Easter is coming, though this year’s celebrations might be less sweet than usual. Cocoa prices have doubled since the start of the year and currently stand at all-time highs, with bad weather in the main crop areas of West Africa creating shortages.
If you’ve been planning to buy a chocolate Easter egg or two, that’s unwelcome news, because high commodity costs are slamming retail prices. Easter eggs cost as much as 53% more than they did last year, according to analysis from the Grocer, a trade magazine.
This means that an average 400-gram Easter egg might cost up to £10 ($12.70) in the supermarket this year, while top offerings from chocolate ateliers might cost from £25.
Once you’ve decided to splurge, then, it’s tempting to expand your budget and go for a little more luxury.
If you need to rationalize, we’re here to help. Here’s why: High cocoa prices are felt less at the top of the market than in the “commodity” supermarket aisles, says Becca Lazar, head of sales, operations and marketing at Chocolarder, a bean-to-bar chocolate maker in Cornwall, England. “The speciality end of the market, we’ve always paid high prices for our cocoa anyway, because we want our farmers to be paid enough,” she says, explaining that high cocoa prices have to some extent been accounted for. On top of this, sourcing chocolate directly from farmers, who are more aware of conditions on the ground, enables them to prepare, Lazar explains.
With chocolate prices rising, this might be the time to indulge. “Chocolate is very expensive. We’re in a crisis, and this year is just the beginning,” says Vincent Zanardi, executive pastry chef of Birley Bakery in London. “Next year will be only worse.”
If you’re willing to shell out, here are our picks at the top of the Easter egg market.
The Great Egg, £84.99, Selfridges (550 grams)
This decadent, triple-layered egg, made by Chocolarder for Selfridges, includes the best of several types of chocolate: dark in the center, then ganache and then milk on the outside. It has crunch from hazelnuts, as well as sourdough crumbs swirled through the ganache.
The ganache is whipped, which “makes it lighter and fluffier,” says Lazar. “The fact it’s whipped means you can indulge more.”
Connaughty Easter Egg, £70, the Connaught Patisserie (480 grams)
This lavish egg is made in batches of 10 because the product is so complex. A 70% dark chocolate shell is lined with orange and crispy almond praline, then adorned with flowers, leaves and oranges molded in chocolate.
The inspiration for the design was this year’s early holiday, says Nicolas Rouzaud, chef patron of the Connaught Patisserie. “Easter this year is quite early,” he says. “Easter is the season of the orange blossom, and blossom is everywhere in London.”
It’s pretty enough to serve as a centerpiece on the Easter table for consumption with coffee or tea after the meal, Rouzaud continues.
Golden Crunch, £85, Birley Bakery (500 grams)
At the top of the price range is the Golden Crunch from Birley Bakery, a French boulangerie-patisserie in Chelsea, West London. It’s a traditional milk chocolate egg that has been rolled in hazelnuts. If the egg isn’t enough, a bar of chocolate underneath serves as a stand.
Inside is yet more chocolate, a traditional Easter egg feature. There’s a mixture of dark and milk chocolate mini eggs, as well as fish-shaped chocolates that refer to the Christian Easter narrative.
Zanardi describes it as a “wow” egg.
Milk Chocolate Spring Flowers Easter Egg, £38.50, Bettys (350 grams)
The Yorkshire tea room and patisserie has proffered high-end sweets for more than 100 years. This year it’s offering one of the prettiest eggs, hand-decorated with spring flowers that include bluebells and daffodils piped in royal icing. It’s finished with chocolate fringe around the edge, framing the flowers as a still life. The small Bettys chain nods to its Swiss heritage by using Swiss Grand Cru milk chocolate.
This is one of the more affordable offerings in the hand-finished end of the market.
Leopard print egg, £48, Il Gattopardo (300 grams)
This confection has a deeply untraditional decoration: leopard print. The design is inspired by the name of its maker, Italian restaurant Il Gattopardo, which translates to “the leopard.”
The leopard print exterior consists of Italian white chocolate that coats a layer of Valrhona 55% dark chocolate, offering a blend of sweet and bitter tastes. Its most traditional aspect is what’s inside: a hidden surprise of extra chocolate in small eggs filled with different types of praline.
Cannolo chocolate egg , £62, Venchi (460 grams)
This Italian-inspired egg comes from Venchi, inspired by the perennially popular Sicilian cannoli it resembles.
The egg’s shell is made of dark chocolate, which hides a second layer of orange-scented ricotta cream mixed with biscuit crumbs that mimic the crunchy cannoli pastry. If you like Italian-inspired eggs, Venchi is also offering a stracciatella version inspired by the chocolate-chip ice cream.
Œuf de Pâques, £40, Maison François (500-600 grams)
This is the third time that St. James’s restaurant Maison François has offered an Easter egg. This year’s swirled and molded creation “looks like a Fabergé egg,” says restaurateur François O’Neill. It’s made of 70% dark chocolate and filled with caramel ganache and caramelized popcorn.
After coming out of 3D-printed molds, the shells are sprayed with additional chocolate and adorned with gold leaf.
Within lies a potential surprise: Four eggs will hold “golden tickets” that entitle each finder to dinner for two at Maison François.
Easter egg, £65, Claridge’s (420 grams)
The hotel is again offering an Easter egg made of Valrhona chocolate—a favorite at the top of the market. It comes in three different varieties: white, milk or dark, all filled with praline chocolates made to look like gull’s eggs.
Instead of being decorated, the egg is wrapped in patterned foil and tied with a thick, black ribbon.
