Berlin – Nothing against fondant fried eggs. Or against chocolate bunnies with golden coats and funny bells. But does it really have to be the same candy that fills the poisonous green plastic nests every year? Not necessarily: they exist, the special, unusual, fondant and bell-free Easter chocolates. Those who consciously look for them (and looking for sweets is a well-known tradition at Easter) will find what they are looking for in small, fine manufacturers. We looked around at our favorite Berlin chocolate brands.
Sarah Eick
“10 Minutes” egg, eggshell filled with nougat, EUR 5.50 each
Soft or not soft? That is the question
Butter or margarine? Top or bottom half of the bun? A hard-boiled or rather a soft-boiled egg? These are the glaring questions around which many breakfast table conversations revolve. And the latter, after the hard or soft egg, will be doubly relevant next weekend: in addition to the chicken eggs, there are likely to be those from Wohlfahrt Schokoladen on many a Berlin Easter table. And these also come in two variants: the cream egg “5 minutes” is filled with a soft mass of chocolate, butter, agave syrup and apricots marinated in brandy and amaretto; The nougat egg “10 minutes” has a solid filling made of dark chocolate, dark nougat and cashew nuts. Wohlfarth, a Berlin chocolate institution for more than ten years, uses real eggshells as natural “packaging”. So the next question arises: Is it better to peel or just spoon it out?
Omer Polak
Chocolate Easter bunny, Bauhaus-style chocolate bunny, 41.50 euros
Form follows function – now also when it comes to sweets
This bunny has to be able to manage without a tail – the product description makes that clear: “No fluff, no kitsch, no industrial chocolate”. It is the principles of the Bauhaus that underlie this chocolate animal. This is shown not only by the no-frills design by the Berlin designer Omer Polak, reduced to a stylized rabbit silhouette made of graphic building blocks. The choice of ingredients is also factually simple: The rabbit consists of nothing but 82 percent single-origin chocolate, it comes from the Berlin couverture specialist Holger In’t Veld. The chocolate is poured into molds by hand, and the Berlin chocolate brand pars cooperates with the noble restaurant Nobelhardt & Schmutzig for the production. So this chocolate bunny is a real community project.
Sawade
“The Sawade Egg”, layered confectionery pie, 21.50 euros
Don’t make a mess: cut a good slice
Everyone can imagine small chocolate messes, as you might have thought at Sawade, a traditional Berlin brand since 1880 – and consequently developed a larger, heavier, definitive chocolate Easter egg. “The Sawade Egg” is also the programmatic product name; This Easter treat is almost the size of a hand. And on the inside, too, it should promise what the sprawling outer shape promises: the hand-stacked filling consists of a total of five components. Fine marzipan is followed by rum-cream truffles, almond nougat on maraschino cherries, and soft brittle, all covered with 60% dark chocolate. It’s a good thing that the luscious candy can’t be devoured in one bite. Cut into well-portioned slices, the beautiful layers become visible!
Walter
“Frühlingshapen”, Easter egg mix, 14.50 euros
Huge on the outside, delicious on the inside: the packaging is also important
Of course, it’s all about the sweetness on the inside. So in this case: the handmade chocolate egg variations with milk cream, pistachio marzipan, hazelnut cream and sprayed nougat. But it is precisely the packaging that should convince with the best Easter treats – especially when they are to be presented as gifts. This is also known in the Walter Confiserie, a family business that has been offering handmade chocolate creations from Berlin since 1915: this year’s modern “Easter gift pack” is so beautiful that it has long been sold out online. But Berliners have home advantage! The “Frühlingshapen” mix in the pretty box is still available in the four Walter branches in Berlin and in KaDeWe.
Rausch
“Hauchfeine Täfelchen Frucht”, chocolate bars, 7.90 euros
A hint of chocolate – it couldn’t be more delicate
“The largest chocolate house in the world” is located on Gendarmenmarkt – on three floors and over 1500 square meters, Rausch presents just about everything that is chocolatey, sweet, melt-in-the-mouth. However, a treat from the brand is very small and thin, and this year it makes a particularly good Easter souvenir: the well-known “Hauchfeine Täfelchen” from the house are available in a version made of “white chocolate in a fruity variety”. The mini chocolate bars are exactly 4 by 4 centimeters in size, their diameter is just 1.2 millimeters – the squares quickly melt in your mouth and unfold their flavors: strawberry, raspberry, lemon, orange.