olive Easter Supermarket Awards 2025 – results

• Best classic hot cross bun
• Best alternative hot cross bun
• Best free from hot cross bun
• Best chocolate hot cross bun

For classic and free from hot cross buns, we wanted each fluffy bun to be filled with plump, juicy fruit and have a well-spiced flavour. For the alternative hot cross buns, we wanted to see an exciting twist on the classic Easter bake.

Discover olive's best supermarket hot cross buns 2025

Best Easter eggs

We chose the best supermarket Easter eggs in the following categories:

• Best dark chocolate egg
• Best milk chocolate egg
• Best vegan egg
• Best novelty shape egg
• Best alternative flavour egg

Each egg had to impress with its flavour, texture and appearance. For dark chocolate, we were after a good snap and glossy shine; for milk chocolate, we wanted a creamy mouthfeel and rounded flavour. For the novelty shape and alternative flavour, we wanted innovation that we hadn't seen before. The best vegan egg could have been rich and dark or creamy milk – as long as it impressed as much as its non-vegan counterparts.

Discover olive's best supermarket Easter eggs 2025

Best simnel cake

We wanted to find the best simnel cake, be it plain or decorated. A moist, well-spiced sponge with juicy dried fruit was essential.

Winner: Waitrose Simnel Cake

• Available from Waitrose (£13)

A very pretty looking cake, with a definite homemade vibe. The cake is moist, not too sweet and has a soft layer of marzipan through the middle.

Available from:
Waitrose (£13)

Best alternative Easter cake

For people who aren't a fan of simnel cake, we wanted to find the best alternative cake to finish an Easter meal.

Joint winner: Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Colomba Cake

For a traditional Easter treat, we were impressed by this classic Italian colomba cake. The large cake has a light sponge and is studded with large, juicy chunks of candied peel. Whole almonds on top add crunch.

Available from:
Sainsbury's (£10.50)

Joint winner: M&S Easter Colin and Flossy the Highland Cow Cake

It wouldn't be Easter without chocolate, and this duo of Colin the Caterpillar and seasonal friend Flossy the Highland Cake is a crowdpleaser for families. The design is cute, the milk chocolate coating is creamy and the cake is pleasantly soft.

Available from:
M&S, in-store

The olive team chose 13 categories, having researched which products you, our readers, would be most likely to buy this Easter. We invited all the big supermarkets to select the products they wanted to nominate (just one entry per category, so they had to choose carefully). Our expert panel of judges blind-tasted them, rating each on taste, texture and appearance. All prices correct at time of print.