WHAT could be one of the UK’s most expensive Easter egg has gone on sale – and you can bag one, if you have £130 to spare.
Anyone not feeling the pinch with the cost of living crisis can indulge a loved one with the gift from Birley Bakery which uses luxury chocolate and is covered in gold leaves.
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The egg, which weighs 9oz, is said to be considered by chocolate lovers as the most exclusive.
Anyone wanting to get their hands on one will have to be quick as Birley’s, which is based in London’s Chelsea Green, is making just 30 of the high-end eggs.
The bakery, which opened its doors in January this year, uses 80 per cent dark chocolate from the Philippines, which took three months to develop.
Andrew Baker, the author of From Bean to Bar – A Chocolate Lover’s Guide to Britain, said: “This may well be the most exclusive Easter egg on the market today.
“It’s rare for an Easter Egg to be made with ‘bean to bar’ chocolate – that is, chocolate which has been made by artisans who have control of the whole process, from selection of the cocoa beans through the roasting, processing and final finishing of the chocolate.”
Mr Baker though did warn that the egg may not be to everyone’s taste, and not just because of the high price.
He said: “The Easter eggs from large-scale manufacturers in supermarkets are made with bulk chocolate, often from a variety of unspecified locations and mixed with high levels of fat and sugar for the sweet, bland taste that most consumers seem to prefer.
“An egg made with high-cocoa-percentage chocolate from a single location will be much more characterful and distinctive.
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“A lot more interesting to the connoisseur, though certainly not to everyone’s taste.”
Birley’s choccy offering is just one of a number of luxury Easter eggs currently on offer which are a world away from the usual selection found on supermarket shelves.
Harrods is currently selling an Easter Showstopper Peacock Feather Egg for a whopping £250.
The egg contains around 4.4lb of milk chocolate with a speciality bread-and-butter filling and comes wrapped in a speckled gold shell.
Hotel Chocolat is offering a Classic Ostrich Egg, named due to its size, and for £86 you get more than 2lb of “top quality, high-cacao chocolate”.
If that’s a bit too steep, for £65 you can get Claridge’s art deco-inspired Easter treat which is made from the finest quality Valrhona milk, white or dark chocolate and takes three days to craft.
However, Birley’s egg might just be the most high-end Easter indulgence.
Mr Baker, who is also a judge for the Academy of Chocolate awards, said: “Birley Reserve is all the more exclusive because they worked with the chocolate makers to specify the characteristics of the chocolate they wanted – not only the cocoa percentage but the flavour profile of beans from the Philippines.
He added: “This is extremely unusual, even at the top end of the chocolate market.
“Raw materials such as these are difficult to obtain and certainly don’t come cheap, which is reflected in the price of the finished egg.”
Last month, The Sun taste tested a range of luxury Easter eggs on offer and the best could save you some serious money.
If money is tight, we also tested the ones on offer at the supermarkets.
Anyone wanting to get a treat for the kids, we picked the best on offer for the little ones with a sweet tooth.
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This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk
