The Island of Cocoa Gods
My friends at the house of Lithuania based Naive, sent these beautifully packaged, oversized, organic bars from their new Mulate Organic Chocolates collection. I've always said that a well dressed, well executed bar of chocolate makes for fabulous gifting. You can't lose with one, or three of these arty bars dressed in a ribbon. I'm presently munching on the Peanut, dark milk chocolate.  No actual crunch here, it's all about the subtle perfection of the salty peanut butter flavor brilliantly paired with creamy chocolate. Very well done, and it's gluten free. This is award winning chocolate. Hands down, a top choice for gifting this season. The packaging, featuring artwork by Gediminas Siaulys (PetPunk) is worth noting. I have to add that the package reads: "Welcome to the faraway land of Mulate, the island of Cocoa Gods," Where exactly is that? "...between the tropics of Capricorn and Cancer, the shores of a small, mysterious island." I'll tell you what, this bar totally swept my senses away.  

Sexy Chocolate

I picked up this Jcoco couture chocolate bar to throw in my hubby's birthday bag. I found it on a Upper West Side grocer's shelf and was attracted to the great looking packaging. Figured I couldn't lose with vanuato coconut pecan. In the morning I found three interesting little wrappers laying around featuring fashionable photographs of gorgeous women. He'd been enjoying it in the middle of the night while I slept. He was generous enough to save me a piece and he even took this photograph of the remaining two bars before eating them all up. I love it! Bars like this are why this blog exists. I encourage more chocolatiers to merge fashion, art, and chocolate. 

Wicked Awesome Chocolate from Salem, Massachusetts

Harbor Sweets of historic Salem, Massachusetts has been handcrafting fine chocolate in copper kettles using fresh butter, cream and wooden paddles since 1973. To celebrate their 40th anniversary, the celebrated New England chocolatier has collaborated with Lora Brody, The New England Table, and Chocolate American Style, cookbook author in creating Salt & Ayre, a collection of very handsomely packaged, luxury truffles wrapped in 70% dark. The flavors include Chai, Cafe Au Lait, Toasted Hazelnut, and Espresso. 

Molto Deliso!

I'm  a very thankful girl as my dad has always shown his affection with confection. If it's about friendship, chocolate or fashion, he taught me to choose quality over quantity. Dad's been bringing me the most divine little boxes of handmade chocolate from Deliso Confections, a neighborhood shop in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.  Anthony Deliso, a former stockbroker, hedged his bets on chocolate after his job disappeared during the financial crisis. He paid his dues at Jacques Torres on Hudson Street for $10 an hour to learn the trade from the best before entering culinary school to continue to perfect his craft. Gotta love a man with a plan! His story is as rich as his truffles.The most recent box contained gooey Grand Marnier truffles with a delicate layer of crunch, Milk Sea Salt Caramel, which is a longtime favorite of mine, Espresso Cup, and Peanut Butter Cup. All arrived with hand written descriptions from Mr. Deliso. His Peanut Butter Cup is filled with homemade nut butter that is just so perfectly crunchy, salty and sweet. Deliso's nut butter truly stands out enrobed in subtle white chocolate for a change. This stuff is seriously yummy, so much so that all this time I'd swore the shop was named Delizioso! Turns out I've been wrong and apparently way too busy enjoying the chocolate and totally not paying attention to the box. 

Easy Brie-sy

I had a ball today for National Grilled Cheese Day, stuffing my face at Dofino's Havarti Party while talking chocolate and cheese with The Naptime Chef. Among her favorite gourmet grilled cheese combos are Brie or Creamy Havarti and Dark Chocolate. Yum! Time to break out that panini grill!