Vegan chocolate from Asda is named 2020’s joint best Easter egg in Good Housekeeping’s blind taste test – while M&S is branded the ‘hero’ as their hot cross buns and roast dinner reigns supreme
- A £5 vegan Easter egg has come top in Good Housekeeping’s blind taste test
- Asda egg came joint with a white chocolate egg from M&S and a £70 egg
- M&S took the top spot for both the hot cross bun and gluten free hot cross bun
- They also reigned supreme in the roast dinner category nabbing the top spot for best lamb, roast potato and gravy
A £5 vegan Easter egg has come joint top in Good Housekeeping’s blind taste test – beating off many traditional and more expensive rivals.
Judges gave top marks to Asda’s Extra Special Free-From and Vegan Belgian Dark Chocolate Egg with Vanilla Truffles, which is both dairy and gluten free.
It is good news for the millions of Brits who are adopting a flexitarian approach to their diet and eating less meat and dairy.
The taste tests, run by the Good Housekeeping Institute, proves – as with Greggs vegan options – that people do not need to compromise on taste.
A £5 vegan Easter egg has come joint top in Good Housekeeping’s blind taste test beating many traditional and more expensive rivals.
The vegan egg at just £5 for 200g came joint top with the Marks & Spencer Extra Thick Blonde and White Chocolate Egg, at £12 for 500g (left). It also scored the same as an artisan creation from The Chocolate Libertine’s Honeycomb Beehive Egg with Honeycomb nuggets, which is £69.99 for a hefty 2.3lbs (right)
THE TOP RATED EASTER EGGS
Best Overall Egg: (Joint Winners)
- Asda’s Extra Special Free-From Dark Chocolate Egg with Vanilla Truffles, £5 for 200g – 80/100
- M&S’s Extra Thick Blonde and White Chocolate Egg, £12 for 500g – 80/100
- The Chocolate Libertine’s Honeycomb Beehive Egg with Honeycomb Nuggets, £69.99 for 1.05kg – 80/100
Best Milk Chocolate
- Cocoa et Co Belgian Chocolate Beehive Egg, £10 for 220g sold at Sainsbury’s – 75/100
The Cocoa et Co Belgian Chocolate Beehive Egg, £10 for 220g sold at Sainsbury’s – 75/100 won best milk chocolate egg (left) while Tesco’s Doug the Dinosaur, £3.50 for 200g scored 76/100 and was named the best kids egg (right)
Hotel Chocolat’s Pen Pals, £10 for 120g also scored 76/100 and was named joint top
Best Kids Chocolate (Joint Winners)
- Tesco’s Doug the Dinosaur, £3.50 for 200g – 76/100
- Hotel Chocolat’s Pen Pals, £10 for 120g – 76/100
- Co-op Golden Honeycomb Crunch Egg-splosion, £5 for 200g – 76/100
Best White Chocolate (Joint Winners)
- M&S’s Extra Thick Blonde and White Chocolate Egg, £12 for 500g – 80/100
- The Chocolate Libertine’s Honeycomb Beehive Egg with Honeycomb Nuggets, £69.99 for 1.05kg – 80/100
Best Free-From
- Asda’s Extra Special Free-From Dark Chocolate Egg with Vanilla Truffles, £5 for 200g – 80/100
GHI said: ‘Tasters couldn’t get enough of the melt-in-the-mouth chocolate with hidden crunchy cocoa nibs and loved the deliciously gooey truffles that come with it.’
The vegan egg at just £5 for 200g came joint top with the Marks & Spencer Extra Thick Blonde and White Chocolate Egg, at £12 for 500g.
It also scored the same as an artisan creation from The Chocolate Libertine’s Honeycomb Beehive Egg with Honeycomb nuggets, which is £69.99 for a hefty 2.3lbs.
Collectively, these three best Easter eggs have knocked artisan brand Booja-Booja off the top spot, ending the chocolatier’s three-year winning streak.
THE TOP RATED HOT CROSS BUNS
Hot Cross Buns
- M&S 4 Luxury Hot Cross Buns, £1.50 for 4 – 89/100
Free-From Hot Cross Buns
- M&S Made Without Wheat Gluten Free 4 Hot Cross Buns, 1.50 for 4 – 76/100
Alongside Easter Eggs, Good Housekeeping have also tested Hot Cross Buns, where M&S come out on top for both the traditional Hot Cross Buns, as well as the free-from Hot Cross Buns category
Good Housekeeping had its consumer tasting panel test 31 different eggs, shortlisted from 105, across categories such as Milk Chocolate, Free From, Dark Chocolate, White Chocolate and Kids Chocolate.
Alongside Easter Eggs, Good Housekeeping have also tested Hot Cross Buns, where M&S has come out on top for both the traditional Hot Cross Buns, as well as the free-from Hot Cross Buns category.
This year, for the first time, Good Housekeeping’s expert tasters tested more than 100 Easter lunch foods, including 20 pre-prepared roast potatoes, 18 chickens, 15 legs of lamb and nine types of ready-made Yorkshire puddings. They also tried and tested, horseradish sauce, mint sauce and onion gravy.
M&S claimed top spot in four different categories, which Good Housekeeping said made them the ‘hero of the Easter roast’.
They nabbed the best award for its Roasting Potatoes with Goose Fat, £3 for 450g; Leg of Lamb with Garlic & Rosemary, £15 for 800g; Onion Gravy, £2 for 350g; and its ‘suitable for vegetarians’ pack of six Yorkshire Puddings.
THE TOP RATED EASTER ROAST DINNERS
Best Roast Leg of Lamb
• M&S Leg of Lamb with Garlic & Rosemary, £15 for 800g – 86/100
Best Roast Chicken
• Co-op Roast in the Bag Extra Tasty Whole Chicken, £5 for 1.5kg – 84/100
Best Roast Potatoes (in dripping)
• M&S Roasting Potatoes with Goose Fat, £3 for 450g – 84/100
M&S Leg of Lamb with Garlic & Rosemary, £15 for 800g – 86/100 won best roast
M&S Roasting Potatoes with Goose Fat, £3 for 450g (left) scored 84/100 while Bannisters Garlic & Rosemary Roasting Potatoes sold through Ocado (right) £2.15 for 360g scored 87/100
Best Roast Potatoes (suitable for vegetarians)
• Bannisters Garlic & Rosemary Roasting Potatoes sold through Ocado, £2.15 for 360g – 87/100
Best Yorkshire Puddings
• M&S 6 Yorkshire Puddings, £1 for 132g – 79/100
Best Onion Gravy
• M&S Onion Gravy, £2 for 350g – 81/100
Best Vegetarian Tart
• Waitrose & Partner’s Roasted Vegetable and Goat’s Cheese Tart, £4.00 for 400g – 88/100
GHI Expert Condiments
• Stokes Creamed Horseradish, £3.99 for 220g, Ocado.
• Coleman’s Mint Sauce £1.00 for 165g, Ocado.