Yesterday I told you I decided to spend my £10 chocolate lock-in rebate on a Hotel Chocolat Hard-Boiled Easter Egg. Truth be told, I bought two - the ginger one and this 65% Supermilk one.
I was curious to see how the 65% Supermilk compared to the 70% dark chocolate, and whether ginger traded out for cocoa nibs, berries, and granola was a worthy exchange.
Packaging
The packaging was identical to that of the dark chocolate ginger egg. It was a transparent plastic box with brushed gold decorations on the top and bottom.
Again, the softened corner on the front was used to display the Hotel Chocolat logo and product name, with the rear panels listing the ingredients and nutritional information for the 220g chocolate Easter egg in both English and Danish.
Hotel Chocolat Hollow Egg of Milk Chocolate with Oat, Pistachio & Berry Granola ingredients:
Cocoa solids (cocoa mass, cocoa butter), sugar, full cream milk powder, wholegrain oats (3.5%), almond nuts, pistachio nuts, dessicated coconut, pumpkin seeds, maple syrup, cocoa nibs, redcurrants, blackcurrants, golden flax seeds, avocado oil, emulsifier (soya lecithin), skimmed milk powder. Milk chocolate contains minimum 65% cocoa solids, minimum 14% milk solids.
This British made Easter egg was suitable for vegetarians and boasted an alcohol-free recipe.
The plastic packaging used here was fabricated from 70% recycled materials and was 100% recyclable according to Hotel Chocolat.
Hotel Chocolat Hard-Boiled Ginger Easter Egg Review
A glance at the ingredients list above will inform you that there's a lot going on in this Easter egg. I expected to find a deep and rich chocolate with a robust creaminess, together with lots of texture from seeds, berries, oats and nuts.
Opening the plastic box released a rich and sweet nutty aroma laced with traces of coconut.
The part-classic, part-geometric Easter Egg was decorated with three white spots. I did notice that the shell was littered in hairline scrapes and scuffs from the manufacturing process.
Just as it was with the ginger Easter Egg, it was heartbreaking smashing this beautifully crafted Easter Egg into generously-sized pieces - but it had to be done.
The thickness of Easter Egg was around twice that of a standard supermarket Easter Egg, and the snap it gave when broken was very satisfying indeed.
On tasting the egg, I was first greeted by a rush of bitterness, met half way with a burst of creaminess. As the rich chocolate tried to lead me down the road of bitterness, the sweetness and creaminess of the Supermilk chocolate together with the inclusions diverted me onto a more balanced path.
The Supermilk acted very much like a dark chocolate, adding a bitter and earthy edge to the overall flavour. But, the creaminess from the dairy powders in the recipe helped to tame it, so it became a more flavourful, less sweet milk chocolate.
The inclusions added an oaty, cereal-like texture to the egg, which distracted me. Long after the chocolate was gone, I was still fishing out pieces of nuts and oats from my teeth.
The inclusions also added another level of sweetness along with a variety of flavours, so each bite was slightly different to the last.
The aftertaste was dominated by the richness and bitterness of the chocolate together with the flavour and subtle sweetness from the seeded granola and berries.
Overall, while I liked the Supermilk chocolate, I found the inclusions to be too distracting for my enjoyment. I felt the crunch of the seeds, nuts, and oats hijacked the overall taste of this Easter egg. I would have preferred either a finer granola or fewer flavours within it to better showcase the unique flavour properties of the 65% Supermilk chocolate.
The Hard-Boiled 65% Supermilk Egg is available to purchase around the Easter season.
Hotel Chocolat Hard-Boiled 65% Supermilk Easter Egg Review
RRP: £15.00 | Hotel Chocolat | Shop now°
A beautiful looking egg made using a bitter yet creamy 65% Supermilk chocolate. The granola and berries add texture but distract due to their large sizes and generous inclusion.
Do you prefer dark chocolate or the creaminess of a Supermilk? Leave a comment below with your thoughts.
