ADULTS ONLY: WHY SHOULD CHILDREN HAVE ALL THE FUN?
by Chené Koscielny
In Switzerland chocolate is not scoffed all at once, but examined, smelt and allowed to melt in the mouth to truly appreciate the textures and flavours. It is a passion! This is why there is a market for at least 10 chocolate specialist shops in the centre of town.
For Easter we took a tour around the chocolateries of Geneva to choose our TOP 5 Easter eggs/treats for adults. You’ll pay a lot more than in the supermarket for sure, but like a good wine, once you’ve tasted the ‘vrai chocolate’, you’ll never want to settle for less again.
ENTER OUR FIRST FACEBOOK COMPETITION FOR A CHANCE TO WIN ONE OF OUR EASTER FAVOURITES BELOW.
TEUSCHER – CHAMPAGNE CHOCOLATE EGG TRUFFLES
Without a doubt our favourite Easter egg for adults: Lovely set of 3 or 6 champagne (Perrier Jouet) filled egg-shaped chocolate truffles. Milk or dark chocolate or a mix of the two. Their champagne truffles are world-famous and these are the only alcohol infused Easter eggs we could find. If no one offers you these this Easter, go on and spoil yourself – you’re worth it. PRICE: 25.80chf for a box of 6, or 12.80chf for a box of 3
Rue du Rhone, 2, 1204, Geneva, Tel. +41 (0)22 3108 778, www.teuschergeneve.com
LADURÉE – PRETTY PASTEL EGGS
We loved the set of four pretty pastel coloured white chocolate eggs (vanilla, pink, lilac and red) in a cute little box. PRICE: 64chf
The ‘pièce de résistance’ in the shop is actually a huge pastel pink bunny with humungous pop-out eyes, but to us it looked a bit more like a Christening gift than an Easter egg. Made in white chocolate and dyed in baby pink using natural food colouring, the bunny is hollow inside. The price did make our eyes water a bit too. PRICE: 110chf
Ladurée Geneva, Rue du Mont-Blanc 1, Quai des Bergues and Rue du Stand 60
SPRÜNGLI – THE CUTEST BUNNY IN TOWN: NICO!
The Swiss are into bunnies and traditional milk chocolate bunnies are still a firm favourite. There are some seriously ugly bunnies out there though (think road-kill). However, we’ve managed to track down the cutest Easter bunny in town, which doesn’t fit the mould!
His name is Nico and he comes in either dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, raspberry or as of this year in crunchy caramel. Nico has been the top performer at Sprüngli, the chocolaterie in Bon Genie, for the last two years and he’s just gorgeous! Nico is hollow. PRICE: 12chf (small) or 19chf (large)
Rue du Marché 34, 1204 Genève
FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A LARGE CRUNCHY CARAMEL OR RASPBERRY-FLAVOURED WHITE CHOCOLATE NICO BUNNY FROM SPRÜNGLI, visit our Facebook page: www.thingstodoingeneva.ch.
An ornate, girly looking dark chocolate egg with beautifully carved roses is also a popular choice – maybe to curry favour with your mother-in-law or your elderly Swiss neighbour who’s been moaning about the children being too noisy! PRICE: 69chf
CHOCOLATERIE DU RHÔNE – THE SWISS VERSION OF A CADBURY’S CREME EGG
Not quite the same as our old favourite back home, but this is the closest we could get. The “cracked open” egg has a dark chocolate base, milk chocolate shell and uses white chocolate for the egg white and coloured white chocolate for the yolk. It’s not filled like a real Cadbury’s Creme Egg, but at this size your stomach may appreciate that it’s not! PRICE: 28chf
Rue de la Confédération, 3, 1211, Geneva, Tel. +41 (0)22 3115 614,
LÄDERACH – PISTACHIO BUNNY
Another chocolate bunny that stole our heart is Cleo, the Pistachio bunny with the blue ribbon around her neck at LÄDERACH. Even though she’s not quite as cute as Nico (See Sprüngli) above, this bunny gets our vote for originality. White chocolate with almonds and crushed pistachios. Yum! PRICE: 16.90chf
If you’re on a diet (life’s too short, we say), the one-dimensional or flat milk chocolate egg-shape with large roasted caramelised Piedmont hazelnuts might be a good option at 15chf, although if you’ve been paying attention, the idea is to savour tiny pieces of chocolate anyway and not to scoff the lot!
Rue du Marché 5, Centre Commercial Metro Shopping, Cornavin, Rue de Mont Blanc 30
And if you’re just not that into chocolate, we have an option for you too.
LUSH – GOLDEN EGG
We couldn’t resist sneaking in the bath bomb Easter egg wrapped in gold – another low-calorie way of indulging yourself this Easter. PRICE: 62chf
Rue de Rive 1, 27 Avenue Louis-Casai, Centre Balexert