13 hours Ago By Phoebe Cornish
Solid milk chocolate eggs with a candy shell, better known as mini eggs, are the hallmark of Easter chocolate for people across the globe. Cadbury , also the brains behind the iconic Creme Egg, invented these petite delights in 1967, and they've become increasingly expensive over time. In March 2024, the 80g bags were £1.
20 in Tesco if you had a Clubcard, but now the same weight costs £1.65 on a Clubcard deal - a whopping 37.5% hike.
That hasn't meant that Cadbury Mini Eggs have dwindled in popularity. They are available all year round in the UK, and you'll find that some major supermarkets have crafted inspired speckled snacks for a lower price than Cadbury. An Express.
co.uk taste test seemed obvious to determine whether any of them live up to Cadbury Mini Eggs, and the results were surprising. With Cadbury Mini Eggs priced at £1.
85 for an 80g bag without a Clubcard, the blind taste test focused on the eggs' taste, texture and size. The prices and retailers were unknown to the five willing friends I gathered to sample the chocolatey treats. As for the results, one thing was glaringly obvious: the designs vary a lot.
Some are more pigmented, some more speckled, and the size of the eggs was very variable across the different bags. On taste, two eggs stood out for the right reasons with recognisable flavours: Nestle Nesquick chocolate milkshake powder and M&Ms. One of the supermarket brands failed to impress with an overwhelming “cheap chocolate flavour”.
Lidl 's Easter offering of these tiny chocolate treats is the Mister Choc Mini Eggs, £1.25 (80g). They scored an average of 5/10.
The budget retailer wowed taste testers with the pretty pastel hues and neatness of the eggs, and they were voted the best-looking mini eggs amongst the five contenders. A "strange" tasting chocolate flavour let these down, but the candy shell was praised for having a "beautiful crunch" that others lacked. At 60p cheaper than Cadbury Mini Eggs, this 80g bag is worth buying if you're shopping in Lidl and fancy a sweet treat.
But taste testers agreed they didn't quite live up to the inspired product. In Aldi, those searching for something small, chocolatey and crunchy may be drawn to the Dairyfine Mini Chocolate Eggs, £1.25 (80g).
These pastel-coloured treats stood out for their pointer shape, instantly setting them apart from Cadbury's more rounded eggs. The flavour was described as "okay" among taste testers, but the soft candy shell lacked that desirable crunchiness. With little contrast between the two and a slightly bland chocolate taste, the chocolate critics voted these on par with the Lidl counterparts.
Sainsbury's shoppers will find 80g bags of Speckled Mini Eggs priced at £1.50. These were popular among taste testers and were likened in flavour to M&M chocolate.
The Sainsbury's eggs were noticeably smaller than all the other eggs featured in this comparison. They were criticised for their "artificial" colours, which were more vibrant than the pastel hues of the other eggs. According to taste testers, the chocolate flavour was downright delicious.
Though the shell lacked thickness, it still had a good crunch. These were among the highest scoring, with an impressive 8.5 out of 10.
Morrisons Mini Speckled Milk Chocolate Eggs (£1.25 for 80g), were the lowest-scoring, with a score of just 2/10. The mini eggs were described as sugary-tasting rather than strong cocoa flavour.
As for their appearance, the eggs looked slightly faded in colour with a "washed" look. The taste testers said the smell was less chocolatey than others, and the shell was thin and lacked crunch. The Morrisons Mini Milk Chocolate Orange Eggs (£1.
25 for 80g) were much more delicious (though not part of the main mini eggs comparison). They had a good balance of orange and chocolate flavours in every bite and were swiftly devoured by taste testers. The real deal eggs, the Cadbury Mini Eggs (£1.
85 for 80g), impressed the judges with their neat shape and speckled pastel shells. The candy shells were described as having a lovely crunch, and the chocolate core stood out for its cocoa flavour, which taste testers likened to chocolate milkshake powder. However, this was divisive, with one taste tester branding the taste "awful" and "powdery" and another giving the eggs a very low score of one for their overly sweet smell.
To others, the aroma of Cadbury Mini Eggs stood out as pleasant and noticeably moreish based on the empty cup by the end of the test. Sainsbury's stole the show in this taste test with its flavour, making it a resounding hit with taste testers. The supermarket eggs are 35p cheaper per bag than Cadbury mini eggs, and their smaller size gives the illusion that you get more eggs for your money (despite both bags weighing 80g).
The packaging of Sainsbury's eggs is much more compact than Cadbury eggs, which have a lot of excess plastic around the top where the eggs sit. Aldi and Lidl ranked fairly well in the test as cheap alternatives. At £1.
25 per bag, they were 60p cheaper than Cadbury Mini Eggs. However, Cadbury's original product remains a firm favourite and recognisable even in a blind test..
