Lollipop

This Little Wayne Chocolate Bar  by Artist Tahir Hemphill of Staple Crops/ Rap Research Lab is a statement on the commodification and consumption of Hip-Hop music and African-American creativity and culture. At $75 for a pack of three 2oz. chocolate bars, I'm not sure if you're supposed to actually consume them but I would. I couldn't resist adding myself to the list of people taking a bite out of Little Wayne. For more on Hemphill and his work check him out here.    

A Kiss Or Two
Valentines Day is supposed to be an amorous holiday but if the thought of spending more on your loved ones so soon after the holidays creates cold chills rather than warm fuzzies than I may have a solution. While you may still have to dig into your pockets, you could go quality, not quantity.  Voila Chocolat of Manhattan offers quaint little bags of delightful truffles in thoughtful sets of two. And if you're looking to go big, than for $75 per person, you can book a creative chocolate making experience and walk away with a box of 16 custom truffles. Voila uses quality ingredients such as Guittard and offers custom chocolate making experiences year round.

Be Fruitful

With Thanksgiving on our heels, it's time to think about what we're adding to our tables and what we're most thankful for. I'm quite thankful for lots of things, and mostly for the sweetness in life. What is life without sweetness, family, or chocolate covered fruit? I'm thankful to learn that this history making pair of creative Chocolatiers is opening a shop in New York soon. In the 1970's, Diane & Tom Krön created a sensation with the chocolate-covered strawberry. Krön soon became a national brand and a status symbol. Among their customers were Jacqueline Kennedy, Andy Warhol, Katherine Hepburn, Henry Ford, Estee Lauder, etc. Their chocolate covered pomegranates will make a fabulous addition to your Thanksgiving fare. Check them out here and have a great one. 

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! 

Chocolate Vitamins?!

 

I tend to think that chocolate is always a good idea as it's divine and pretty much has great health benefits but when mixed with other ingredients such as milk and sugar it can create health issues for people on a special diet, say, a yeast-free or do-not-feed-the-yeast diet. Hopefully, those on such pesky diets need not cut chocolate out of the equation. And if you absolutely had to, at least munching on Choc-V's white chocolate tasting-ish vitamins are somewhat of a treat? A little waxy, a little chalky, slightly weird, but containing 1 billion whole cells of Lactobacillus Acidophilus and Bifidobacterium Lactis. That's good stuff, and maybe the cute little gummy bear shape makes the whole darn thing more palatable? 

Peanut Butter Pups

Peanut Butter Pups have toasted almond ears, while that sounds delicious,
I may feel a little guilty biting into their adorable little faces.  By Gearharts.

All That And A Bag Of Chips!

Chuao's potato chip bar is completely cravable: salt, sugar, chocolate, crunch, need I say more? I picked it up for my beloved hubby who's a connoisseur of all things crunchy. He gave two crunches up to Chef Michael Antonorbi who cooked up this brilliant confection consisting of salty kettle chips and creamy, "CHEW-WOW!" milk chocolate. I fell in love with Chuao years ago, when I tasted my first chocolate covered olive at a Meetup years ago. The name remains synonymous with excellence.

 


By The Book

Today I received a crash course in moxie from Lithuanian hailed chocolate team Chocolate Naive. Producing chocolate in the middle of nowhere, the self taught startup creates world-class origin bars that boldly put Lithuania on the map! Marked by unaffected simplicity, the mini bars which feature origin chocolate sourced from farms as far as Java/Papua New Guinea and Trinidad and Tobago are flavored with equally exotic ingredients such as dark amber honey from the Sambirano Valley near Madagascar. I love the packaging, Artist designed, it is as gorgeous, classy and modern as the chocolate. I believe they're shipping to your home town. 

Food For Thought
Making your own chocolate with Glee Gum's Organic Kit is easy as boxed cake. Complete with a stick of raw cocoa butter, cocoa powder, confectioner's sugar, starter crystals (powdered chocolate bars for tempering), thermometer and liners, it's really a brilliant hands on learning project for any age. We used a double boiler, but you can totally do it in the microwave. It was relatively glitch free save my little helper helping himself to the starter crystals...we lost a few to his tummy! The chocolate still managed to taste great. We most enjoyed sampling the raw cocoa butter and nibs and customizing our confections with walnuts and raisins. The kit includes an engaging history of chocolate and makes for a fun project for little chocolate nerds everywhere. 

Hip Hop Chocolate
I just received a set of turntable lollipops from Marcus Gray CEO/Cultural Engineer of LA based The Original Hip Hop Chocolates. Here's his deal: he molds chocolate out of everything Hip Hop: Adidas, Boom Boxes etc. His operation is all handmade and totally guerrilla. It wouldn't be hardcore otherwise now would it? I love the photos of Pos from De La Soul, Crazy Legs, and other Legendary Hip Hop heads "Representing" with the candy. Word.

Shear Sweets, for festive chocolate favors and assorted Wholesale Sweets.

(this is a sponsored link)

Mother Knows Best

Since gaining membership into the International Sorority of Motherhood 2.5 years ago, my respect for mothers, as well as for chocolate, has grown exponentially. I wish I could deliver a box of The Sucre Mother's Day Collection to each and every mom as it will remind our dear mothers of the important things in life: to stop and smell the rose petal infused milk chocolate ganache; that if life gives us lemons, to indulge in sweet milk chocolate blended with fresh lemon zest! And most importantly, that life, like red raspberry encased in rich dark chocolate, can be bitter sweet. And at the end of the day, or box, it's all about love. Happy Mother's Day! 

A Box Full of Easter Joy

I'd love to meet the bunny responsible for such an artful collection of gorgeous chocolate eggs, I bet he's quite the sophisticate! This year's Easter selection from Norman Love features limited edition flavors such as coconut cream, malted milk and vanilla cream and come handsomely packaged in a gorgeous green box as baskets of course are child's play.

Sweetly Demented
So, this young chocolate maker named "Sivonne Imnottelling" contacted me today about their brand new confectionary line called Sweetly Demented, ranging from the "morbid, shabby chic & just plain rude." There are chocolate bird skulls, brains, hypno pops and...well, you'll have to see for yourself. I find it creative, dark and charming in a raw, art school kind of way. 

Tis' The Season for Tins of Toffee!

I'm big on festive treats and toffee is hands down one of my favorite things to find inside a tin. Colorado based Enstrom's Almond Toffee with their light, airy, buttery, perfection and great ingredients such as pure cane sugar, fresh California almonds and sweet cream butter doesn't last a day in my hands. When it's all gone too quickly, I indulge in the delicious crumbs that line the box like snow. I was tickled to find that Enstrom's actually sells the crumbs separately! They are seriously that good.

Totally Gaga!

Mua! Mua! 

I'm loving these electrifying chocolate lips available this holiday season courtesy of Barneys New York x Gaga's Workshop. There's also chocolate lipstick, shoes and various wild treats. Pretty amazing gifts for the little monsters in your life.