County Fare
These milk chocolate cayenne candied nuts are Sausalito based Coco Luxes' take on the county fair peanut. In addition to the chocolate, these peanuty snacks assault your tongue (and your messy fingers) with a trifecta of flavors including salt, cocoa powder and of course pepper. More gourmet than not, I hardly doubt this snack belongs aside caramel apples and funnel cake unless of course the county fair is in Sausalito.

Chocolate Kicks
Shout out to Josh Spear for bringing these to our attention. The perfect accessory to go with your chocolate PDA.

Croc Box
This solid Italian gianduia bar, chocked with toasted hazelnuts by Condorelli comes in a brown faux crocodile box. So handsome, it'd be a fitting addition to any discerning humidor. At 5.29 ounces, it's probably best not to try and down it in one sitting. I broke mine up into serving size pieces with a handy steak knife.

Geek Goodness
We here at chocolate nerd don't consider ourselves real nerds, but if you're walking around with something like this in your pocket , then you're probably the real deal.

Chocolate Lovers Unite!
Dear chocolate lover:
I recently learned of an FDA proposal that is calling for a change to the standard of identity for chocolate. What does this mean? In a nutshell, the proposed change would allow 100% of the cocoa butter in chocolate to be replaced by vegetable fat substitutes (yes, that includes trans fats) as well as the ability to use milk substitutes in place of nutritonally-superior milk. And yet, large manufacturers could still label this inferior product chocolate. Why should you care? These changes will have adverse effects on the eating, physical and nutritional quality of your chocolate. The FDA needs to hear from consumers. You can preserve the quality of chocolate by visiting the following page and sending a comment to the FDA against the proposed changes. The deadline for comments is April 25th.

Sincerely,
Karalee LaRochelle
Pastry Chef + Chocolate Artisan
Cocoa Locoa Fine Chocolate
info@cocoalocoa.com

Quaint Quail Eggs
Connecticut based Knipschildt Chocolatier's chocolate interpretation of the quail egg lives up to the real deal's status as delicacy. Made by hand, the creamy hazelnut ganache centers are surrounded by a delish white and dark chocolate shell. Check out their site, Knipschildt has a ton of really beautiful artisan chocolate items and they recently opened a cafe in Norwalk, CT called Chocopologie. Sounds like a day trip!

Sweet Jesus
Controversy aside, this chocolate sculpture titled "My Sweet Lord" rendered by artist Cosimo Cavallaro has artistic integrity and what better medium to exalt the divine than in a confection known to induce sudden states of rapture?