Easter Basket

I couldn’t help but be amazed at the quantity and size of chocolate Easter eggs in Ireland.  Make no mistake, in the US, there is a plethora of Easter candy by every confectioner, but I had never seen so many large chocolate eggs.  They come in many popular candy-bar flavors as well as all the varieties of chocolate from extra dark to creamy white.  (Now there are those who argue that white is not technically chocolate, but it is made from cocoa butter and has been my favorite since I was a kid; besides, my blog, my chocolate.)

As a kid, big bunnies were the craze; mostly hollow like the Irish eggs, but if you received a solid one, albeit normally smaller, that was a bonus.  But eggs are the pièce de résistance, as they say in France.   Naturally, they do have minor selection of other, smaller types of Easter candy here, but large eggs take up the majority of the shelf and floor space.

In an effort to help you understand the concept, I’ve photographed a number of samples.  It was a sacrifice gathering this myriad of great tasting chocolaty confections; yet, I considered it my duty to bring my faithful readers a real taste of Ireland (literally in this case).

We start with the Cadbury mini eggs which extend just over half an inch.  You could call this Cadbury’s answer to M&M’s with its candy coating and chocolate center.  I’ve found they are best if you can bite off the crunchy coating then savor the creamy chocolate center as it slowly melts in your mouth (works well with M&M’s, too).  Strangely, they only have the milk chocolate ones here.  A few years ago in the US they came out with a dark chocolate variety, which are to die for!  Even for folks like me who more often prefer the smoother milk and white varieties of chocolate.  You might also make the claim that dark chocolate variety should be available as a healthier option, then you run the risk of getting mired in an argument over quantity.

Next up we have the other, not to be missed, Lindt truffle eggs.  I’ve been told I make pretty darn good truffles, but I have nothing on Lindt.  These come in the tiny one-inch variety, not normally sold in the US, though I did find them in Canada on a visit.  They come in milk chocolate or the variety pack with milk, dark, and white.  If you need a bigger bite of chocolate and can’t bring yourself to burn that 1/16^th or so of a calorie unwrapping several tiny ones, there’s a larger variety, coming in at about 2 1/4inches.  These seem to only be available in milk chocolate, but when it comes to Lindt, I have no qualms about making exceptions.

Then there are the big eggs, which, for the most part, come in at 5-6 inches with assorted diameters, though as shown by the Butler’s window display, they do come even larger, as well. I’ve chosen two of my favorites for demonstration purposes, though as I mentioned, they come in a huge variety of flavors. For those wondering about my Lindt obsession and why I didn’t choose one of those, the answer is twofold – the big egg was only hollow chocolate, without the truffle center, and I just couldn’t justify the price (I do have my limits to my resources).

As a final perspective, I’ve taken a photo showing the tiny Lindt bunnies gazing up at the enormous egg–fearfully contemplating the size of the creature that would lay such an object.

Just remember, life is too short for cheap, imitation chocolate. (Oh, and of course, everything in moderation.)  Happy Spring!

Other Ireland Easter tidbits:

Unlike Christmas, where everything was closed, many shops and pubs were open Easter Sunday.   The pubs were closed on Good Friday (at least part of the day), however.   The Galway Food Festival (first annual?) was held this weekend with lots of interesting cooking demos, food related vendors, and other tasting and informative events around town.  It appeared to be well attended, so hopefully that will become an annual tradition.

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