Cadbury Creme Eggs: 16 Facts About The Easter Candy Icon

Once Valentine's Day and the holiday season is officially done with and behind us, there's one big thing to look forward to: the Easter season, and all of the candy that inevitably comes with it. Even if you don't celebrate Easter, it's almost impossible not to get into the spirit of things by eating all of the Easter-themed candies there are. Whether you love Peeps, jelly beans, or chocolate-covered marshmallows, there's a pretty good chance you're a fan of all the sugar-laced goodies that arrive with spring, ready to fill Easter baskets. And one of the best has to be the Cadbury Creme Egg, a classic staple that has been around for decades and will probably stick around even longer.

Cadbury Creme Eggs are one of Cadbury's biggest and most popular products, but there are so many iterations on the favorite that you may also be familiar with: Cadbury Caramel Eggs, the White Chocolate Egg, and Oreo-filled Eggs, just to name a few. The Creme Eggs will always stand out, though, as they really do resemble an actual egg... and they're really delicious. So what's the story behind them? Take a look at all of the things you never knew about Cadbury Creme Eggs. 

If you're a Cadbury Creme Egg superfan, then you probably already know that Cadbury is a company based in the United Kingdom, and Cadbury Creme Eggs are extremely popular in the U.K. — probably more popular there than they are here. One reason for that might be because there is actually a difference in the Cadbury Creme Eggs you find in America, and those you find in the U.K. 

The New York Times explains that, for one thing, chocolate made in Britain has a higher fat content. If you look closely, you'll notice that the first ingredient in a British Cadbury Dairy Milk is milk. If you look at an American-made Cadbury bar, the first ingredient is sugar. Sugar might be sweet and delicious, but it's the milk that's going to give chocolate that extra creamy taste. The Times author wrote that after tasting both bars, the British bars were indeed better, writing, "The British Dairy Milk was slightly fudgier, allowing for a creamier taste and texture. The American Dairy Milk bar left a less pleasing coating and somewhat of a stale aftertaste." 

So does that mean you should stop buying American-made Cadbury eggs and only buy ones made in the U.K.? Maybe, but unfortunately, you can't do that unless you travel abroad. The sale of British-made Cadbury Creme Eggs is actually banned in the United States, meaning that when you're here, you can only buy American-made Cadbury chocolate. 

Disagreements between British Cadbury importers and American Hershey Company began in 2015. Basically, Hershey has the rights to the Cadbury Creme Egg recipe and can make their own American version here. Mic explains the ban, saying the ban came about because Hershey didn't want British importers to compete with their versions of the beloved British candy. The British agreed to stop importing candies that would compete with Hershey's, including Cadbury Creme Eggs. So, yes, you can thank Hershey's for the fact that you won't be able to find authentic Creme Eggs anywhere in the States. According to The New York Times, this infuriated and disappointed fans of the original chocolates... for good reason.

Have you ever wondered what, exactly, the creme inside even is? The white and yellow mix, so carefully put together to look like the white and yolk of an actual egg, almost doesn't look natural. That's because it kind of isn't — and it's kind of gross to think about eating. According to Huffington Post, it's just liquid fondant — the stuff used to make really cool designs on cakes and other baked goods. It's also the same liquidy goodness you'll see on the inside of chocolate-covered cherry cordials. Fondant is typically made with only three ingredients: water, granulated sugar, and corn syrup. For Cadbury Creme Eggs, it's also dyed with food coloring to look like the inside of an egg. 

So, yes, when you eat a Cadbury Creme Egg, you are essentially just eating a chocolate shell filled with liquid sugar. No wonder it's so delicious!

If you've ever studied the inside of a Cadbury Creme Egg, you'll know that they look pretty cool: the mix of white and yellow creme inside really does resemble an actual egg. So how do they put these together? It's more complicated than just filling two pieces of hollow chocolate with creme. The Daily Mail spoke to Cadbury executive Tony Bilsborough, who said, "The process of making the creme egg was a Eureka moment and is not done in the way that most Easter eggs are formed." 

Basically, here's how it goes down: Liquid milk chocolate is poured into a half egg shape where it is then leveled. Immediately afterwards, a blob of white fondant goes on the still-melted chocolate, and then a smaller blob of orange fondant is added to that. The other side of the egg is just chocolate and white fondant. While both sides are still liquid and melted, they get molded together, and Bilsborough says, "the chocolate surrounds the filling and completes the egg shape." Even though the inner filling and out shell are all liquid at one time, HuffPost says they don't mix together because the fondant is more dense than the chocolate — or is it Easter magic?

There is even a YouTube video you can watch to see exactly how they're made.

The year 2015 wasn't just the year that Hershey forced British Cadbury candy out of the United States — it was also the year one company made a major change to their recipe that sent fans reeling. In the U.K., The Sun (via The Telegraph) reported that the company's owner, Kraft Foods, quietly changed the recipe for Cadbury Creme Eggs. They stopped using Cadbury's dairy milk for the outer shell and started using a "standard cocoa mix chocolate." A spokesman for Mondelez, Kraft's confectionary division, told The Sun, "It's no longer dairy milk. It's similar, but not exactly dairy milk. We tested the new one with consumers. It was found to be the best one for the Creme Egg, which is why we've used it this year." They defended their decision by saying, "The Creme Egg has never been called the Cadbury's Dairy Milk Creme Egg." 

As Delish reports, the company had already changed standard boxes of six Cadbury Creme Eggs to five-packs without lowering the price. Combine the two, and they had extremely angry fans on their hands. The backlash was real, and some even started a Change.org petition to switch back to the old recipe. The petition stated, "Part of what was so nice about them was the taste of rich dairy milk with the sweetness of fondant, and the fact that they would melt in your mouth," adding that the texture was just too different. 

Anger about the change to the U.K. Cadbury Creme Egg recipe was heard around the world, as furious fans took to social media to announce their disapproval. But it was also seen in profit. The Independent reported that after the change in the recipe went public, Cadbury's Easter eggs sales fell by over $13 million, with Creme Eggs accounting for nearly $8 million of that loss.

Still, one spokesperson for Cadbury, Claire Low, insisted that the recipe change was not the reason sales dropped. Low told The Independent that they were attributing the drop in sales to the fact that the Easter season was shorter, saying, "It was two weeks shorter in 2015 than 2014 so it's hard to compare like for like." She added, "Cadbury remains the number one treat at Easter." 

Still, The Telegraph published an article shortly afterwards saying the recipe change was one of the reasons Cadbury was "losing its magic."

Cadbury as a company is very successful, and they owe a lot of that to Cadbury Creme Eggs. According to Cadbury World, the U.K. company makes approximately 500 million Cadbury Creme Eggs each year, and export over a third of them (unfortunately, none of those are coming to the U.S., though). The Daily Mail says they make about 1.5 million Creme Eggs each day, which is a pretty impressive number. 

With that many Creme Eggs being made, that means that there is roughly enough candy eggs for every person in Britain to enjoy three and a half Cadbury Creme Eggs each year, according to the company itself. So how many eggs is 500 million, exactly? Laid end to end, Cadbury says it's enough eggs to stretch from Bournville to Sydney, Australia. And if all of the Creme Eggs were stacked on top of each other in a massive egg pile, that would equal a pile ten times higher than Mount Everest. That's a lot of Creme Eggs!

The real, authentic Cadbury Creme Eggs are a seasonal treat, and are only meant to be sold during part of the year. According to Forbes, they are only sold between December 1 and Easter Sunday each year. Because the Creme Egg is so popular and beloved, it's easy to wonder why Cadbury wouldn't want to capitalize on that as much as possible. Apparently, they don't want the candy to stop being "special." Tony Bilborough, from Cadbury, told BBC Radio 5 live's Breakfast that although the company had once tried year-long sales, it "didn't work." He explained, "There's something special about Creme Egg season... We long for it in those long, eggless days of summer and autumn." 

But you may have noticed that you sometimes see Cadbury Creme Eggs available during other times of the year, like the limited edition Halloween "Screme" Egg. If you notice Cadbury Creme Eggs being sold outside of that pocket of time between December and Easter, it's likely the American version of the candy. Doesn't sound so bad to be enjoying the copycat version now, does it? 

It should come as no surprise to anyone that Cadbury Creme Eggs are not good for you in any stretch of the imagination — they are candy, after all. In fact, they are really unhealthy, even as far as candies go. According to Shape, the ingredients include milk chocolate, sugar, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, artificial color, artificial flavor, calcium chloride, and a small amount of egg whites. Sugar, corn syrup, and high fructose corn syrup are all the same thing, basically: sugar. And the milk chocolate is made with a ton of sugar as well, so, yes: you are eating a lot of sugar in one little egg. 

To drive this point home, Shape says one egg has the same amount of sugar as two (yes, two!) servings of Count Chocula cereal — and we all know that's not very healthy. "It's also equivalent to what the American Heart Association considers an entire day's worth of sugar," (about 6 teaspoons of sugar) they add.

If you eat three of the eggs in one day, you'll be ingesting the amount of sugar a physician would use during an oral glucose tolerance test to determine if you have diabetes. Yikes! 

Cadbury as a company and brand has been around since the 19th century, but Cadbury Creme Eggs aren't quite as old. The eggs do have a long history, but they weren't always called what we know them as now — they were once called Fry's eggs. According to Cadbury World, the first chocolate egg was produced in 1873, by J.S. Fry of Bristol — before that, candy-makers didn't know the method to make liquid chocolate mold into shapes. 

The Daily Mail says that the chocolate company Fry's launched the very first Creme Egg back in 1963. This was before Fry's had been taken over by Cadbury — and once Cadbury took over, they rebranded, and the name of the egg changed. According to Huffington Post, it was just four years later that the very first television ad for Cadbury Creme Eggs aired, and soon after that, they became an Easter favorite. 

The original Fry's eggs were similar in shape and size, but they had a silver foil around them, giving them a look that was totally different from the Cadbury Creme Egg we know and love today. One Fry's egg was even discovered, as The Daily Mail reported, more than 50 years after it was created, but no one was brave enough to taste it. 

If you were wondering just how popular Cadbury actually is in the U.K, here's your answer: there is a Cadbury World you can go to, like the British version of Hershey Park or Disney World. It's basically a theme park focused on all things Cadbury, and there is so much to do there aside from just eating chocolate (although you'll do plenty of that). 

Some activities include getting the full Chocolatier Experience, where you can learn everything you need to know about how to make chocolate; afternoon tea at the Cadbury Cafe, where you can enjoy exclusive recipes; and shopping at the world's biggest Cadbury shop, where you'll definitely get your chocolate fix. There are also lots of exhibits and events where you can learn more about the history of Cadbury and chocolate as a whole. There are also 3D experiences, like a virtual ride on a rollercoaster, according to The Guardian.

Cadbury World isn't the only place in the United Kingdom where you can go to celebrate Creme Eggs. In January 2016, Time Out London reported that a pop-up Creme Egg cafe was going to be opening in Soho in London. The pop-up was big: it went across three floors and included a sit-down cafe, a takeaway area to bring treats home, and even an interactive ball pool. 

The best part, though, was the menu, which was made up of classic British recipes made with Cadbury Creme Eggs. This included things like Creme Egg toasties, Creme Egg and soldiers, and a Creme Egg tray bake. There were even strawberries and Creme Eggs for anyone who wanted to try to be a little bit healthier. Unfortunately, that pop-up was only open for a limited time — just a few short months — and there's no news of a new one coming any time soon. But who knows? Things could always change! 

When it comes to eating Cadbury Creme Eggs, people don't just unwrap them and take a bite. There are actually tons of creative and interesting ways you can enjoy a Cadbury Creme Egg. One notable and innovative way to eat them is referred to as the "eggspresso." According to Delish, this is espresso poured into a hollow chocolate Cadbury egg, and when the hot coffee hits the egg, the chocolate melts and mixes with the espresso to become almost like a little latte. The eggspresso trend started in Australia and New Zealand, and took off on social media.  

If you're not into coffee, don't worry: there are other creative ways to enjoy a Cadbury Creme Egg. Mashed collected a ton of different Cabdbury recipes from around the internet — meaning there's almost no end to the ways you can enjoy your Cadbuy Creme Eggs. 

While the original Cadbury Creme Egg remains the signature variation of this seasonal chocolate treat, in 2018 there were "at least" 25 different Creme Eggs to cater for different palettes (via Forbes). These include a wide range of fillings such as Turkish delight, caramel, and orange creme. 

There are also certain varieties that are only available in specific locations (per Kiddle). For instance, in New Zealand, you could get the Marble Egg (which is a mix of the Dairy Milk and Dream chocolates) or the Jaffa Egg (which features dark chocolate with an orange filling). In Canada, there's an Oreo Cream Egg filled with white cream and Oreo cookie crumbs, as well as a Chips Ahoy! Egg made for chocolate chip cookie dough lovers. 

In addition, some varieties only saw limited release. The Creme Egg Twisted, for instance, was launched in Australia in 2010, but was pulled out of the market after only a short period of time.

In 2021, a White's tree frog named Betty was selected to be Cadbury's Easter Bunny by The Hershey Company. According to CNN, over 12,000 applicants (including a "donkey, miniature horse, and goat") vied for the honor of becoming the famous chocolate brand's Easter mascot for that year. 

Interestingly, Betty not only won the opportunity to be featured as Cadbury's mascot in a commercial; she also became the first amphibian and first female contender to win the annual contest — oh, and she's also the smallest winner ever (per Today).

Apart from her title, her owner Kaitlyn Vidal, a college student from Florida, received a $5,000 cash prize, while The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals received a donation of $15,000 from the chocolate company. In 2022, Betty handed the crown over to Annie Rose, a therapy dog from Ohio; the 2023 contest winner has not yet been announced.

Yes, you read that right. According to The Guardian, UK police nicknamed 32-year-old Joby Pool "the Easter bunny" after he used a lorry to haul 200,000 Cadbury Creme Eggs in February 2023. Pool reportedly stole the vehicle from Yorkshire and nabbed the Creme Eggs from a Telford industrial facility, until he was stopped and arrested by authorities on the M42.

Per the BBC, Pool surrendered himself to the cops, pleaded guilty to the criminal damage and theft charges, and was convicted in court shortly after his arrest. The stolen Creme Eggs were worth over £31,000 (about $37,000); fortunately, the chocolate loot was left unscathed, with Pool's defence solicitor confirming that the Creme Eggs are "in a condition that they can go back on the shelves."

Pool's sentencing will occur in March 2023, with an anticipated sentence of about two years. One can't help but wonder, though: Why did Pool steal so many Creme Eggs, and where on Earth was he planning to keep all of them?