The most special Easter Egg: The Mignon

How about giving someone a REALLY special Easter egg? 

The Finnish MIGNON egg is actually a hazelnut and almond filling INSIDE a real egg shell.  Yeps, you read correctly:  a real egg.

These Mignon eggs have been made since 1896.  The recipe stems from Germany, from where the maker and now famous Finnish Chocolate company (Karl Fazer) brought the concept over to the Finnish shores.

As you can imagine, to cope with a production demand of over 2 million eggs a year, you need a helluva lot of perfect egg shells to start with.  And a lot of patience to fill them.   Only the very best and most perfect eggs are selected to become a Mignon egg.

After sorting, the egg is cleaned. A hole is drilled into the shell with a 10mm diamond head drill, a thin straw is inserted to the egg, through which the egg contents are removed by a machine (the contents are not wasted but are used in industrial cooking – we imagine a portion of scrambled eggs the size of Luxembourg or similar). After emptying, the shells are washed, rinsed, sterilized, dried - and checked again.

It takes about 3 months and 30 people working full time to make the annual required amount of Mignon eggs.  Hence the price tag and the exclusivity.  The chocolate filling is exactly 28 degrees when it is piped into the egg shell after which is is sent on a journey of cooling to reach exact temperature to preserve it.

When the egg has hardened, it is packed manually into a container and sent to the shops.  Loads of these eggs get marked for exports to fine establishments around the world.

There are many ways to eat a Mignon egg.  Some slice the egg and eat it piece by piece, others chew pieces right off the Mignon. Some put the whole Mignon into their mouths. The shell needs removing first, though. That is easily done by knocking the middle of the egg with a knife and then carefully removing the shell halves.   Eh, a bit like peeling an egg, you know.

MIGNON eggs are in store now and costs £3.95 an egg.  You can buy it in our web shop as well – just click here