This Inner West fave and family-owned business – now with eight locations across Sydney- is more than a chocolatier. Depending on which location you pop into, it’s a neighbourhood café where you can grab a gourmet bite – to savour in-store or on the go. A high tea destination. A pâtissier and cake shop (their famous carrot cake is a must-try). Not to mention a fab chocolate shop where you can pick up an indulgent handmade chocolate, gift box, hamper or custom chocs for special occasions (think weddings, christenings and birthdays). Their Easter collection is equally broad. From bunny shortbread, hot cross bun mallows, a salted caramel egg box to a decadent Easter Basket filled with an assortment of 20 handmade chocolates and truffles. Can’t decide or buying for a friend who’s an absolute chocoholic? How about an Adora Membership where you get an Adora box sent to you every quarter plus 15% off every purchase (including coffee!). Go on, what are you waiting for.
Where: Corner Bass and Wardell Roads, Earlwood plus eight other locations including Sydney CBD, Parramatta, Newtown, Oatley, Croydon, Quay Quarter Lanes and Wynyard.
More info: adora.com.au
At Kakawa Chocolate, they believe fresh is best. So much so that they tout themselves as Sydney’s first chocolatier to specialise in using fresh ingredients from locally sourced ingredients, like seasonal fruits and single origin chocolates, and with no added preservatives or additives. Not surprisingly you’ll find bars of chocolate spiked with mango and chilli, or Black Doris Plum in three ways – freezedried, powdered and dried – which permeates the fruity Black Doris Plum and Dark Chocolate disc. But that’s not all. There’s a Willy Wonka-esque trove of chocolate bars blended with ingredients like coconut, coffee, or sour cherry. Or smothered liberally with treats including honey caramelised cashews or popcorn, or more savoury seasonings like ginger and fennel, matcha green tea and black sesame. If you thought their chocolate bars were a notch above your typical supermarket variety, Kakawa’s Easter offering is equally sophisticated. Forget chickens, there’s a regal Guard Rooster watching over three sugar-coated praline eggs (packaged with shredded hay-coloured paper, he looks more like a porcelain ornament than a dessert). Whilst the whimsical 6-Pack Chocolate Egg comes in an egg carton tray and includes Emoji eggs, hand-painted ‘soft-boiled’ egg sand artist-splattered hand painted number. The dark or milk choc bunny pops are a hit with little ones – as much for the cute bunny cradling an Easter egg as Kakawa’s signature dark chocolate made from a blend of three different dark chocolates for the perfect flavour balance.
Address: 147 William St, Darlinghurst
More info: www.kakawachocolates.com.au
For 35 years, Belle Fleur have carved out a little piece of Belgium right in the heart of Rozelle’s bustling retail strip. In fact, their change of digs in March saw them shift further down Darling Street – and just in time for the Easter rush! This year you’ll find faves like the Chicken Couple, Jack in the Egg, Peter Rabbit, Bilbies and Muriel (the cutest girl rabbit holding a basket) – all handcrafted from the finest Belgian chocolate and available in milk, dark and white options. The Ginormous Easter Egg has also returned this year and with a new design adorned with three fried eggs. Can’t make it to the Rozelle store? Don’t despair – there are three other Belle Fleur outlets to pick from. Petersham for inner west locals, as well as outposts in Maroubra and Mosman for those further afield.
Where: 655 Darling Street, Rozelle as well as outlets in Petersham, Maroubra and Mosman
More info: www.bellefleur.com.au
Say ‘fine chocolate’ and most people think Swiss or Belgian. But Artisinale Chocolate in Leichhardt’s Italian Forum are champions of French chocolate saying it has a higher cocoa content compared to its continental cousins, making it more luxurious, creamy and lower in fat (where do we sign up?). Whichever way you lean, you can’t go past Artisinale’s huge offering spanning novelty shapes (the tools would make a great Father’s Day gift), chocolates mixed with assorted nuts, lush fruits and even dried flowers, as well as hampers that take the guesswork out of gifting.
But this Easter, we have our eyes on one thing only. The Rocky Road Easter Eggs. This luxurious half-egg (available in milk or dark choc) brimming with marshmallow rich Rocky Road sprinkled with blue corn flowers and rose petals looks almost too pretty to eat. But eat it we certainly will. Want something more traditional? Pick from boxed chocolate bunnies (dusted with gold lustre of course), colourful speckle eggs for little ones, or individual eggs. Shopping for adults (or sneaking in a little treat for yourself)? Don’t go past the Kahlua truffle Easter Eggs.
Where: 30/23 Norton Street, Leichhardt 2040 – inside the Italian Forum
More info: www.artisanalechocolate.com.au
One of Australia’s oldest chocolatiers – beaten to the title by just one year by Ernest Hillier – but certainly the oldest family-run chocolate business in the nation, Haigh’s prides itself on creating premium quality, fine chocolate using local ingredients. On any day at their QVB or Strand Arcade store, you’ll find lines of tourists queuing up to purchase bags of their dark peppermint chocolate frogs, multicoloured freckles, or a moreish milk honeycomb block. This Easter, you’ll find the return of old favourites – the Easter Bilby and Salted Macadamia Brittle Egg in particular – along with new treats like the luxe Assorted Hot Cross Buns Gift Tin. Don’t let the name fool you – this egg-shaped tin stacked with a baker’s dozen of hot cross bun shaped chocs, fudge filled, and with flavours like blueberry and apple cinnamon, would make any chocoholics dream come true. There’s also half-eggs filled with choc speckles, frogs and scorched almonds for those who can’t make up their minds.
Where: Shop 24, Queen Victoria Building, 455 George St as well as various locations including the Strand Arcade, Westfield Bondi Junction, Westfield Miranda and Chatswood
More info: www.haighschocolates.com.au
Barangaroo got even sweeter when artisanal chocolatier Oh! Boo upped sticks from Darlinghurst in 2016 to settle in the waterfront business hub. Helmed by mâitre chocolatier, Fanny Chan, whose resume includes training in Belgium and working in hatted restaurant Bennelong, Oh! Boo specialises in innovative flavours thanks to a process known as ‘layering’ – where complementary and sometimes contrasting tastes are layered with chocolate to create a new gustatory experience. Take the Black Sesame – a decadent bite of dark chocolate melded with roasted nutty black sesame and hazelnut. Or the Peach Milk Tea made with milk chocolate, peach and Japanese (hojicha) tea. If you love unique flavour combos, you’ll dig their Easter egg range – pick from the Matcha Macadamia White Choc egg or the Strawberry Coconut White Choc egg. Prefer something more traditional? There are also gorgeous hand painted milk or dark choc eggs and the cutest Easter chicken we’ve seen in a while – a yolk-egg yellow Oh! Boo chicken – plus bunnies, mini-egg bundles and hampers galore.
Where: Shop #1, 33 Barangaroo Ave. Barangaroo
More info: www.ohboo.com.au
This Melbourne born chocolatier, which now boasts seven Sydney based outlets, serves a wicked hot choc (don’t believe us? Check out our article here) not to mention a cracking trade in fine couverture chocolate including pralines, choc truffles and now an Australian collection featuring local ingredients like lemon myrtle and Davidson Plum.
This Easter, adults can indulge in their Boozy Bunny Hampers – a limited edition collaboration with Tasmanian distillery Hellyers featuring Cream Liqueurs (think Irish Cream) paired with milk, dark and white choc bunnies. Naughty. If you’re strictly shopping for the little ones, there are solo bunnies, choc koalas, multi-packs of chocolate critters, as well as Bunny Egg Pops – choc eggs on a stick. Need we say more. Best of all, you can indulge knowing every delicious morsel is handcrafted with 100% natural ingredients and 100% sustainably sourced cocoa.
Where: The Strand Arcade Sydney as well as various locations including The QVB, Westfield Sydney, David Jones Sydney, and Bondi Junction
More info: www.kokoblack.com
The famous Guylian Café in the Rocks parted ways with the Guylian chocolate brand in 2023 but still operates today as the Belgian Chocolate Café. And whilst there’s not a Belgian choc seashell in sight, you will find a menu heavy with Belgian choc-based treats like Belgian hot chocolate drinks, iced Belgian choc coffees and chocolate desserts from mud cakes, an orange choc fondant, Mont Blanc and choc dome cakes. If Easter eggs aren’t your thing, this might be just the place to indulge in a delectable choc experience minus the bunnies.
Where: 91 George St, The Rocks
More info: www.belgiancafe.com.au
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Want even more choc? Check out our article on the Best Hot Chocs in Sydney here ☕