Eggs for Easter

Boiled egg and soldiers or eggs and bacon for breakfast. Poached or scrambled on toast for lunch. Omelette or frittata for supper – perhaps with goats cheese and spinach, Nigel Slater style. Batter for toad in the hole. Yorkshire puds. Pancakes. Meringues. Macaroons. Jam sponge with custard. Cake.

A box of eggs is possibly the most versatile ingredient in the kitchen and a store cupboard essential - lockdown or not. The big supermarkets may be running low on eggs, however your local butcher, farm shop, deli or village store will probably have supplies. Or contact local egg producers direct to source fresh, free range eggs from hens with freedom to access the outdoors and natural feed.

These include: Claytons, near Romsey; Fluffetts, on the edge of the New Forest; and Beechwood Eggs, from family-run Beechwood Farm, near Newbury. Mixed farms such as Fernworth Farm, near Newbury, and Warrenfield Farm, near Andover, also sell free range eggs.

Don’t forget, with Easter approaching, to support local chocolatiers. JK Fine Chocolates have limited stock available to order by 6th April - including eggs featuring milk ganache, buttery white chocolate and dark shell with cocoa beans from Papua New Guinea, Madagascar and Vietnam.

Chococo’s chocolate shops may have closed temporarily, but they can still post out Easter treats such as a tube of chocolate bunnies and 'studded' eggs (including vegan-friendly), although they're selling fast. Winchester Cocoa Company have seasonal Hot Cross Bun Chocolate Bars and wonderfully indulgent selection boxes. Meanwhile Summerdown Mint have tins of luxurious chocolate peppermint truffles and boxes of chocolate peppermint creams, crisps, fondants and thins. 

Support local; Stay home; Keep well. 

Eggs-citing creations available online from Chococo