Best Easter eggs of 2015: the tastiest on test

With Easter just days away and several major supermarkets reeling from news of dwindling profits, the humble Easter egg has become the catalyst for a cut-throat price war. It's a great opportunity to pick up a bargain, with some stores offering Easter eggs for less than a pound.

If it's luxury you're after, there is no shortage of gourmet offerings on the shop shelves. Check out our round-up of deals to look out for:

For the budget conscious

While One Direction's fans were left bewailing Zayn Malik's decision to quit the boy band, the tragedy is not without its upsides for canny parents. "Lidl has cut One Direction Easter eggs by a fifth after Zayn Malik left the boy band last week — down from 99p to 79p," The Sunday Times notes.

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Elsewhere, the Co-Op is offering a popping candy egg for £5. Younger kids might enjoy the sweet white chocolate Milkybar Barn on sale at Tesco for a modest £3 (while stocks last).

Mini Eggs and Easter go together like Ant and Dec, and so it's reassuring to see the brand's full-sized egg doesn't disappoint. A creamy chocolate egg stuffed with six small packs of Mini Eggs, it's a great deal at £4.99.

Traditional multibuy offers abound, with Asda's three for £10 deal on brand eggs a particular standout. Thorntons is putting up stiff competition this year, offering five of their generously-sized eggs for £20 or smaller ones for £15.

For those in search of a treat

If you're in the mood to splash out a little bit on your younger relatives, they'll love Chococo's rattle eggs (£8.95 for six), served in an egg carton and filled with a variety of mystery treats including Smarties and jelly beans.

At £17.99, they're not cheap, but the Green & Black's Tasting Collection is well worth shelling out for. The pack includes a premium 70 per cent cocoa dark chocolate egg, but the real draw is the 24 mini tasting bars which go with it. The bars' tantalising flavours include sea salt, ginger and butterscotch.

Yes, you might think that at £27 it better have been laid by the golden goose, but Hotel Chocolat's Rocky Road Caramel egg is a cracking Easter treat. Filled with 12 individual chocolates, it may be pricey, but the egg's huge size and obscenely thick shell (it weighs in at a killer 510g) make it well worth splashing out on.

If you want to make a statement, Harrods is the place to go. The store's seasonal showpiece for 2015 is Roberto Cavalli's zebra-striped egg, available in both dark and milk chocolate at the designer price of £29.95.

For the novelty hunter

If you happen to be in the West End, why not pop into Fortnum and Mason to try their Easter special – the 'chotch egg'? A sweet twist on the Scotch egg, it features a free-range egg wrapped in venison and chocolate, then rolled in breadcrumbs. It might sound like an idea from Heston Blumenthal's reject pile, but the combination of dark chocolate and rich game is surprisingly moreish.

You either love Marmite or you hate it, as the slogan goes. But even the most hardcore yeast extract fans might find it hard to summon up the courage to tackle the Marmite easter egg, which combines the sticky spread with milk chocolate to create... well, we're not sure, actually. This is one that has to be tasted to be believed.

If it's a centrepiece for an Easter Sunday lunch you're after, Asda has you covered, with a clever 'hot cross egg tower' from its Extra Special range. A stack of rich chocolate eggs piled into a delicious mountain, it will definitely get your guests talking.

Obviously, when it comes to picking the ultimate egg, there's no accounting for taste. However, the people at Good Housekeeping gave it their best shot. Over 200 eggs were sampled by the magazine's dedicated (and lucky) testers. Their winner? Waitrose's Caramel Fudge Chocolate Egg, which scored an impressive 82/100. Not bad for £7!