The Chicken Or The Egg?
March 15th, 2007 by Scott |
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Which came first: the chicken or the egg?
Well, it was the egg, of course. It was made of chocolate, and I’m rather pleased with it, actually (in fact, I’d be rather disappointed with a chocolate chicken).
I’m sure you’ve noticed how much of a rip-off Easter is from a marketing point of view. You’ll go to the shop to buy the kids a cheap egg, and walk away with the equivalent of a couple of bars of Dairy Milk (only egg shaped), at the seasonally bumped up price of £5 or more.
Now the egg I’m reviewing here is a different kettle of fish altogether. The chocolate is high quality, so justifies the high price tag (£18) on it’s own – not just because Easter exploitation allows it to. This egg is the Exuberantly Fruity Egg from Hotel Chocolat.
If you’re familiar with Hotel Chocolat you’ll know how they focus solely on high quality, real chocolate – as opposed to the sugary low cocoa variety which seems to have dominated our shops these days. While I might not generally buy it because of the higher price tag that comes with it, I can certainly ethically agree with their goals.
The Exuberantly Fruity Egg has a number of differences which make it stand out from most others. First, the shell is very thick, as can be seen from the photos – a welcome step away from the mass market thin shells. Second, the shell is made from a combination of Milk and White Chocolate, with chunks of dehydrated raspberry running through it – a perfect combination – with raspberry and chocolate working perfectly together.
It’s gluten free and also alcohol free, too. I’ll admit that the lack of alcohol made the idea of the truffles (of which there are 12, in 6 different fruity flavours) instantly unappealing to me – however once tasting their acidic fruity sharpness I was soon thrown back into it’s favour, with the Mango being my favourites.
If there’s any criticism of the egg at all (other then the high price tag), it would be that the name doesn’t fully sum up what can be expected from the deeply raspberry flavoured shell, and that might disappoint some who didn’t take the time to read the ingredients. The raspberry seeds get stuck in your teeth too, but we can hardly complain about that, can we?
My final thought? Long live real chocolate – even if you do have to pay a little bit more for it.
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On order this weekend. Totally sold.
Mmmm. Love the look of dried raspberries in that chocolate!!
You certainly have some great looking candy on your side of the world.
Ooooh, mango truffles sound wonderful!
Hmmm… that sounds lovely! Still, for a proper easter treat, surely this creme egg wins hands down? http://www.pimpthatsnack.com/project.php?projectID=302
Trig: Too bad I’m not getting commission
Pille: They taste as good as they look. Raspberries and chocolate is heaven.
peabody: I’m sure they have similar all over the place, you just have to search. Problem is, the shops are full of mass marketed junk
Lydia: And they taste it, too. Sweet without being overbearing.
Mark: Great link – I didn’t realise you could even buy easter egg moulds before (although it makes perfect sense now). D’oh!
I couldn’t agree with you more. The majority of Easter eggs sold are really bad. There are a number of chocolatiers springing up with some excellent offerings but they come at a price.
One way around this is to make your own, I found a great recipe at http://www.foodwizard.yourpower2be.com/make_your_own_chocolate_easter_eggs.html
it is a great starting point and you can experiment with your own ingredients.
Ian: Great idea to play with. Next year I’ll definitely experiment at making my own Easter eggs.
Thanks for reminding me of a great brand, I think I haven’t had any of their chocolate for almost a year. I’m not sure if the only shop that sells it here in Munich has these amazing Easter eggs, but I’ll try my luck
That’s a gorgeous egg! Poor you, having to taste test it all by yourself. Had I known I would have offered to help…
I’m not familiar with the brand but willing to try it.
Nicky: I (my wife) was lucky enough to get some for Christmas, but normally I hold the purse strings a little too tight to buy it. It’s worth the money, though.
Katie: It took me and my wife 1 day to eat it all. And I didn’t even feel guilty
oh yum…. pity that the delivery cost so much to come to me…
Lil: I’m sure you have some local company producing something equally exciting? If not…go the other route and perhaps try making your own this year.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Hey Scott, just remember to stick to the eggs, making a chocolate Jesus is more intricate and a lot more contraversial
Ian: It also requires a lot more chocolate. If you make it life size, that is.