Egg-cellent Easter Goodies

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Our resident blogger Lucy Young @_Oceancityliving finds the best foodie gifts for the Easter celebrations.

Despite it being a long old lockdown winter, it only seems like five minutes since we were talking about Christmas shopping and now Easter is nearly upon us. And much like the yuletide festivities we love, Easter celebrations usually revolve around food as well… and plenty of it!

Anyone who’s seriously given up any naughty treats for Lent will no doubt be on the countdown for Easter Sunday when they can reward themselves with a few indulgences again. For most of us, the main thing we all look forward to at Easter is chocolate and every essential shop from the big supermarkets to high street stores, independent eateries and bespoke businesses are stacked to the rafters with all things egg shaped.

Award-winning chocolatier Nick Kittle of Domeafavour Chocolates, based at the Royal William Yard, has pulled out all the stops for his Easter offering with handmade, artisan eggs and bespoke bunnies in every flavour. Nick makes all his chocolates by hand at the Yard and is also open for take away hot drinks (he does the best hot chocolate by the way) and mega chocolate brownies as well as online orders for local and national delivery.

Specialist chocolatiers Hobbs Chocolates have also been busy creating a unique range of Easter eggs which are available to order online or to pick up in person exclusively from Jacka Bakery and Deli on the Barbican. Hobbs make the finest quality chocolate using fresh ingredients and all their creations are like works of art, each one a mini masterpiece of swirly marbled colours and divine original flavours.

Jacka’s is also stocking lots of other Easter goodies from local companies including some fabulous eggs from Devon company Barbers who use organic cocoa in their chocolate and have created some genius honeycomb plastic-free packaging to boot. Also available from the bakery team in the run up to Easter weekend are marzipan topped Simnel cakes, giant hot cross buns, mini egg brownies and cheesecake Easter eggs. You can pre-order bread for collection at the Southside Street store, but you need to get in there quick for any pastries, they literally sell like hot cakes!

Peverell artisan bakery and brewery Roam are currently perfecting their hot cross bun recipe in time for Easter as well as working on a brand refresh with some new merchandise available soon. Roam are currently open for takeaway on Saturdays between 8am and 1pm and provide a local delivery service on Thursdays too.

Newly opened Rise Bakery at Frankfort Gate have been doing a roaring trade since they opened last month and are a welcome addition to the growing foodie scene in Plymouth. Their Easter bakes include some luxuriously gooey brownies, chocolate cronuts (a hybrid croissant come donut, don’t you know) and traditional hot cross buns. Or why not opt for an Easter Gift Box with a selection of said treats available for collection or nationwide delivery if you want to treat any distant loved ones.

Sticking with all things chocolatey, you can’t get more indulgent than the signature bakes from The Early Bird Café on Mutley Plain. Their gorgeous, glazed donuts are seasonally decorated with everything from vanilla ganache and crumbly carrot cake to strawberry chocolate with a bunny bottom coconut ‘tail’ and filled with delicious delights such as Nutella or Biscoff and topped with mini eggs, cream eggs or Malteser bunnies (I told you they were indulgent!).

But it doesn’t end there, the clever bakers at The Early Bird have also created some Easter brownie nest cakes with gooey chocolate centres and a giant cookie nest pizza, which would make a fabulous sharing centre piece for a family Easter feast.

The Early Bird Café is reopening for takeaway this week, but you can also pre-order for collection or delivery online. Keep your eyes peeled too for a very special Egg Hunt on Mutley Plain that they have planned for Easter weekend too.

Across town in Oreston, mother and daughter award-winning bakery Just Like Mumma’s have come up trumps again with a selection of Easter cakes and bakes available for pre-order collection and delivery. As well as Easter brownies and mini chocolate and carrot cakes they’ve got luxury cream tea boxes and pretty pastel homemade marshmallows on offer. And excitingly, from 2 April the team are opening a second new premises at Faraday Mill, so you can pop by more easily if you live closer to town.

Meanwhile in Stoke village, café and bakery Cakewhole are creating some heavenly vegan and gluten free cheesecakes in time for Easter including chocolate mousse with mini eggs, caramel Biscoff, lemon and ginger or vanilla topped with berries. Or how about a vegan selection box of Cakewhole’s fantastically moreish traybakes with the likes of rocky road, chocolate coconut flapjack and chocolate nut biscuit bar?

And if that wasn’t enough, Cakewhole have been making their own vegan Easter mini egg chocolate bars: a luxurious homemade dark chocolate bar with dark chocolate Colombian mini eggs and a Berry Bar made from a mixture of ruby and vanilla chocolate decorated with dried strawberries. Cakewhole are open for takeaway or you can order to collect in person.

If vegan bakes are your thing, then you should also try the amazing apple hot cross buns from Heyl, Plymouth’s only plant-based bakery. You can pre-order your buns online, as well as a selection of naturally leavened sourdough loaves and sweet and savoury bakes, for collection from Ocean Studios at the Royal William Yard on Fridays between 11am and 1pm. Heyl also stock their bread at Cakewhole and zero-waste, refillable shop Jar, on the Barbican’s Looe Street, on Wednesdays as well as doing a regular pop-up shop there on Saturdays.

Jar are also stocking some beautifully decorated vegan crème eggs by Bristol-based company Chocbox as well as traditional Easter eggs with an eco-conscience from Divine chocolate. Their Fairtrade ingredients and sustainable packaging come in a variety of gorgeous jewel colours and make perfect gifts that the Easter bunny would definitely be proud to deliver.

Check out the website for more great gift ideas from local businesses across the city and don’t forget to check with individual traders for more details.

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Funded by the Reopening High Street Safely Fund, part funded by the European Regional Development Fund and HM Government