Every Easter we have a similar epiphany: Easter egg chocolate just tastes so much better than an average block. Why is that?
Is it the promise of the Easter bunny? Of four days off? Maybe it’s the Easter lunch spent with family that makes it taste so much better? Well, scientists have actually done studies about the way we process taste and it turns out it has a lot more to do with the shape of the chocolate than where or with whom you eat it.
A 2021 study in the British Medical Journal found that we tend to perceive round things as being ‘creamier’ than things that are square.
Researchers divided 115 people into two groups, who were asked to each evaluate five chocolates. The group perceived the round chooclates to be more creamy than those with angular edges.
Of course, our mind immediately goes to one of the creamiest chocolates, the ‘Cream Egg’, which is also in a rounded egg shape. Perhaps the research and development team at Cadbury have been paying attention to the way we observe our chocolate treats?
Add to that the beautiful decorations often adorning Easter eggs, and you have a recipe for an even more delicious treat.
There is one more reason that you might think your Easter eggs taste so much better: the smell.
Food scientist Bernard Lahousse told Yahoo! News that thinner chocolate (required to form an egg shape) releases its scent easier than other types.
“The smaller the chocolate layer is, the easier the chocolate will melt,” he explains. “So that is the advantage of Easter eggs; they melt easily and the aromas of the chocolate come into your nose quite fast.”
It explains the melt in your mouth delectability of Easter egg chocolates, and honestly makes us want to go out and purchase more. Brb.
