Cracked: The Story Behind the Cadbury Creme Egg

Whether you eat them properly with a spoon or devour them in one mouthful, you can't do wrong by these cream-filled chocolate egg treats. The Cadbury Crème Egg is a top-selling treat in the U.K. and enjoys immense popularity worldwide during the months preceding Easter.

The Cadbury chocolate business grew from its small beginnings as a Birmingham, England storefront in the early 1800s into today's second-largest confectionery company in the world. Founder John Cadbury passed on the business to his sons Richard and George in 1861, and the brothers expanded production to include Easter chocolate eggs in 1875. The eggs started plain with smooth chocolate shells and sugar-coated treats nestled inside, but later became elaborate with marzipan flowers and piped chocolate accents. A version of the cream-filled egg came out in 1923, but the Crème Egg officially debuted in 1971.

It wasn't until four years later that the Crème Egg took off in popularity due to successful television advertising. Memorable campaigns included the slogans "Don't get caught with egg on your face" and "How Do You Eat Yours," as well as the clucking, egg-laying Cadbury bunny in North America. As sponsors of the London Olympics in 2012, Cadbury launched advertisements featuring Crème Eggs competing in Olympic events. With playful and unorthodox advertising, the Crème Egg grew its enormous cult following.

In the United States, Crème Egg is available in original, caramel and chocolate filling flavors, but over the years and across the world Cadbury has introduced special flavors like peppermint and white chocolate, fun sizes like the Giant Crème Egg and new treats like Cadbury Crème Egg Ice Cream and Cadbury Crème Egg McFlurry at British McDonald's. Some of these variations have been discontinued, and the limited availability of those flavors combined with their seasonal appearance sparks a feeding frenzy for the gooey treat during the spring season.

Interestingly, the taste of classic Cadbury's Crème Eggs may also vary from country to country. According to Colin Pitt, education manager at Cadbury World, eggs in the UK taste sweeter and use a milk chocolate recipe containing full cream milk (versus powdered milk in America).

Check out our slideshow above to hunt down more fun facts about beloved Cadbury Crème Egg.