Speckled Eggs, with their soft jelly eggs enrobed in a delicious dairy milk chocolate, covered with a crisp colourful candy coating, are the perfect sweet solution for when you can’t quite decide between a crisp candy, a chocolate, or a chewy jelly!
The original Speckled Egg concept, a proudly South African creation, was first introduced to the market by a local brand, Mister Sweet. A sweet treat proving to be so popular that many a competitor has now come out with their own take to rival the original Speckled Egg.
So, then what makes Speckled Eggs so unique, other than the fact that they’re delicious and simply melt in your mouth? It has to do with the fine balance between the crisp outer coating and the chocolate-to-jelly egg ratio, a really specific formula that hits the sweet spot every time!
Speckled Eggs have all the textures, flavours and comforting feels in one small satisfying bite! And so, along with our trusty tasting panel, we looked at four other brands with a similar speckled egg offering and set out to see if any copycat brands have managed to rival the perfect sweet balance Mister Sweet managed to achieve with their Speckled Eggs.
As part of the taste test questionnaire, we also asked the tasting panel if speckled eggs are indeed the best sweet treat around and it was an undisputed yes! So just in case you haven’t got your sweet speckled egg fix in this Easter yet, it’s not too late.
Results
Mister Sweet Speckled Eggs 4/5
A valiant triumph, scoring the highest in the taste test, the speckled egg award goes to the original Mister Sweet Speckled Eggs! The majority of the tasting panel picked correctly when asked which sample was the original Speckled Eggs from Mister Sweet, with a few true fans leaving noteworthy comments on their favourite sample!
The sample was well praised for that moreish characteristic flavour balance all South Africans love so much when it comes to speckled eggs, a fine balance that sets the original ahead of the copycat rivals!
Here is what tasters had to say: “Good balance between the chocolate and the jelly flavours. Definitely Mister Sweet for sure – love love love,” and “I like this sample! All the elements are on point – candy coating, chocolate and jelly. Bonus – the speckles are nicely distributed,” and lastly, “I FOUND MISTER SWEET!!!! Love these! They have to tell us how they get the perfect balance of coated candy, chocolate and jelly for every single egg. It’s soooo good!”
Cost: R34.99 for 125g
Woolworths Fantastical 3.8/5
A very close second place was awarded to Woolworths and their version of speckled eggs. Tasters noted that while the sample was delicious and a very close rival to the original, the flavour of the chocolate (although lush and luxurious) did somewhat overpower the other flavours, throwing out that fine speckled egg flavour balance.
Here are some of the comments tasters left: “You can taste the chocolate is expensive, flavour comes through nicely but maybe overpowers the jelly flavour a bit. But I really liked this one,” and “The jelly is quite sweet over here, or is it the coated candy? Hmmm… the chocolate also overpowers the coated candy and the jelly quite a bit which is not the best,” and lastly, “Has to be WW speckled eggs… The perfect balance of flavour. Jelly has the perfect consistency.”
Cost: R46.99 for 125g
Gordons Sweets Eggsations 3/5
Coming in third spot, while this sample was very close in appearance to the original, tasters noted it was a lot sweeter on the palate. Some tasters also weren’t the biggest fans of the actual flavour of the chocolate while others quite enjoyed the sample.
Here is what tasters had to say: “Chocolate let this sample down. Tasted like cooking chocolate or even those chocolate cigarette sticks that kids used to buy,” and “Quite sweet, overpowers the chocolate flavour and the crisp shell has a bit of a bitter aftertaste to it,” and lastly, “Let’s just say if Mister Sweet ran out of inventory, this would be my desperate second! Not bad at all.”
Cost: R29.99 for 125g
Woolworths Fantastical Gelatine-free 3/5
Coming in joint third place, the gelatine-free Fantastical sample from Woolworths was marked down for being too sweet and the texture of the jelly was softer than what you might expect when compared to the original.
Most of the tasters did pick correctly when asked to guess which sample was free from gelatine, but if you’re looking to try a gelatine-free version of speckled eggs, we can guarantee these will go down an absolute treat!
Here are some of the comments tasters left: “Not too shabby! The outer coating was a bit too hard for my liking, but the jelly was melt-in-your-mouth soft. Also, quite liked the chocolate here,” and “This was actually pretty decent. Good balance of flavours. Jelly was on the softer side and not as chewy, but I enjoyed that,” and “Very sweet and the jelly is very soft but the chocolate tastes nice.”
Cost: R46.99 for 125g
Munch’D Speckled Eggs 2.8/5
Commonly found in Dis-Chem stores nationwide, Munch’D Speckled Eggs offering had a beautifully speckled appearance but was ultimately marked down on the taste of the chocolate and the texture of the jelly.
Here is what tasters had to say: “The speckled appearance is there but the chocolate lacks that depth of richness and the jelly centre is way too hard,” and “No chocolate flavour comes through, the jelly is very hard and tough and has a bit of an artificial taste to it. Not my vibe,” and lastly, “The coated candy bit was crispy enough, but the jelly was a bit hard. Sorry sample A! You’re NOT IT!”
Cost: R29.95 for 125g
Manhattan Speckles 1.5/5
Tasters found this sample more reminiscent of liquorice than speckled eggs. The jelly was also noticeably harder than what you’d expect with the original speckled egg experience.
Here are some of the comments tasters left: “Liquorice taste to it and very hard,” and “Oddly it tasted like liquorice? Jelly is very hard and tough,” and lastly, “The hard jelly distracts you from the chocolate and the crispy coating on the outside. Damn you, hard jellies!”
Cost: R29.99 for 125g
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The rules of Food24 Taste Tests:
– All tasters tasted and scored all samples. Each individual taster’s preference impacts the score they give.
– The samples were tested without packaging and were not easily identifiable.
– The samples were not labelled and were tasted in random order.
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