Melbourne's best new chocolate Easter eggs worth shelling out for
Get ready to go up a pants-size, because the Easter Bunny has outdone itself this year. From novelty eggs to boozy bunny espresso martinis, there's a cracking range of new releases catering to every age and budget.
CHEEP AND CHEERFUL
Darrell Lea
- Raspberry milk chocolate egg, 120g, $4
- Raspberry milk chocolate bunny, 170g, $6.50
- Easter bilby, 100g, $9.99
Fans of Darrell Lea's raspberry milk chocolate bullets rejoice! Your favourite sweet snack is now available in egg and bunny form, with creamy milk chocolate, soft raspberry licorice pieces and raspberry chips.
The Darrell Lea bilby also returns to Woolworths supermarkets, resuming a partnership with Save the Bilby Fund that began in 1999.
Available at Coles, Woolworths and other major supermarkets
Pink Lady
- Milk chocolate hot cross bun mini eggs, 180g, $9.95
- White chocolate buttermilk mini eggs, 180g, $9.95
- Milk chocolate hazelnut praline mini eggs, 180g, $9.95
- Milk chocolate baby bilby & mini eggs, 180g, $11.00
It's all about the mini eggs for Pink Lady this year, with four new flavours. The lightly spiced hot cross bun mini eggs are a stand-out.
Available at David Jones and Woolworths
Menz' Violet Crumble
'Shake me' egg, 150g, $10
There's a new Easter addition for fans of Violet Crumble. CEO of the Aussie chocolate label, Phil Sims, said they "wanted to shatter all expectations" this year with the introduction of the "Shake Me" egg.
The egg features chunks of honeycomb in the shell, as well as whole sized Violet Crumble nuggets inside.
Menz is also offering a giant, 1kg Violet Crumble, available at Costco.
Available at Woolworths and Costco
Chocolatier Australia
Bubble O'Bill easter egg, 160g, $10
Australian summertime icon, Bubble O'Bill, has been transformed into an Easter egg.
The ice-cream cowboy with the bubblegum nose will come as a strawberry marbled milk chocolate egg, mixed with crunchy caramel and chewy berry pieces.
No Bubble O'Bill is ever complete without his nose. Inside each egg you'll find five oversized bubblegum balls.
Available at Woolworths
CRACKING VALUE
Haigh's
Dark chocolate frog egg, 140g, $18.50
There are three hand-crafted, dark chocolate frogs waiting to spring out of Haigh's classic Easter egg this year.
Haigh's is Australia's oldest family-owned chocolate maker in Australia. They are also one of the nation's largest bean-to-bar specialists, with a factory dedicated to transforming sustainably sourced cacao beans into a wide range of Easter and everyday products.
Available at various Haigh's locations, haighschocolates.com.au
EGGS-TRA SPECIAL SPEND
Mork Chocolate
Handmade chocolate eggs, $36
North Melbourne-based Mork launched its first bean-to-bar chocolate this Easter, creating hand moulded chocolate eggs from ethically-sourced Colombian cacao beans.
Their six packs of handmade chocolate eggs come in dark, milk and vegan chocolate, and each egg contains "edible surprises" such as chocolate-coated salted hazelnuts, lemon myrtle sultanas and Madagascan cacao nibs.
Available at 150 Errol Street, North Melbourne and 20 Equitable Place, Melbourne, morkchocolate.com.au
SOME-BUNNY'S GETTING SPOILED
Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio
"Bake at home" Easter eggs, $45-50
Melbourne-based husband and wife team Darren Purchese and Cath Claringbold have envisioned a new way for the family to experience the holiday with their DIY Easter egg kits.
The kits include everything you need to create your own eggs, including video instructions, chocolate moulds and decorative pieces.
The explosive raspberry egg was inspired by B&P's best-selling explosive raspberry cake as part of this year's Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, while Dekker, the chocolate Easter chick, features heart-shaped wings and big, cute eyes.
Explosive raspberry egg is available at The Convenient Store, opposite 440 Queen Street at Queen Victoria Market until Sunday, April 3. Both kits are available online, burchandpurchese.com.au
Koko Black
- Boozy bunny hampers, $99-$149
- Golden chocolate treats, $3.90-$16
There's something for the adults this year at Koko Black, where they've created three boozy bunny hampers. The packs contain four cans of Melbourne Martini's espresso martinis to be sipped from a straw out of dark, milk and white chocolate Easter bunnies.
Koko Black is also taking on Cadbury's eminently popular Caramilk chocolate with the introduction of a "bougier and boldly better" caramelised chocolate. For Easter, this golden chocolate option will be available as a bunny or an "egg-pop", a chocolate treat set on a lollipop stick.
Boozy bunny hampers are only available online. The rest of the Easter range is available in store at Koko Black and David Jones, kokoblack.com
