter eggs such as the Smarties Easter egg, Milky Way Easter Eggs, the Maltesers Easter egg, plus the Toy Story Easter egg. They’ve also got the Lira Fair Trade Easter egg for £4.99 which looks interesting. You can also get the Baileys Easter egg which was disappointing.

Tesco may not be flavour of the month because of their attitude to battery hens but they do have chocolate Easter eggs that I think are created in a more acceptable manner.

Here’s what they currently have:

• Cadburys Creme Eggs 6 Pack – £2.29
• Cadburys Creme Egg Single – £0.40
• Cadburys Creme Eggs 3 Pack – £1.19
• Terry’s Chocolate Orange Segsations Mini Eggs 91g – £1.09
• Cadburys Mini Eggs Tube 45g – £0.55
• Cadburys Mini Egg Bag 100g – £0.89
• Kinder Surprise Eggs 6 Pack 120g – £2.99
• Lindt Lindor Filled Egg 28g – £0.59
• Cadburys Mini Egg Tube 120g – £1.05
• Kinder Bueno Eggs 130g – £1.99
• Cadburys Mini Eggs Treatsize 264g Bag – £2.59
• Cadburys Mini Creme Egg Bag 100g – £1.09
• Cadburys Caramel Eggs 3 Pack – £1.19
• Kinnerton Character Medium Easter Egg 90g – £1.49
• Cadbury Creme Egg Mini 57.5gC£0.54
• Milkybar Mini Egg Pouch 180g – £1.99
• Nestle Rolo Filled Egg Single – £0.39
• Cadburys Dairy Milk Egg Heads 77g – £0.79
• Cadburys Creme Eggs 12 Pack – £4.45
• Cadbury Mini Caramel Eggs Bag 100g – £1.09
• Nestle Milkybar Mini Eggs Tube 130g – £1.09
• Nestle Smarties Mini Eggs Tube 136g – £1.09
• Black Magic Mini Eggs 150g – £2.99
• Milkybar Shaker Egg Single – £0.39
• Lindt Lindor Chocolate Mini Eggs 162g – £3.49
• Lindt Gold Bunny 50g – £1.49
• Black Magic Premium Filled Egg 28g – £0.55
• Kitkat Experience Egg 165g – £4.99
• Green & Black’s Dark Chocolate Mini Eggs 175g – £3.99
• Smarties Mini Egg Pouch 180g – £1.99
• Cadburys Mini Eggs Bag 400g – £3.19

I’ve just been to Tesco’s and found they’ve got these Kinnerton Easter Eggs:

• The Simpsons Easter Egg
• Spider-man Easter Egg
• Peter Rabbit
• Bob the Builder / Pignut / Thomas The Tank Engine
• Barbie
• and is it Little Miss Groovy (or something similar)

Taken from the Tesco site 12/01/08.