These Galaxy Bubbles Eggs are perhaps the most disappointing Easter mini eggs of the year so far. Of course they’re virtually identical to the Caramel Temptations eggs but are filled with a Wispa type, bubbly filling which tastes almost unlike chocolate. I know that’s what galaxy chocolate lovers like, but yuk it’s like eating thick, set, double cream.

If you wanted a sweet, sickly fix then all well and good, but to me they’re inedible. In fact I’d say they’re revolting and I had to stop at the first bite and put the rest of the egg in the bin -they’re just that bad! I can’t remember how much I paid for them, but boy was it a waste of money! Galaxy do so many other decent filled eggs so I’d say you should give them a go instead if you do love Galaxy.

I just can’t explain it as I’ve not had other Galaxy Chocolate products that taste as insipid as these so I wonder if there was just something wrong with the batch? If that is the case, I’d hope they would have gone through the system by now!

On a recent trip to Tesco to scout of what Tesco will be stocking for Easter this year I came across these hazelnut mini eggs from Ferrero. At the time I thought twice about it as they were a pretty heft £2.50 a bag or £3.00 for two. Although I didn’t inspect the bags too closely I wouldn’t have bought them if I’d have known at the time that they’ll eventually be available on the multi-buy. You see £2.50 for ten of these mini eggs is a bit much.

I must admit it was the packaging that drew me in – more normal circumspect personality was controlled by the beautiful packaging. The soft, golden colours with the whimsical and enticing picture of the inside of the egg made me give in to temptation. What’s more, apparently they won a Great Taste Award last year which should be a sign of a good quality chocolate. But after tasting the mini eggs I’m in two minds.

Each mini egg is about 3.5cm by 2.5cm and wrapped in lovely, thin golden foil wrapper, which, thankfully, was easy to remove. As I’ll be mentioning in a couple of reviews later this week, I don’t get on too well with mini eggs wrapped in foil when you’ve got to buy them outside of a larger bag as they just don’t scan. Thankfully you don’t have that problem here.

The ingredients may confuse some. Many people have been brought up thinking that the higher the cacao content then the better the chocolate. The ingredients states: “fine milk chocolate 52.5%”, but this doesn’t actually mean that the milk chocolate contained 52.5% milk solids, but each mini egg is just over half milk chocolate – and 9.5% hazelnuts. It doesn’t actually mention what the cacao rate is, but I can tell it’s not as low as most Nestlé chocolate.

The outer flavour is actually very nice in terms of most milk chocolate mini eggs, although they do look a bit light and pale for my liking. The shell is just 2mm thick which surrounds a middle layer of wafer and then a gorgeous hazelnut filling in the centre. I normally don’t like these mass-produced mini eggs as they’re too much like confectionery than chocolate but these are actually pretty nice.

For some there may be too much sugar and salt, but it comes across in the classic, addictive format that so many people love. If they didn’t have this touch of salty ‘zip’ then I doubt they’d be as popular. I do, however, feel that three or four would be many (normal) people’s limit as they do a get a touch much in terms of the flavour. But if you’re looking for a lighter alternative than the

It was just two short years ago since I reviewed the Kinder Surprise Eggs so I thought it was about time that I took another look at them. Back then they were being sold by Tesco for 58p each and this year you can get a pack of three for £1.68 which works out to be 56p each – well despite household costs going up a great deal since then, at least your Easter confectionery spend should be going down. I just wish Hotel Chocolat held their prices after increasing them 15% or so last year, and I have no idea how much they’ll go up this year.

But are they good value for money? I have my doubts to be honest. As Easter approaches you’ll often get the supermarkets chucking the small and medium-sized Easter eggs at you with stupendous pricing such as 3 for £2 and the like. Here you’ll get three 20g eggs with toys in them. As we know with most children it’s the size rather than the quality of chocolate that seems to matter with them so I’m sure they’ll appreciate the larger sized, cheap eggs than these. That’s not to say Kinder Surprise Eggs are good quality though – they’re quite simply not.

When you spend enough money promoting a chocolate treat it doesn’t matter how bad they are, they’ll still sell – just look at Cadbury Crème Eggs!

But what of the taste? You just have to look at the ingredients to see that they’re 52.5% sugars and 23.5% saturated fats, but apparently they are made from “fine milk chocolate”. Personally I find them far too sweet and milky. Just the smallest bite leaves wondering why they’re so popular – ok “sweet” and “fatty” should give it away.

I’d love people to buy better quality Easter eggs for their children but when budgets are so tight I doubt it’ll happen all that much. Kids will love them because they have a taste that kids seem to love and there’s a toy inside. But would you give your child something that could be seen as 76.5% bad for you (in excess)?

And what was my toy? well it was a giraffe. All I had to do was roll up some bits of plastic and stick them into some holes in some other bits of solid plastic. I know they’re for young kids, but it doesn’t require a great deal of imagination to make it.

Even before we’ve taken down the Christmas decorations and even considered going back to work, Tesco have got their shelves stocked full to the rafters with Easter chocolates. They may not have loaded them with traditional Easter eggs just yet, but they have made their more ‘convenient’ snacks available to buy. The idea of stretching Easter out as long as possible may belittle the festival to some degree, but in a chocolate sense it does allow people to try the wide range of Easter-themed chocolates over a much longer time.

This year Tesco have a touch more on offer than the same time last year. Along with the three box of Kinder Surprise Eggs, a Galaxy Bubble egg and a couple of types of Ferrero Eggs, but they also have these new Cadbury Creme Egg Splats – at the astonishing price of £2 for 165g. In that fairly decently sized ‘grab bag’ I got 41 of these ‘splats’ which actually look like chocolate tortoises from any distance over a foot.

Each of these spats is about 3cm long and just under 2.5cm wide and appears to be made from their standard chocolate but filled with the white stuff from the normal creme eggs – the really sweet stuff. There are two ways to review these splats: one as a chocolate and one as a snack. As a chocolate I found them remarkably two-dimensional – the chocolate was ‘wooden’ and bland whilst the centre was just plain sweet. There’s not a great deal of flavour there at all.

The way to review these splats is to consider that they’re a grab bag to share whilst you’re on the move or sat in front of the TV – on both occasions you may not actually consciously savour what you’re eating, but you’re just craving a sugary fix. On that level the splats do that, but nowhere near in as a satisfying way as their mini eggs which are much more enjoyable.

Having passed one to my wife who is much in tune with Cadbury’s chocolate than I am, she also thought they were bland. But I’m more than willing to hear what you think of them – did you like the splats?

• Cadbury Gifts Direct – they should be on their site soon
• Tesco – £2

And if you’re wondering why’re they’re called Splats? Well it’s probably something to do with their marketing campaign at bus stops where you can ‘splat’ a Creme egg whilst you wait for your but into work. Mmmmm.

But in that gift box where you also get a large Twirl egg, a mini eggs disc egg, a Dairy Milk Buttons egg, a treasure egg, a Crème Egg three pack, another one with the caramel eggs, a caramel bunny and a tube of Mini eggs, for £25 then you’re talking much better value for money.

Of course this egg uses the standard 20% minimum cocoa solids, very sweet chocolate with vegetable fat which is far from being my favourite, but still you just can’t help yourself form eating half the egg without noticing. This house chocolate packaged in this way obviously doesn’t make it anything other than an Easter egg for kids. If you’ve got a few children then you’ll probably look at one of the Cadbury gift boxes as the way to go, and I don’t really blame you. It’s not awesome chocolate, but it’s very convenient and great value for money!

I can’t believe its three years since I last reviewed a chocolate pizza. But after visiting the Ramsbottom Chocolate Festival today I came away with an Easter chocolate pizza from The Chocolate Cafe and I just couldn’t wait to get it home to try it out (just like most Friday nights).

The previous one cost £17.50 and had ten inch greater diameter, whilst this one is £11.95 and comes with the three toppings: milk chocolate curls, white chocolate curls and mini eggs – all on a 9″ inch base. But this certainly isn’t a thin crust chocolate pizza as the chocolate itself is actually around 5mm thick which is plenty thick enough to provide a good texture and mouth feel.

The chocolate itself is also fairly mild. Where so often milk chocolate can be two sweet, this is just at the right level considering you’ll probably find yourself eating far too much of it – it just had the right balance of chocolatiness and sweetness. What’s more, the mini eggs are in themselves, very sweet so if you had those with a very sweet milk chocolate base then it’d be too much. I hate to think what this would taste like with the Nestle or Cadbury house chocolate – It’d probably send me into a sugar over-dose! The white chocolate curls also add to the flavour by supplying a mild, creamy edge which combines with milk chocolate to compliment the mini eggs.

If you ordered online you can create your own pizza with fudge, jazzies, lemon flavour buttons, and yoghurt coated raisins – the choice is yours. And another thing I liked is that you’re supporting a small business buying this chocolate pizza rather than a ‘faceless’ multinational corporation.

As a quick rating I’d give it a ‘very good’, as it tastes fantastic in terms of being a chocolate novelty and is very good value for money.

I don’t have to review these Mini Eggs from Green & Blacks to know I love them. I seem to get them every year and my affection grows with every tasting. But what I’ve not tasted before was the butterscotch mini eggs. I’ve tried their large butterscotch Easter egg before and loved it. But with this gift box you also get the 70% dark chocolate praline mini eggs and their milk chocolate ones.

Each box is 100g in weight and contains about 14 eggs, each wrapped in foil and they all have a different personality, but with the same underlying organic tone. The milk chocolate ones are more intense than probably most milk chocolate lovers would like, but it’s just that they are made with very good quality chocolate.

The dark chocolate ones have a very noticeable praline flavour with a slightly intoxicating edge that, although they weren’t my favourite, they were still very agreeable.

Whilst the butterscotch has a very strange flavour at first and then becomes intensely beautiful. At first it starts off as slightly cheesy but then moves into the same realms as the Cadbury’s Mini Eggs which also have a very strong addictive quality to them.

If you weren’t so convinced about the range of flavours, you can choose other Green & Blacks gifts such as collections just focused on the butterscotch, milk chocolate or dark chocolate where you get the mini eggs and other types of bars too. I’ve also got their much larger collection with the five medium Easter eggs and some mini eggs which you can get for £30, and that’s pretty damn good value for money too.

Picture the scene. You’re in town, you’ve bought everyone else in your family an Easter egg, but you’ve forgotten your wife, or even mother, and at a push, your grandmother. What do you buy them? Well seeing as virtually every highstreet has a Thorntons, I’d recommend this Jubilee Easter egg.

I must have eaten my weight in Easter eggs so far this year and I know a fantastic, great value egg when I see one. And if you really need to impress a loved-one after last year’s tube of mini eggs, then you’ve got to consider this one. I know you’ll be thinking £24.99 for an Easter egg … but in these straightened times its worth “buying” a bit of peace and quiet, instead of paying for a more expensive forfeit gift. And you’ll certainly have a very grateful wife or girlfriend if you got them this egg.

At 18cm tall and at about 450g it’ll keep even the most ardent chocoholic occupied for quite some time. Often these large-scale Easter eggs are of poor quality. I’ve tasted a lot of really naff chocolate this year, but I absolutely loved the 30% minimum cacao chocolate with this one. There’s a sort of caramel, slightly smoky edge to it. It’s also nowhere near as sweet as those others. It’s definitely milk chocolate, but it’s more of a session chocolate that you can endlessly munch on.

But it doesn’t stop there. At the bottom there seemed to be a never-ending supply of bon bons. I’d remove the top off one layer and then there’d be another, and then another, and yet another. In all there are four layers of these chocolates which total 36 and include eight specifically created for their centenary this year. I’ve tasted tones of Thornton’s assortments in my time and they taste damn good – especially for the price.

I know some people are fussy about their chocolates but there are some of their classics in there as well as some interesting flavours for the more adventurous. If you’re interested the selection includes: Vanille Truffle, Vieneese Truffle, Canache au Marc de Champagne, Cherry Truffle, Diplomat, Layered Chocolate Classic, Double Chocolate Pot, Lemon Meringue, Tiramisu, Toffee Mousse, Midnight Melt, Manhattan Melt, Soho Caramel, Orange Garden, Caramel Cup, Raspberry and Rose, Lime and Chilli and a classic Hazelnut praline. If that doesn’t get you excited, I don’t know what will.

One of the problems I’ve felt with Thorntons over the years is that their Easter eggs haven’t been all that adventurous. If you wanted simple Easter eggs for the kids, or traditional ones for your parents then you know you’d find something there. But if you wanted something a bit more unique, you’ll probably look elsewhere. Now, I feel that they’ve started on the road in producing Easter eggs that really do make you go “oh my God” when you see them in store. Hopefully next year we’ll see a much wider range of larger Easter eggs with chocolate assortments with them.

I genuinely think this is a wonderful Easter egg if you need to impress and you don’t like paying £40+ from other shops. But if you really want to go overboard, you should try the Limited Edition Jubilee Wonder box which is worth £100. And like them on Facebook to make sure you don’t miss their centinerary give-aways etc.

You can’t get much more luxurious at this time of year than tucking into a Paul A. Young Sea Salted Caramel. I could end the review there as that’s all you really need to know. But for those of you who’d actually like to know why, then here’s why: it’s made with awesome dark chocolate, presented fantastically and the filling is sublime.

This egg this egg looks different this year, and even nicer. You’ll now find it washed with gold ‘paint’ which gives it much more elegant and indulgent. From I can gather it’s the same size and sill contained within the same egg cup and accompanied by the same spoon. But what is different is that it tastes even more awesome. Last year I found a it a touch too intense, but with this one the salt level must have been brought down a few notches.

I find it very difficult to fault this egg as a luxurious Easter treat, I don’t actually know the price (I was sent it for review), but I do know you can only get it in his stores in London (Camden and Royal Exchange), but for anyone living or working anywhere near the Central or Circle lines then it’s worth taking your lunch break or the part of this weekend to nip down and get one (and some other goodies). Or if you’re coming down for a tour of London’s chocolate shops make sure that you visit Paul’s first.

The thing is that there are plenty of gimmicky chocolatiers in London, and many of them are fantastic, but none will offer anything as gloriously messy as this egg. It manages to contrast a fruity mild-dark chocolate shell that’s not as bitter as most of its ilk with a bitter-sweet caramel filling which makes every bite completely different. Wow – it gives a post coitous-like glow that only the rarest of chocolate experiences can deliver. Forgive me, I shaln’t be finishing this review as I need to lie down … 90% … will that do for a score?

One of the biggest differences, visually, is that these ones are more of an irregular shape. But in terms of flavour they’re far less sweet and do taste a great deal more natural. But saying that, this does have some pretty strange sounding stuff in it, such as “copper complexes of chlorophyll” in it – whatever that is! The issue is, that I expect the Cadbury’s Mini Eggs have had teams of experts doing various different tests on sales volumes with different recipes to get the most “addictive” variations of the flavours – and I’m sure it works. On a chemical level I can’t get enough of them. But on a healthier, moralistic level, I’d plump for the Divine version.

Although some of Cadbury’s chocolate is Fairtrade, and although Fairtrade isn’t perfect, I’d generally plump for the more ethical chocolate from Divine as I expect the local growers would get more of a financial reward than otherwise would be the case. But what was of interest was that the Divine version had only 2% more cacao (27% compared to 25%).

Also I couldn’t find these on sale at the Divine Shop, Only at Ocado where they’re priced at £4 for 170g, although you can buy, what looks like to be the same product from Ethical Superstore for £1.99 for 95g.