If there is ever a time of year when there is no limit to the amount of chocolate you can it eat, then surely it’s Easter? I have had the absolute pleasure of indulging in both chocolate eggs and chocolate bunnies to stunningly flavoured gins and I am here to tell you all about it to help you choose some treats for this Easter.
If you fancy gifting your best friend or your favourite colleague this Easter with a chocolate treat then I can absolutely recommend the Blushing Cook Floral Brownie Mini Easter Eggs. They have the most stunning edible flowers as decoration covering a lovely layer of chocolate, and once you take a bite you’ll find a tasty surprise in the shape of salted caramel brownie or maybe the milk chocolate egg with hazelnut brownie filling or my personal favourite in this trio the white chocolate filled with raspberry brownie, what a treat for both the eyes and the palate. They feel like very grown up mini eggs so perfect for friends, family or yourself!
I think Swedish people are born loving Liquorice, so I was not one to say no to the Crispy Caramel Egg from LAKRIDS BY BÜLOW. An egg shaped container filled with chocolate coated Liquorice, I can tell you as a Swede it was hard to put them down! A crispy shell followed by smooth chocolate leading you to the raw liquorice powder in the centre. And as an extra treat there’s also small sea salt flakes giving you a rollercoaster of flavour. I also tried the Twisted Banana Egg. If you haven’t tried liquorice combined with fruit or berries you haven’t lived. It’s such a lovely mix to have sweet banana, salty liquorice, creamy white chocolate covering that raw liquorice core. Beautiful blends from gourmet liquorice and chocolate makers LAKRIDS BY BÜLOW and the perfect gift for anyone who loves to explore flavours and likes to try new things!
And we can’t forget our bunnies this time of year, they are a pivotal character. And I’m sure you know about the Lindt Gold Bunnies, but have you actually ever been graced with the 500g Bunny? It’s the size of a real bunny I kid you not! That is a lot of chocolate. Created by the Lindt master chocolatiers in the smoothest Swiss milk chocolate, dressed in gold and adorned with its classic red ribbon and bell. Perfect for an Easter hunt or as a centrepiece on your Easter table which you can all share after Easter lunch.
OK, so what if you want to go big this Easter or you have a lovely group of friends or family over? Well then there is nothing better than an Easter Hamper and look no further than Dukeshill, who will have the perfect products curated for you this Easter. I have to say I was probably a little too excited to see the actual wicker hamper and I didn’t get any less excited when I opened up the Dukeshill Easter Hamper. This hamper gives you such amazing choices of Easter eggs, quail eggs and to top it off a stunning traditional Simnel Cake. I have never tried a Simnel Cake so this was an exciting experience. I liked that it was a light fruit cake, treating you to additional flavours of almond paste in the middle with Marzipan balls on the top, and did you know that those 11 marzipan balls represent the apostles? Nor did I know that Simnel Cake dates back to the Tudor times.
I then moved on to chocolate eggs, in this hamper you are treated to four large chocolate eggs. First up the Salted Caramel Milk Chocolate and hiding inside your egg you’ll find bite sized milk chocolate caramels. Then there’s the Hokey Pokey Dark Chocolate Egg which has honeycomb shards inside the shell dark chocolate, the shards are filled with honeycomb from real honey. And hidden inside the box there’s an even smaller box with stunning pieces to share. If you prefer milk chocolate with honeycomb inside the shell there’s the Hokey Pokey Milk Chocolate Easter Egg, that holds the same lush honeycomb inside but instead it’s hidden under layers of Columbian milk chocolate. And again there’s a little box inside the package allowing you to share bite size pieces of honeycomb covered in milk chocolate. My favourite out of these lovely large eggs must have been the the Blonde Chocolate Easter Egg; it is truly a mix that I haven’t tried. Slight citrus with a mix of rich blonde chocolate that is infused with bergamot oil and studded with small dark, white, blonde and milk chocolate biscuits pieces. Such a lovely mix! And like the other large stunning eggs there’s a little treat to share hidden inside the package. Not only are these eggs super tasty but they are works of art, perfect for decoration before eating.
If you haven’t eaten them all yourself by the end and want to gift someone, then the Quail Eggs are perfect. Each package contains 12 eggs, and come in either Chocolate Praline with a crunchy sugar crusted shell, these look so real, or the Salted Caramel, which are dark chocolate with salted caramel, how tasty doesn’t that sound? This hamper is perfect for a group of friends of a family gathering with something for everyone plus many centrepieces for Sunday lunch.
So now that we have eaten chocolate like its going out of fashion, we have to wash it all down with a nice beverage.
I will never say no to a good Gin & Tonic, and there are so many lovely Gins to fit anyone’s taste. Starting out I tried the Silent Pool Gin. It is produced using 24 botanicals, it’s fresh and fruity holding lavender, camomile, citrus and a little honey sweetness on the palate. Delicious on its own or with tonic, this gin is super fresh and perfect for Spring. It is presented in a lush tin with a lid that doubles as a coaster so great as a present this Easter. The glass bottle is beautifully adorned with a bit of a haunting story told within its floral print. Silent Pool’s name comes from the lake next to the distillery in the Surrey Hills.
If you prefer a sweeter fruitier Gin, you should try Gordons Tropical Passionfruit with juniper berry and soft fruity aromas. A lovely tropical passion fruit flavour with a smooth finish, the pale golden colour of this gin makes the bottle look like the Easter sun. A lovely sweet gin perfect for Easter that could be used to make cocktails or take the edge of all that chocolate!
There is definitely something of everyone in this roundup for any kind of Easter; whether it’s just you, you and your lover or you spend it with a lovely group of friends or family. Either way Happy Easter!
