Blind taste test reveals top Easter Eggs including the £15 M&S one that beat designer rival that costs SIXTEEN times more

A £15 supermarket Easter egg has beaten a designer version costing sixteen times more in a blind taste test of 142 sweet treats.

The Good Housekeeping Institute assessed Easter eggs and chocolates from several categories – including best little treats, best for kids or real showstoppers.

The shortlisted eggs in each category were then blind-tasted and assessed by a judging panel.

Marks & Spencer took the prize in the showstoppers category for its hand-decorated milk and dark chocolate egg with dulce de leche truffles, which costs £15.

The high street Easter egg was praised  for its “dark berry and rich caramel notes”.

With a top score of 80 out of 100, it was ranked better than a Betty’s hand crafted Imperial Egg In Bloom selling for £250 or sixteen times more than the one from M&S.

Overall, a vegan Easter treat made by an artisan chocolate company based in Norfolk has been crowned the tastiest in the UK.

Booja-Booja’s Hazelnut Crunch Chocolate Truffles egg came out as the clear winner, scoring 89 out of 100 – the highest score out of 142 eggs reviewed.

The egg itself isn’t edible, but it does contain truffles which are gluten, dairy and soya-free.

Sadly, it will also set you back £24.97.

If you’re looking for a more wallet friendly alternative, Tesco’s Finest Belgian Dark Chocolate Egg, which costs £5, ranked second overall with a score of 87 out of 100.

Lindt’s popular Gold Bunny, which will set you back £39.99 for 1kg, got the top spot in the Kids category.

It came in third overall with a score of 84 out of 100.

Tasters said they particularly enjoyed its “milky, caramel like taste.”

Meanwhile, the Co-op aced the Milk Chocolate category, with its Irresistible Single Origin Ecuadorian Milk Chocolate Cocoa Pod, selling for £7.

Top of the chocs in the Novelty category, was Hotel Chocolat’s £10 Milk Egg Sandwich, which tasters praised for its “rich, coffee-like flavour.”

Caroline Bloor, consumer director at Good Housekeeping, said: “It’s clear that traditional retailers are having to do more and more to ensure consumers’ ever-evolving taste buds are satisfied.

“Seeing a vegan-friendly egg take the crown may come as a surprise to some, but this is why our famous blind tests are more important now than ever before.”

The full results of the blind taste appear in the April issue of , on sale from February 28.

If you’re looking for money friendly Easter treats – Aldi’s launched a new range of chocolate for Easter and it looks suspiciously like posher ones from Cadbury and Lindt.

The budget supermarket will be selling Easter eggs, chocolate bunnies and sharing bag snacks for just over half of the price of the branded ones – but we’re not sure they taste as good.

CHOCCY CAT Aldi’s new Easter chocolates look A LOT like Cadbury and Lindt ones – but do they taste as good?

Aldi said its their line of chocolate is “inspired by” the branded ones, but some of them are almost identical.

Meanwhile Morrisons is selling hot cross bun flavoured fudge for Easter for the first time ever.

The fudge is made with Italian orange and lemon peel, sultanas and a sprinkling of cinnamon spice.

The dates for Easter change every year and this year it falls on April Fools Day, April 1.

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