Easter is fast approaching and that means one thing for many: plenty of chocolate.
The holiday has significant religious meaning and offers a chance to spend precious time with family, but one of the major highlights is all the sweet treats it brings, from hot cross buns to Easter eggs.
Mini Eggs are a firm favourite across the country as people flock to supermarkets as soon as they arrive each year.
The small but mighty eggs have a deliciously moreish sweet shell and hard chocolate inside, but the only complaint is that a small bag doesn't go far enough.
They aren't the cheapest sweet treat around, as an 80g packet of Cadbury's Mini Egg packet will set you back £1.25.
With this in mind, Express reporter Mared Gruffydd has been on a mission to find out if any of the own brand supermarket alternatives from Aldi, Lidl, Tesco or M&S were better than the classic.
Below, she explains her findings.
M&S
Costing £1.25 for 90g worth, Marks and Spencer Chicky Chocky Speckled Eggs were better value than Mini Eggs.
They were also the only chocolate eggs I found which had the same speckled candy shell as Cadbury’s version. Shame it didn’t taste the same though.
The shell was hard, like Cadbury’s, but it didn’t crack as well and it was too shiny and smooth for my liking. One of the best things about Cadbury’s shell is that it’s powdery. It’s also sweet - unlike Marks and Spencer’s.
The chocolate, meanwhile, was quite tasty, and the eggs themselves were big, which I liked - it meant I didn’t finish the whole packet in under 30 seconds.
Tesco
Simply called Milk Chocolate Eggs, Tesco’s version came in a small bag made of netting. The eggs themselves were small too.
I was quite disappointed by their size, as well as the fact that the bag was only 75g. They did only cost £1 though.
There was no candy shell on them, but I thought the chocolate was a little tastier than Marks and Spencer’s eggs. I found it even tasted slightly like Thornton’s chocolate.
Lidl
Lidl's Milk Chocolate Eggs were hard to find among the plethora of Easter-themed treats on the supermarket’s shelves. Lidl gets bonus points for this as I took an age to decide what I wanted - everything looked appealing.
The plainest eggs I could find came in a packet 200g in size and they were slightly bigger than Cadbury’s Mini Eggs. They cost £1.59 though, which I thought was a tiny bit more than I had expected to pay.
Perhaps unsurprising from a German company, I thought the chocolate tasted very European. It reminded me of the big bar of Milka I once devoured on holiday in Switzerland years ago. Lidl’s chocolate was milky and creamy.
Aldi
Belgian Chocolate Mini Eggs were a little too posh for my liking. Ideal as a gift perhaps, but not as a quick snack, which Cadbury’s Mini Eggs always are for me.
The supermarket may have simpler chocolate eggs on offer, but there weren’t any in my local.
The eggs came in a box of 15 for £3.79 and there were four different flavours: white chocolate pistachio and waffle, dark chocolate hazelnut and orange, milk chocolate caramel, milk chocolate speculoos, and milk chocolate caramelised almonds.
The white chocolate was my favourite - it had a gorgeous, truffle centre. The milk chocolate caramelised almonds were good too, albeit a little bitter.
Overall
It has to be said: nothing can beat Cadbury's chocolate. The taste is unmatched.
Mini Eggs obviously have the hard candy shell which gives them an added edge, but even without it the chocolate itself would be good enough for me.
I would pay £1.25 for a tiny packet again and again. But, if I had to choose a supermarket’s chocolate, I was impressed by Lidl's offering.
Although a little expensive, the packet was still double the size of Cadbury's Mini Eggs, and I enjoyed the creamy texture. All I had to do was close my eyes and I was back in the Swiss Alps.
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