Earliest hollow chocolate Easter eggs

The first hollowed-out, moulded chocolate Easter eggs were produced by the British confectionery company Fry’s, based in Bristol, UK, in 1873. But the now ubiquitous Easter treat really took off two years later in 1875 when produced by rival firm Cadbury, who struck upon the idea of filling their eggs with sugared almonds.

French and German confectioners had made solid chocolate eggs in the early 19th century, but that chocolate was grainy and bitter. Only in 1828, when Coenraad van Houten discovered how to separate cocoa butter from cacao, could a creamy, mouldable chocolate be made, a process perfected in 1866 by Cadbury that allowed them to more easily make the hollow eggs that Fry’s then pioneered on the market. Cadbury’s first moulded eggs were made of dark chocolate, but in 1905 they introduced milk chocolate eggs, which became the best sellers.

In 1919, Cadbury and Fry merged and in 1923 launched the first fondant-filled chocolate egg. For nearly 50 years this egg was improved upon, eventually becoming the wildly popular Cadbury Creme Egg.

The most expensive chocolate egg ever made was the Golden Speckled Egg crafted by chocolatier William Curley, which weighed in at 50 kg (110 lb). This egg was auctioned off for charity in 2012, selling for £7,000 ($11,107).