Whether you’re hunting for a show-stopping artisanal egg or a perfectly tempered bar made straight from the bean, these Toronto chocolate makers are raising the bar on Easter indulgence. With locally-crafted treats that are as beautiful as they are delicious, consider your holiday cravings officially covered.
David Chow’s artistic approach
Local pastry chef and chocolatier David H. Chow is known for making colourful, intricately decorated bonbons, bars and other chocolate creations. It perhaps comes as no surprise that Chow was an engineer by trade before becoming a pastry chef, with the geometric patterns of his chocolates reflecting an almost scientific level of detail. For Easter, expect chocolate shell eggs topped with yellow passion fruit couverture and white chocolate to resemble a “sunny side up” egg, as well as eggs decorated with graffiti-like splatter patterns.
Award-winning Soma treats
Run by husband-and-wife team David Castellan and Cynthia Leung, Soma Chocolatemaker has scooped up numerous international awards for its exquisite bean-to-bar chocolate. They’re widely recognized as some of the best chocolatiers not just in Canada, but in the world. Their spring lineup includes Cosmo, the sweetest baby owlet crafted from a wildly addictive blend of salted caramel chocolate and crispy bits—plus swirls of white, caramel, dark, milk, mango and matcha chocolate. Also on offer: irresistibly cute lime-green soda and matcha baby bunnies that are almost too adorable to eat.
Daniel Stubbe’s traditional treats
A sixth generation konditor (confectioner), chef Daniel Stubbe grew up learning the art of chocolate making in his family’s pastry shop in Germany. With Stubbe Chocolates, the chef aims to bring a modern approach to European chocolate-making traditions. This year’s Easter lineup includes an utterly charming chick house made from milk, dark, and white chocolate, complete with a marzipan chick nestled inside. Surrounding the house are a delightfulmix of marzipan bunnies, hand-painted hollow eggs, solid chocolate eggs and almond clusters. Other options Smash Egg, a chocolate shell painted with coloured cocoa butter, which can be cracked open to reveal a filling of berry clusters, milk almond clusters, nonpareils, tropfin and florentines. Stubbe also does classics like Easter bunnies and chicks.
Soul Chocolate’s small-batch snacks
Katie Wilson was inspired to get into the bean-to-bar chocolate business after touring chocolate-makers in Australia and New Zealand. She now makes small-batch chocolate from scratch at her Toronto café, Soul Chocolate, which she co-owns with her husband Kyle. Easter offerings include a higher-quality take on a classic chocolate bunny, made with 60 per cent Madagascar dark milk chocolate, and milk chocolate eggs filled with salted caramel “yolk” and creamy “egg white” fondant or marshmallow swirled with raspberry. soulroasters.com
Chocolate de Kat’s quirky creations
Chocolat de Kat is a female-founded, flavour-obsessed chocolatier known for turning bite-sized bonbons into full-on sensory experiences. What started as founder Kata’s personal quest to create chocolate she was proud to share with friends and family has grown into a 15-person team of quirky chocolate-lovers crafting edible art that’s as visually stunning as it is delicious.This Easter, they’re leaning into their signature mix of fun and finesse with a limited-edition Easter Box, bursting with seasonal flavours like Lemon Poppy Cake and Hot Cross Bon, all wrapped up in a sunshine-yellow box that’s basically spring in packaging form.
