Oeuf Orfevre, Dark Chocolate Easter Egg

This is one for serious chocolate connoisseurs (did I spell that right?). It's a high quality dark chocolate Easter egg which is decorated with 22carat gold and silver and filled with gold-speckeled dark chocolate and croquant mini eggs! Now I'm going to have to order me one of these! I spending way too much money on these eggs to review!!!

You can get it from The Chocolate Trading Co.

Devine Dark Chocolate Fairtrade Easter Egg Review

The Devine 70% FairTrade Dark Chocolate Easter Egg is a great Easter egg. If you were looking at the box in a supermarket I'm sure you'd pick it up as the design is great and does convey the style of the egg very well.

The thing that sets this egg apart from other dark chocolate is that you get chocolate covered Brazil nuts as well. And, to be honest, it needs it as the egg isn't that large to be honest.

The egg does seem a bit lost within the box, I think they should have made the package slightly smaller, but perhaps this would have detered a few people from buying it. Perhaps you should look at the weight information on the back of the box to give a better idea of how much actual confectionary there is in it?



The thing I did like about the Devine Dark Chocolate Fairtrade Easter Egg, however, was that it wasn't one of those highly polished eggs that Thorntons offer (but Thorntons do offer a great range of flavoured eggs).


The texture of the egg was fantastic too. Some Easter eggs can be very heavy and overpowering but the taste was just as great as the aroma - rich but subtle at the same time with a nicely rounded bitter dark chocolate taste.

Trying to break into the egg was an interesting feat. It was very brittle and disintegrated in my hands. This is a good sign as it shows that its not filled with butter milk and does have a high cocoa content.


Its a shame that it didn't have the mini eggs like the Black Magic Dark chocolate egg (which I gave 10/10 for), but the chocolate covered Brazil nuts do offer something different.

Easter Eggs Rating: 9/10

Buy from Ethical Supertore

Black Magic Easter Egg With Mini Eggs

OMG! If I could just type that and get away with it I would! The Black Magic Easter Egg With Mini Eggs can be bought from Tescos for £6.99. It may be seven pounds more expensive than the cheapest eggs I've tasted here. But they're worth a million times more.

This Easter egg is certainly magical - its the best I've tasted so far!

The packaging is devine, it reflects its dark quality exceptionaly well. The box is very tall and I was disapointed that the entire box isn't full with it's tasty delight. But doing the maths you do get 200g of pure sensory satisfaction.



When you pull the eggs out of the box you're not fully aware of the joy that just a few short seconds away. As you un wrap the large egg you're met with a roasty, tangy aroma of dark chocolate. But I implore you to wait. Unwrap one of the mini-eggs which are filled with a truffle centre - you won't be dissapointed. They're as much fun as you can have with your clothes on - simply fantastic. It's like a million fairies dancing on your tounge - have another!


Unlike the Green & Blacks 70% Organic Dark Chocolate Easter egg, the Black Magic one has a very thick shell. An the taste and texture are more delightful too. Your taste buds will be massaged into a relaxed state of pure decadence.

I can't rate this one high enough.

Easter Eggs Rating: 10/10

Green & Blacks Organic 70% Dark Chocolate Egg

I was really looking forward to this egg as I love dark chocolate. I was slightly dissapointed however.

The box does look fantastic. The golden wrapping adds a sense of quality and the six mini praline mini-eggs look like there'll be a little bit of extra luxury.

When opening up the box the aroma was not as strong as I'd thought it woudld be, and that was a slight disapointment. The taste was also strange. It started off quite agricultural. I don't want to say the word sewerage as that wouldn't be fair. But it's the taste of fermenting hay - perhaps because its organic? That taste only lasts for a moment and then subsides into a nice bitter tang.



One nice characteristic is that the chocolate is quite thick. It's certainly not a lighweight egg at 180g seeing as it's not compromised by a couple of chocolate bars - which is the case with most of the cheaper alternatives.

The mini pralines are exceptionally nice, if a bit too small. Of course there is a distinct advantage knowing that you're eating organic and that its suitable for vegitarians although they do say that it is manufactured in an environment where gluten and ceral products are also handled. The downside is that if you react unfavourably to nuts then you couldn't try the pralines.

Easter Eggs Rating: 7 / 10

You can buy the Green & Blacks Organic 70% Dark Chocolate Egg from:
Green & Blacks
Ethical Supertore offer (save £5 when you spend £20 with the discount code "X5WFF" - until 3rd March):
Green & Blacks Organic Dark Chocolate Egg 110g - £2.99
Green & Blacks Organic Dark Chocolate Mini Eggs - £3.99
Green and Blacks Organic Dark Chocolate Easter Egg with Mini Eggs - £5.99

Featured in: The Independent

John Lewis 70% Single Origin Cocoa Easter Egg

For £15 this is pretty much of a bargain Easter egg considering it comes from John Lewis.

They don't give much information on their site, other than it's 70% dark chocolate, but at least you can tell if you'll like if from their photo.

Thorntons Mad About Ginger Easter Egg

I'm not sure if I prefer Mint or Ginger the most, but if anyone was buying for me I wouldn't be dissapointed with this egg - probably because its bigger than the mint one!

The Thorntons Mad About Ginger Easter Egg is 640g of pure ginerness as you get a 400g dark chocolate egg with two 120g bags of ginger covered with dark chocolate.

Thorntons Mad About Mint Easter Egg

I just love mint chocolate. I suppose my favourite would be a dark mint chocoalte, thick shell one! The Thorntons Mad about Mint Easter egg is just 550g is just £9.99 and you get 300g of dark mint chocolate which contains natural peppermint oil with sugar pieces. You'll also get 120g of Double mint cream mints and one bag of Peppermint Cremes (135g).

So if you're buying for a mint-lover, then take a look at the Thorntons Mad About Mint Easter egg which is also gluten-free.

At the moment I can't see this one in the Thorntons 2009 Easter range.

Extra Thick Chocolate

Extra thick Easter Eggs are my favourite as well as dark ones. They may be a bit more expensive, but I feel they're worth it. There are a good selection of extra thick eggs this Easter:

Hotel Chocolat

• Rocky Road to Caramellow - £19
  
• The Eggsibitionist - £18
  
• The Serious Dark Fix Egg - £20
  
• You Crack Me Up - £18
  
• Your Eggsellency - £20
  

Luxury Engraved Creamed Caramel Cocoa Pod Egg

The Rocky Road Easter eggs may be a bit much for some, not only in terms of price but also the sheer amount of chocoalte you get. This is where the range of Luxury Engraved Cocoa Pod Easter Eggs from Hotel Chocolat come in!

They've got a selection of Easter eggs that still have the same quality, but are just a bit cheaper at £9.

They've done the right thing and have a wide selection. You can choose from:

• 40% Milk Chocolate
• 50% Macho Milk
• Creamed Caramel
• Dark 72% Chocolate
• Pure White Chocolate
  

Your Eggsellency Easter Egg - Extra Thick

The Your Eggsellency Easter Egg™ is an egg of two halves. One half is made from 40% milk chocolate and the other from 72% dark chocolate! Now that's a great idea! Within them you've got a good selection of 9(ish) mini truffle eggs made with champagne, bellini, tiramisu, kirsch, amaretto and others.

Of course, they're avaliable from Hotel Chocolat for £20. You can also get this Easter egg from John Lewis.

The Serious Dark Fix Easter Egg

If you're a lover of dark chocolate (like me) you'll love this dark chocolate Easter Egg from Hotel Chocolat.

Well the Serious Dark Fix Egg isn't a "Cheap" dark fix egg, but it'll be well worth it! £20 will get you a wonderfully thick Easter egg with 'seriously authentic dark pralines' inside - I counted 16!

Its suitable for vegans and for people that want their Easter eggs alcohol free!

Visit Hotel Chocolat to find out more - it can't be dispatched until 11th Feb, however.

The Sleekster Box - Hotel Chocolat Review

The guys at Hotel Chocolat have just sent me their "Hand-piped Choclate Selection Box - The Sleekster Box" - thanks Chris!


I must admit I don't think the Sleekster Box will be part of their specific Easter Chocolate range as I believe they're finalising their range as I believe their Valentine's range has to be sorted first. But, I still think the Sleekster collection would be a fantastic one for people that aren't keen on the egg variety and would probably suit someone that likes fine chocolate, but also likes a bit of variety.

Anyhow, on to the review ...

Hotel Chocolat aren't only renowned for making fantastic chocolate, but also well-designed packaging. When you first get the chocolates out of it's postal box you know you're going to enjoy delicious hand-piped chocolate. To be honest, they look like they should be more expensive than the £17.50 they have it as.

Hotel Chocolat describe the Sleekster Box as:

"Smooth and mellow pralines, rich triffled fillings, real fruit recipes, soft and light buttercreams, flowing cramel ... a broad and balanced selection of just about every chocolate genre in a single box"

And they're not wrong!

Just look at the selection that they offer:

If you can't read that, then these are the chocolates you get:

Top Row: Layers of praline and white chocolate; Amerena cherry suspended in Amaretto butter creaml Florentine topped praline; chocolate brownie; Amaretto buttercream

Middle Row: Orange praline; Milk praline studded with whole hazelnuts; Dark chocolate ganache with Grand Marnier; Pipped smooth praline; Irish coffee buttercream

Bottom Row: Mellow Baileys cream ganache; Maple pecan crunch; Butterscotch ganache with shortbread biscuit; Praline with crispy pancake; Smooth praline cup

It's when you open up the box it's the fantastically intoxicating aroma that you first notice. The second is the amazingly delicate and enticing chocolates that are revealed before you.


I'm tempted to eat them now. The thing is its my fiance's birthday tomorrow and I've been too busy to get her much (I spent a fortune on her at Christmas) so these chocolates can form part of her birthday presents. The deal will be that she'll have to review them though!

Also if you're a vegetarian, these chocolates are suitable for you. But if you don't want to consume any alcohol then there are 4 of the chocolates to avoid. But why would you want to? They look amazing!

If you've had these chocolates then feel free to add your own reviews.