Best Easter dessert for 2024 tried and tested: M&S, Aldi and more
Tried and tested by our expert Food Team - find out where to buy the best Easter desserts this year...
From the best supermarket Easter desserts including M&S, Tesco, and Aldi to independent sellers like LAKRIDS by Bülow, here are the best Easter desserts for 2024 all tried and tasted by our expert Food Team.
If you're planning an Easter gathering or hosting a Sunday roast with family and friends, make sure to include one of these indulgent Easter desserts. Ranging from Aldi’s banoffee-inspired hot cross bun bread and butter pudding to vegan options such as Abel and Cole’s blueberry and lemon tart, or even chocolate gifting with an epic selection box, there's something for everyone.
There's an abundance of creative desserts out there, so to truly impress us, these desserts needed to excel in both taste and appearance. This year, our panel of food experts - GoodtoKnow, Woman & Home, and Woman's Weekly's in-house Food Team, consisting of Food Director Jen Bedloe, Food Editor Jess Meyer, Deputy Food Editor Rose Fooks, Junior Food Writer Georgia Sparks and Food Writer Amanda James, put an array of Easter desserts to the test.
With years of experience and a vast amount of culinary expertise, this team is well-versed in identifying what makes the best Easter dessert whatever you’re after, meaning you can trust their judgment and feel confident that they would only score a product highly if they thought it was worth it. With that in mind, here are this year's favourites.
Where to buy the best Easter desserts online
- Ocado: The best all-rounder and winner of The Best Easter Dessert 2024 available now online
- Tesco: Belgian Chocolate Plant Pots with Daisies and other chocolate delights to serve for an easy dessert
- Aldi: Fruity Easter pudding or a banoffee pie twist to serve as an Easter dessert
Best shop-bought Easter desserts 2024
Why you can trust GoodtoKnow.
1. M&S Egg & Soldiers Mousse Cakes, 120g - View at Ocado
Winner: The best Easter dessert 2024
RRP: £5.25
These two mousse cakes make a great dessert option for adults and children alike, designed to mimic the British classic egg and soldiers, judges enjoyed the creativity. An airy white chocolate mousse is encased by a light vanilla sponge, topped with a refreshing passionfruit curd which mimics the ‘yolk’, this cuts through the richness of the chocolate mousse. To top it off a blonde chocolate 'soldier' pokes out of the top, which is perfect for dipping into the mousse and adds extra novelty. All of this sits on top of a crispy feuilletine base.
Junior Food Writer Georgia Sparks says: "We loved the creativity of this dessert and thought all of the elements worked really well together, great after a heavy Easter lunch and easy to serve."
2. M&S Baa Baa Cheesecake Sheep, 140g - View at Ocado
Winner: Best novelty Easter dessert
RRP: £5
These Baa Baa Cheesecake sheep have a creamy vanilla cheesecake sphere filled with Belgian milk chocolate sauce, coated in smooth white chocolate, topped with meringue pieces, and finished with hand-decorated chocolate faces. Judges thought these would be great to serve them after your Easter lunch, or just enjoy one yourself as a little pick-me-up; for children and adults.
Food Editor Jess Meyer says: “Sweet lovers eat your heart out. This was on the sweeter side, but if you like white chocolate then this will appeal. The mousse filling is super light, and the design is very cute. The chocolate custard filling could be more generous, or another flavour would have been nice but this would be a winner with chocoholics of all ages, especially the little ones.
3. Sainsbury's Crackin Good Egg Panna Cotta, Limited Edition, Taste the Difference, 560g, View at Sainsbury’s
Winner: Best novelty Easter dessert runner-up
RRP: £10
Smooth vanilla panna cotta using British cream then topped with a mango and orange tropical jelly. A fun and playful egg-inspired dessert to serve after the big family Easter lunch. Judges thought it was fun, simple, and classic in flavour.
Food Writer Amanda James says: “I like the design of this one, a fun one the whole family can enjoy. Very smooth and creamy, great for everyone to dive in and grab a spoon. Wouldn’t last too long in the fridge as the cream would go too solid, best eaten right away and would be great served with extra cream. The flavour is subtle but still sweet, great for the whole family.”
4. Aldi Specially Selected fruited hot cross bun pudding, 600g - View at Aldi
Winner: Best warm Easter dessert
RRP: £3.99
A fun take on the traditional bread-and-butter pudding. Hot cross buns are soaked in creamy custard, which makes the buns nice and soft. Packed with plump raisins and juicy fruits, there is a subtle hint of warming spice. Judges enjoyed the citrussy element of this pudding that cut through the creamy custard.
Food Writer Amanda James says: “A lovely classic and original taste, light spice, not overpowering. Lovely amount of custard and a clear vanilla flavour, not too sweet with a good amount of fruit, very moreish.”
5. Aldi Specially Selected Banoffee hot cross bun pudding, 600g - View at Aldi
Winner: Best warm Easter dessert
RRP: £3.99
Hot cross buns with toffee fudge pieces and banana purée, covered in vanilla flavour custard and topped with caramel flavour fudge pieces. Judges loved the banoffee flavour and thought it was an interesting take on a classy bread-and-butter pudding.
Group Food Editor Jen Below says: “Fun take on a traditional pudding using buns and a banoffee flavour. The custard isn’t as good as homemade but a great shop-bought dessert. Serve with cream and or ice cream, this would go down well with the family.”
6. LAKRIDS by Bülow, Spring selection box, 350g - View at LAKRIDS BY BÜLOW
Winner: Best Easter dessert to give as a gift
RRP: £38
This spring selection box is the perfect gift for those looking to show off or for those with a hankering for liquorice. The box contains eight different flavours of chocolate-coated liquorice, including the Easter limited editions and original flavours. Including passion fruit, salt & caramel, and lemon and sour strawberry.
Deputy Food Editor Rose Fooks says: “This would be a fun end to the meal. Liquorice is one of those polarising flavours, but Lakrids by Bülow typically win over even the sceptics. These are a hit in our kitchen and we can't get enough of them. This sharing box would be a wacky way to end the meal with a coffee if you don't fancy a serious pudding. The sour strawberry is a lovely new flavour.”
7. Cutter & Squidge, Vegan Cookie Easter Egg, 350g - View at Cutter & Squidge
Winner: Best Vegan Easter dessert
RRP: £23.99
New and improved for 2024 this Vegan Easter Egg is more indulgent than ever. An ethically sourced dark chocolate shell is filled with layers of thick caramel, pieces of cookies for some bite, and a whipped plant-based chocolate ganache with some added vegan honeycomb. The egg has been hand decorated with baked chocolate chip cookie bites, dark chocolate mini eggs filled with caramel and chocolate ganache, and painted gold. This vegan cookie Easter gg is handmade with natural ingredients and sustainable, traceable cocoa beans.
Junior Food Writer Georgia Sparks says: “I can’t believe this is vegan, the chocolate is so cream and the filling feels very indulgent. The size of the egg is huge, extremely generous but almost overwhelming. This is a great option for vegans it’s as impressive to look at as it is to eat.”
8. Abel & Cole, Mr. Prempy’s Blueberry and Lemon Tart, 850g - View at Abel & Cole
Winner: Best Vegan Easter dessert
RRP: £20
This bold and vibrant dessert makes a great vegan option (or general dessert, we thought it was delicious). Full of whole and natural ingredients, there isn’t an additive in sight. This refreshing and fruity tart has a punchy blueberry flavour which is paired beautifully with tart lemon that almost makes it taste a bit like blackcurrant.
Deputy Food Editor Rose Fooks says: "The soft and impressively creamy cheesecake filling, given the absence of dairy, is nicely contrasted by a crunchy coconutty base. Finished off with a sprinkling of chopped nuts, this dessert would be great if you need a dairy-free option."
9. Tesco Finest, Belgian Chocolate Plant Pots with Daisies, 156g - View at Tesco
Winner: Best chocolate Easter dessert
RRP: £6
Sweet and dainty edible terracotta pots filled with rich yet light, Belgian chocolate mousse, a biscuit soil then finished with a charming chocolate daisy. Easy to get out of its packaging in one piece and have on the table in no time, one for all the family to enjoy. Judges thought these would make a cute yet delicious chocolate addition to a family Easter spread.
Food Editor Jess Meyer says: “A great novelty design, these are one for the chocoholic! Very rich and not too sweet, the mousse filling is VERY light and creamy, but the chocolate pot could be a little more indulgent:”
10. Waitrose, Lemon and Raspberry Torta, 500g - View at Waitrose
Winner: Best Easter cake
RRP: £8
An Italian Easter twist on a lemon cake, made in a family-run bakery in Piedmont, Italy. It’s crammed with the flavours of spring, with pockets of sweet raspberry sauce and lemon-flavoured icing sugar to finish. A great treat to serve over the Easter holidays.
Group Food Editor Jen Below says: “DELICIOUS! A lovely sweet surprise - jammy doughnut meets Italian torta. Absolutely delicious and not too sickly.
How did we test the best Easter desserts?
Using their experience as professional recipe developers and food journalists, Jen, Jess, Rose, and Georgia tasted each Easter dessert. Whilst taste is of course the team's top priority, judges were looking for creativity too.
Tasting almost 20 Easter desserts, the food team used their experience as professional recipe developers and food journalists, to decide what you should be putting in your trolley.
First and foremost, the flavour of the dessert was considered. The judges were looking for an Easter dessert that wasn’t overly sweet and the flavours were balanced. Another consideration was that the flavourings were not synthetic tasting and were true to the product description.
Once the flavour of the dessert had been assessed, judges turned their attention to the appearance of the dessert. Whilst taste is of course the team's top priority, judges were looking for creativity too. Judges enjoyed desserts that had a novelty element as well as tasted great too.
Meet the experts: Tried and tested by...
Rose Fooks is Deputy Food Editor at Future Publishing, creating recipes, reviewing products and writing food features for a range of lifestyle and home titles including GoodTo and Woman&Home. She has a Diplome de Patisserie and Culinary Management at London’s Le Cordon Bleu. Career highlights have included interviewing the wonderful Mary Berry and working on Truth, Love and Clean Cutlery; a guidebook of sustainable restaurants in the UK.
An experienced recipe writer, editor, and food stylist, Jen is Group Food Director at Future plc where she oversees the food content across the women’s lifestyle group, including Woman and Home, Women’s Weekly, Woman, Woman’s Own, Chat, Goodto.com, and womanandhome.com. Jen studied Communications at Goldsmiths, then landed her first job in media working for Delia Smith’s publishing company on Sainsbury’s magazine. Jen honed her practical skills by combining courses at Leith’s cookery school with time spent in the test kitchen testing recipes and assisting food stylists on photoshoots.
Jess is the Group Food Editor at Future PLC, working across brands in the woman’s lifestyle group, including Woman and Home, Woman’s Weekly, Woman, Woman’s Own, Chat, womanandhome.com and Goodto.com. An experienced recipe writer, food stylist and home economist, Jess honed her skills in print and digital food media, working with well known brands such as Great British Bake Off, Tastemade US and UK, and Slimming World to name a few.
Georgia Sparks is Junior Food Writer, working across Woman & Home, Woman’s Weekly, Chat and goodto.com. She's passionate about food and is most content knife and fork in hand around the table with family and friends. Georgia works within the Food Team at Future Plc where she can usually be found in the kitchen developing and testing recipes as well as assisting on shoots and writing food features.
Looking for more Easter inspiration? We've got delicious Easter cake ideas, simple Easter desserts you can try making at home as well as Easter lamb recipes and fun Creme Egg recipes the kids are going to love.
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Amanda has clocked up experience in both digital and print working at brands including Olive, ASDA Good Living, and Ocado becoming an expert food and recipe writer, reviewer, and tester. At Future Plc Amanda has a busy schedule having taken on the health and Christmas specials. With a savoury tooth and discerning palate, Amanda enjoys testing the main categories, but secretly she loves a dessert with a novel twist, such as the Smash Nose Snowman Cheesecake from Tesco.
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