Easter is almost upon us and Manchester’s restaurants and bars have very much risen to the occasion with some brilliant-looking Easter foodie specials.
From sweet Scotch Eggs that take the pub classic to a whole other level, to deep-fried Creme Eggs, hot cross bun fried chicken French toast, a hot cross bagel and even a hot cross cocktail, there are some banging Easter treats kicking around Manchester this weekend.
Keep reading to discover where to get your sweet fix.
Black Milk, Biscoff Scotch Egg
Image: The Manc Eats
Manchester dessert cafe Black Milk Cereal has created these amazing sweet scotch eggs for Easter.
Swapping out sausage meat for Lotus Biscoff, these genius little treats give the seasonal Cadbury mainstay quite the glow up – in the most Northern fashion possible.
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Comprised of Lotus Biscoff cake mix, white chocolate, and a Cadbury’s Creme Egg with its glossy signature runny ‘yolk’ intact, the ultra-indulgent delight is topped off with a Biscoff crumb to give it that out-of-the-pub-fridge look we all secretly crave.
Available from Black Milk’s Northern Quarter site from now right up to Easter, the sweet Scotch Eggs can be enjoyed to eat in or takeaway from £5.95.
Bread Flower is getting in on the Easter action with this hot cross bun-bagel hybrid.
Think a cardamom and cinnamon raisin bagel, topped with the classic cross and finished with an apricot glaze, and served with a marmalade schmear.
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Find a limited number available on the Bread Flower counter at Ducie Street Warehouse this weekend.
Grandpa Greene’s, Easter Egg Hot Chocolate
Image: Grandpa Greene’s
The popular canalside ice cream parlour and cafe in Diggle, Saddleworth, has teamed up with beloved local chocolatier Slattery’s to give the people what they want.
This year, they’ve updated their original hot chocolate recipe and it now comes with a full Slattery Easter egg, marshmallows, whipped cream, chocolate sauce and mini eggs.
Find it at their Oldham site throughout the month.
Manchester bakery Siop Shop is churning out these fried hot cross donuts in honour of the Easter weekend.
Available from now until Easter Sunday at the Tib Street cafe, in previous years they’ve simply iced the cross on but this year the team has gone the whole hog.
DGHNT, Hot Cross Donuts
Artisan donut baker Sulin Baldwin has created these cardamoom creme-filled hot cross donuts for the Easter weekend.
Covered in a milk chocolate glaze and vanilla drizzle, inside they’re simply bursting with pastry cream.
Available for delivery in Altrincham and Sale, or collection from the Northern Quarter, drop her a message on Instagram to place your order.
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Gooey, Easter box
Image: Gooey
Gooey has created a special Easter box which will be available from its Ducie Street Warehouse kiosk over the long weekend.
Featuring a carrot cake cookie, chocolate-glazed Easter donut filled with white chocolate mousse and passion fruit jam, red velvet cookie cake and dulce de leche-glazed cruller, this looks like one of their best yet.
A Cadbury creme egg, battered and deep fried, served with vanilla ice cream and a dusting of sugar icing, these bad boys will be given away for free on Good Friday to the first 100 through the door.
The kitchen is also making its ‘Hot Cross Fried Chicky’, combining its tender buttermilk fried chicken with a crispy, streaky bacon cross, maple syrup glaze and sweet cinnamon buttered apples, piled into a vanilla custard french toast-fried hot cross bun.
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Ciaooo x Black Milk, Easter chocolate pizza
Image: Ciaooo Pizza MCR
Swan Street pizzeria Ciaoo has teamed up with its Oldham Street neighbours Black Milk Cereal to create this ultimate Easter dessert.
A chocolate pizza loaded with pieces of Kinder Bueno, Kinder Maxi, Nutella, Kinder Surprise and Black Milk’s own homemade Kinderella sauce.
Alex’s Bakery, Easter Egg Cake
Image: Supplied
Famed for its buttercream cupcakes and loaded chocolate brownies, Alex’s Bakery, has launched a Mini Egg Easter Cake for the weekend.
Lovingly created with vanilla sponge, strawberry jam, buttercream and packed with over 100 Mini Eggs, it’s the perfect treat to share with family and friends over a coffee catch up this Easter.
In honour of the Easter weekend, swanky Northern Quarter cocktail bar Mecanica has announced a limited edition ‘Hot Cross Bun’ cocktail.
Featuring Cinnamon Butter washed Bourbon, Pedro Ximénez and Orange Bitters, this is a drink not to be missed.
Fress, Creme Egg Freakshake
Image: Fress
If you want to get your freak on this Easter, Fress has got you covered with a special Creme Egg Freakshake.
Loaded with the ever-popular Cadbury’s favourite, it’s available at the Northern Quarter site for a limited time only.
Dormouse Chocolates, Eggs on Toast Bar
Image: Supplied
Award-winning Manchester chocolatier Dormouse Chocolates has created an ‘Eggs on Toast Bar’ ready for the weekend.
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Comprised of a bread and butter milk chocolate topped with a white chocolate fried “egg” – it offers a tasty take on a breakfast classic and the perfect alternative to a traditional Easter egg.
View the chocolatier’s full Easter selection here.
Manchester City Council approves petition calling for Market Street to be less of a ‘sensory overload’
Daisy Jackson
A petition has been launched calling on Manchester City Council to review the management of Market Street, hoping to make it ‘more peaceful’ and less of a ‘sensory overload’.
All Mancs know that a walk down Market Street is no easy undertaking – it’s a hugely busy shopping street and pedestrian thoroughfare, often populated by buskers, street performers, charity fundraisers, and roving stalls.
One does not simply ‘pop to the shops’ in Manchester city centre. Instead, we pinball our way along the street which often feels like an urban obstacle course.
And now, an online petition has been launched and approved by Manchester City Council, calling for the street’s management (and that of Piccadilly Gardens) to be reviewed.
The petition calls on the council to assess ‘the cumulative effect of these activities, including excessive noise, sensory overload, obstruction, and difficulty navigating the city centre’.
And while it is ‘not directed at any particular group of people, business, political belief, charity, religion, or organisation’, the petition organisers believe that the large number of organised street solicitation, amplified sound, gazebos and stalls, and organised gatherings, are all significantly impacting pedestrian movement.
“These spaces should remain accessible, comfortable, safe, and easy to navigate for everyone,” the petition states.
A ‘quiet’ Monday lunchtime on Market Street. Credit: The Manc Group
Management measures for both Market Street and Piccadilly Gardens that have been put forward include designated locations for organised activities, permits, reasonable controls on noise levels, a review of street trading locations, and more measures to reduce obstruction in high-footfall areas.
It reads: “The review should also consider whether the concentration of multiple organised activities within the same locations operating during the same time slots is appropriate, and whether a more balanced distribution across the city centre would improve accessibility while continuing to respect the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and legitimate trading.
“The aim is not to prevent lawful expression, peaceful assembly, or legitimate trading. Instead, it is to ensure that Manchester’s busiest public spaces remain welcoming, accessible, and functional for everyone by achieving an appropriate balance between the many activities taking place within them, while protecting the rights of all who use these shared public spaces.”
The petition has made its way onto the Manchester Reddit subreddit, where one person described Market Street as an ‘absolute sensory overloaded obstacle course’ and a ‘sweetcorn scented sleep paralysis demon’.
The petition calls for more thought into the organisation of traders, performers, and more on Market Street. Credit: The Manc Group
One person commented: “Literally walked down market street just yesterday and thought about this, very glad something might actually be done. I moved away years ago and it was never good, but yesterday I’d never seen anything like it. Preachers, half a fun fair, sweet stand, rapper, guy dancing in a banana suit and more. It’s absolutely f*cked.”
Someone else posted: “People can practice whatever religion they want, but it’s horrible hearing loud chanting music, combined with two other religions doing the same thing, combined with random preaching, and then the buskers that seems to think if they’re super loud it means that are super good.”
You can see and sign the petition to review Market Street HERE.
Happy ending for pregnant cat who was PLUCKED of her fur by abusive owner
Daisy Jackson
A pregnant cat who was forcibly held down and plucked of her fur has got her happy ending.
Beautiful Luthien was found in a Manchester apartment building by the RSPCA at the age of just six months old, with just a tuft of fur left on the top of her tail.
A concerned neighbour had called the animal rescue charity after seeing the cat being pinned down and plucked by her owner on a balcony in the city.
Not only was the poor animal almost completely bald, but she was also pregnant.
She was taken into the care of RSPCA’s Greater Manchester Animal Hospital for a veterinary examination, missing fur over the top of her head, neck, back, belly, and down her front legs.
The vet suspected that this abuse had happened in multiple occasions due to the extent of the fur loss.
She was then transferred into the care of the RSPCA’s Crewe and Nantwich District Branch where staff nicknamed her ‘Velcro’ because she was so affectionate to everyone.
Luthien, or Velcro, gave birth to four kittens and was later rehomed by Kathy Miller, 75, in Cheadle.
Luthien was plucked by her ownerShe was just six months old, and pregnantCredit: RSPCA
She now looks like a completely different cat, and her fur has fully grown back.
A man was given a 12 month ban on keeping animals by magistrates, ordered to pay a £40 fine and £100 costs when he pleaded guilty to one Animal Welfare offence of failing to ensure that the needs of an animal were met.
RSPCA Inspector Jess Araujo, who investigated, said: “I have been an inspector for eight years but I had not seen anything like this before in terms of cruelty.
“Poor Luthien was only a six month-old kitten and most of her fur had been plucked from her body. This must have been terrifying and painful for her. She was also pregnant at the time so the added stress of this would have been awful.
“She was pinned down screaming in pain while this happened – and we are not sure how many times she was subjected to this treatment. The RSPCA attended the address with the police and the owner agreed to sign her over into our care.”
Rachael Dyer, a trustee at RSPCA’s Crewe and Nantwich District Branch, said: “She was the most lovely cat from the start – she was so loving and kind – it is amazing really when you think about what she had been through. We called her Velcro because she just wanted cuddles so much and would just stick to you.
Luthien now, with new owner Kathy. Credit: RSPCA
“She had four adorable kittens and she was fantastic with them. She was only young herself, but she cared and loved those kittens so much. She stayed with her babies until they were weaned and could be put up for adoption and once the kittens had found homes at around three months old it was her turn to find her forever home.
“I saw how her fur began to grow back and as it did her personality began to shine through too – she was such a friendly little cat in our care, really adorable.
“Once she was advertised for adoption her new owner applied and she came to see her. It really was love at first sight between both of them. There were a couple more follow up visits so they could bond while the kittens were rehomed – and they just got on so well and Luthien loved getting fussed.”
Kathy, Luthien’s new owner, said: “I have always adopted rescues and when I saw a cat advertised called ‘Velcro’ and all her kittens were named after sewing items – with me being a seamstress I just thought, ‘oh, here is a connection’ and I felt it was a sign.
“I arranged to see her at the branch and the first time she met me she was quite shy but I gave her a treat in my hand and she took it willingly and I thought this is another connection.
“When I first saw her I was shocked at her lack of fur. I knew from the website she had very little, but in real life all she had was a tuft at the end of her tail, it was like a pom-pom. I was told what had happened and it just made me sick to think of all the pain and suffering she must have gone through while pregnant too.
“She is such a lovely-natured girl and very sweet but she still won’t sit on my knee. She will cuddle and sleep on my bed but won’t sit on my knee – so I think it’s still some trauma from what happened.
“I did change her name as I am a Tolkien fan and have a dog called Arwen so I thought Lucien suited her and they are best friends (pictured). Velcro was a cute name when she was at the branch and it was apt because she loved cuddles and fuss and stuck to carers like Velcro – she still does love attention!”
The animal welfare charity is telling Luthien’s story as part of its Cruelty Hurts, Love Rescues fundraising campaign – which coincides with the charity’s busiest time as heartbreaking cruelty reports peak over summer.
New figures show that in June, July and August last year the RSPCA received 6,322* cruelty calls to their emergency line last year which is one call every 10 minutes when the line is open. In comparison the charity took 3,852 calls for the same period in 2021 – showing a massive 64% increase over the five years.
Georgina Pellant -
12th April 2022 
