An Ode to the Cadbury’s Crème Egg

Roll on February 15. That’s the day I have come to look forward to every year. No, not because I’m a cheapskate and will be buying Valentine’s Day tat at 50% off.

February 15 is the day in Tampa Bay supermarkets that Easter goodies replace the Valentine’s leftovers … and front and centre nowadays is the Cadbury’s Crème Egg. Americans have really taken to the Crème Egg – probably without knowing its UK roots - and gazillions are now sold each Easter.

Now I didn’t give a damn about Crème Eggs when I lived in the UK but to be shockingly re-introduced to them after not seeing one for years, I started to salivate.

I was overcome with wavy-screen nostalgia and a desire to stick my tongue deep into that white and orange goop.

Naturally I did just that and to me it tasted just the same as it did in my childhood - except for two things … one Crème Eggs weren’t around in my childhood as they were introduced in 1971. Oops.

Two, they don’t taste the same because they are not actually made by Cadbury’s.

You see the Crème Eggs we buy here are made by the American company, Hershey, under license. And who says everything is bigger in America? I am reliably informed by Wikipedia that a Hershey’s egg weighs six grams less than a Cadbury’s one. How cheap is that?

Hershey’s licensed the Cadbury brand back in 1988 but has really stepped up its distribution fairly recently. It has of course Dairy Milk, Fruit & Nut and its equivalent of Bourneville called Royal Dark. They all taste great to me but I’m told they are less sweet than the UK versions.

My taste buds are shot and I really don’t care but, as you can imagine that tampering with a great British choc sends quite a lot of ex-Pats rabid. I’m sure that one and a half glasses of milk in each bar is right out of the window, for instance.

So for future reference if you buy your Cadbury’s in a US supermarket it’s likely to be an imposter… a pretty tasty one though. If you go to a “British shop” like The London Pride near me in Largo or Britan’s in Tampa you’ll pay more but you can be sure it’s come from home.