Easter Week Themes - Finnish Chocolate Eggs

Christmas, New Year, Easter, Midsummer... no matter what people celebrate around the world, something delicious will be served always. One of the Finnish classics for Easter is a chocolate egg called Mignon. It is made by Fazer, Finland´s number 1 chocolate maker.

















The first Mignon eggs were made by Fazer in 1896 and since then it has been in production uncontinuously, except during some second worldwar years. The idea of this egg originates in Germany, where the chocolatier Karl Fazer saw it and started the manufacture in his own factory in Finland. The Mignon eggs were so popular that they were delivered even to the tsar of Russia and his family.













The recipe is almost the same as it was in the 19th century. The production of these delicacies requires lots of handwork. The chocolate mixture consists of fine almond and nut nougat, which is poured into a real egg shell. Each Mignon egg weighs 52 grams and therefore the egg shells are carefully selected and put aside during the year. About 2.5 million egg shells are needed annually. At the first stage of the production, the eggs are emptied by making a hole in the shell. Then the shells are washed and rinsed. At the chocolate factory the empty shell is filled with an appropriate amount of the nougat mixture and the egg is allowed to dry. The hole is closed with a filling made from powder sugar, rice protein and little water.