NOTHING says Christmas like opening a tin of Quality Street chocolates – and now the fun is spreading all the way to Easter.
One of our favourite chocolatiers, Nestle, has launched an impressively-sized Golden Collection ‘Incredible Egg’.
It’s a real whopper in a ginormous box and I’d say it’s sure to fly off supermarket shelves.
I picked it up for just £10 at Iceland, though it is £12 at some stores including Waitrose and Ocado.
But is it good value and more importantly, how does it taste? Time for me to find out.
Having long been a fan of Quality Street choccies, I was excited to see how this measured up.
The box alone looks impressive.
It really stands out amongst other eggs on the supermarket shelves and I reckon lots of us will be immediately drawn to this whopper.
The first thing that hits you when you open the box is an intensely sweet caramel aroma.
It smelled like butterscotch and made me think of ice creams I’d had with butterscotch sauce as a kid.
But I was immediately disappointed.
The egg comes with a mixed bag of nine chocolates and just four varieties – two toffee pennies, two caramel swirls, three toffee fingers and two fudge sweets.
Where are my favourites, the Green Triangles and The Purple One?
It seems madness to leave out the chocolates that everyone likes, what a rip off.
These flavours that are so popular with Quality Street fans you can buy them in bags on their own.
The Purple One has repeatedly topped polls as the nation’s favourite – but you won’t find any with this egg.
How to save money at Easter
Sun Savers Editor Lana Clements shares her tips on how to save cash at Easter…
Stock up on eggs – The best value Easter eggs typically sell out by the time the long weekend comes around so by in advance and stash in a cupboard so that you don’t get tempted to nibble.
Cut entertaining costs – If you are hosting family or friends over the holiday, consider asking them to bring a dish such as dessert, or a couple of bottles to cut costs. Use a price comparison site to find the lowest prices on the food and any other decorations or gifts that you need. Try PriceRunner or Trolley.co.uk.
Plan ahead – School holidays combined with gift can make Easter a pricey time of year, especially if you have children. Create a budget ahead of time and look for ways to keep it in check. You can go for free days out by making a scavenge hunts and limit the number of
Flash sales – Make a list of what you need for Easter and look out for flash sales or promotions from supermarkets on items that you need.
Cashback – Use cashback sites to get a little kick back on any spending that you are doing. Try Topcashback or Quidco.
There are no green triangles either, nor orange crunches or caramel swirls.
Nestle has come under fire many times for messing around with Quality Streets.
First they ditched plastic wrappers and introduced paper tubs.
Then they changed the size and shape of the Purple One and Orange Crunch.
Leaving their best chocolates out of this egg is another big mistake.
The chocolate egg itself looks a bit of a squashed oval shape and it was less shiny than some eggs, with a slightly duller brown colour but it was still very smooth on the outside.
It was hard to break open.
I had to smash it against a table a couple of times to break the chocolate so I could take a bite. Once broken, you could see the knobbly bits of toffee on the inside of the egg.
I had to take several bites to make up my mind about this egg and I reckon it’s sure to divide opinion.
The milk chocolate, caramel-flavoured shell is dotted with fudge and caramel pieces.
It’s incredibly rich and sickly which might put some people off.
But I found it very moreish and I loved the chewy bits scattered throughout the chocolate shell.
I slowly nibbled my way through it and found it quite hard to stop eating it, which isn’t good news for my waistline.
Nestle recommends one serving is just 1/15th of this giant egg and that smidge alone contains 106 calories, 6g fat and 11.7g sugar.
I probably ate at least a quarter of it through the afternoon – I just couldn’t stop.
Being a fan of Quality Street’s green triangles and orange cremes, I’d definitely have preferred a better selection of chocolates alongside the egg.
The toffee pennys are pretty tough going on the teeth.
In terms of value, it’s not too bad working out around £2.64 per 100g of chocolate.
When you consider Lindt’s Lindor Egg (260g) with truffles is £13 but £5 per 100g, this egg is great value.
It’s only a tad more expensive than the Cadbury Dairy Easter Egg (245g) which is £6 or £2.45 per 100g.
And it certainly looks more impressive than either of those.
I loved the taste and think this egg has a real wow factor.
Well done to Quality Street, which has outdone itself with this Easter offering.
It’s just a question of whether you want to treat yourself or someone else.
Either way, get your hands on one now, as there won’t be any left by Easter.
Easter Egg bargains
For those on the hunt for some Easter chocolate bargains, Asda have slashed the prices of Cadbury’s XL Easter eggs to just £2.99, making them even cheaper than Aldi right now.
This follows Sainsbury’s recent move to cut prices on Terry’s and Nestlé Easter eggs.
Aldi has also joined the price war, sending shoppers into a frenzy by slashing the cost of Cadbury Easter chocolate to as little as £1.45.
One of the standout deals is the giant 232g Cadbury Mini Eggs Easter egg, which contains two packs of Mini Eggs inside.
Originally priced at £5.99, it’s now on shelves for just £4.95.
For those after a smaller treat, Aldi has knocked 12 per cent off the price of its 96g eggs — making them a great choice for Easter Sunday, which falls on April 20 this year.
The Cadbury Dairy Milk Buttons egg includes a pack of buttons, while the Freddo egg comes with Freddo Faces hidden inside.
If a bigger chocolate fix is needed, Aldi has also reduced the price of its mid-size Easter eggs.
The Cadbury Twirl Egg (198g) and Cadbury Creme Egg (195g) have both had their prices trimmed to £3.45.
Aldi is also catering to those who prefer a non-traditional Easter treat.
The supermarket has cut the price of a five-pack of Creme Eggs to just £2.95.
It’s always good to compare prices across different supermarkets to make sure you’re getting the best value for money.
How to save money on chocolate
We all love a bit of chocolate from now and then, but you don’t have to break the bank buying your favourite bar.
Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how to cut costs…
Go own brand – if you’re not too fussed about flavour and just want to supplant your chocolate cravings, you’ll save by going for the supermarket’s own brand bars.
Shop around – if you’ve spotted your favourite variety at the supermarket, make sure you check if it’s cheaper elsewhere.
Websites like Trolley.co.uk let you compare prices on products across all the major chains to see if you’re getting the best deal.
Look out for yellow stickers – supermarket staff put yellow, and sometimes orange and red, stickers on to products to show they’ve been reduced.
They usually do this if the product is coming to the end of its best-before date or the packaging is slightly damaged.
Buy bigger bars – most of the time, but not always, chocolate is cheaper per 100g the larger the bar.
So if you’ve got the appetite, and you were going to buy a hefty amount of chocolate anyway, you might as well go bigger.
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