No Love at First Bite

The macarons at Payard looked lovely under the sparkling glass display case, so I ordered a couple to accompany my organic peach iced tea. I took one bite of the yellow passionfruit macaron, and a look came over my face. "Heavenly?" my friend asked.

"Er. No. More like inedible," came my surprised response.

It was a hard, chewy, lumpen bit of uninspired flavor. I put down the passionfruit and reached for the classic chocolate macaron, hoping that the passionfruit was just a fluke. But the chocolate was, if you can imagine, even worse. It had the consistency of a brownie that had been left on the table for several days. It's hard to believe that a patisserie as celebrated as Payard can whip up such lovely dessert confections, and yet have "macarons" that in all honesty should don't deserve the honor of the name.

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Pierre Marcolini & The Science of Desire

Chocolate from Jeffrey DeChausse on Vimeo.

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Elegant Ice Cream Sandwiches

Delish, lovely and super easy, Twig and Thistle's recipe for these gorgeous ice cream sandwiches is really more of a simple crafting project. You'll need a carton of ice cream and butter waffle cookies from Trader Joe's to begin with. Find the complete instructions here.

{Images}

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Cherry Blossom Pink Macarons

Food stylist and photographer Aran Goyoaga created these amazing confections for Martha Stewart Weddings. Check out the recipe and more images on her gorgeous blog, Cannelle et Vanille.

{Image from here; Bowls by Caroline Swift}

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Vegan Chocolate Truffles & Hot Cocoa

Claire Thomas has a fascinating blog entry about vegan truffles and the origins of hot cocoa in her latest post for The Huffington Post. Claire paid a visit to Intemperantia, a Pacific Palisades-based chocolatier that offers these decadent yet vegan treats. I couldn't agree more when Claire says "I truly appreciate food that's good not in spite of its challenges, but because of them." You can read the whole story HERE.

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Spring Treat

Don't these white chocolate truffles coated with pistachios from Kee's Chocolates in New York seem like the perfect springtime snack?

{Top photo from here, bottom photo from here.}

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Kip Loves Ladurée

Julie Lightbourn received a fresh batch of Easter Eggs from Ladurée, and reports that "the best parts are the chocolate bells inside." I think her dog Kip would disagree--the best parts are all of it!

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Good Morning Chocolate

The acclaimed Chelsea, New York restaurant El Quinto Pino just introduced a new morning menu featuring Ensaimadas, which are described as "larded sweet rolls" that originate from Mallorca. Even more intriguing is something called Submarino de Chocovic, which consists of hot milk poured over a Spanish chocolate bar. Um, I think I know where I'll be tomorrow morning.

{Photo from New York magazine}

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A Good Egg

New York Magazine's website currently features a slideshow of this year's "most creative egg-and-bunny themed sweets." Most impressive is Jacque Torres's "Sleeping Monk," a hand-crafted two-and-a-half-foot tall chocolate egg of dark chocolate shell, complete with sugar daisies and six milk chocolate bunnies.

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Easter Treats, Parisian Style

We all know about Pierre Herme's acclaimed macarons, but often overlooked are their equally enticing chocolates. For Easter, they're offering several new confections that look too amazing to eat. (Or maybe not.)

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Chocolate Easter Bunnies

New from Vosges Haut-Chocolat, two floppy-eared bunnies to sweeten your Easter basket. Each 2.5 ounce solid deep (43% ) milk chocolate bunny arrives in its own box complete with a story of its origin and available in four varieties. The two pictured here: hickory smoked almonds and grey sea salt, and crunchy butter toffee with a touch of pink Himalayan salt.

{Find these, and two other bunnies here}

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Hand-Painted Dark Chocolate Easter Eggs by Rococo Chocolates

{Order them from London's Rococo Chocolates}

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Chocolate-Covered Marshmallow Bars

These are simply insane. Homemade marshmallow in between creamy layers of chocolate by Allie’s Edibles Indulgent Comfort Sweets. Allie's hand-crafted bars come individually wrapped in sinfully rich combos like chocolate-covered marshmallow, chocolate and peanut butter, and chocolate pretzel toffee bark.

{Order you own}

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Sweet on St. Patrick

Tarrytown's Anna Shea Chocolates celebrates St. Patrick's Day with delicious pairings of  Irish spirits (lagers too) and chocolate.

{Images: Anna Shea; Purchase the limited edition collection here}

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Payard Goes South

The word on the street is that François Payard is opening a new bakery-café in Greenwich Village. According to The New York Times, the new as yet unnamed venture is a partnership with A Voce owner Marlon Abela, and will feature "lots of bread, sandwiches and rustic stuff." Here's hoping that in addition to the rustic stuff, the downtown Payard will also feature his fine patisserie and signature macarons.

{Top image from here, and bottom image from here}

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I Want It Now: Golden Eggs for Easter

Bittersweet chocolate golden eggs filled with luscious liquid caramel, and finished with 23k edible gold.

{One dozen chocolate eggs from Valerie Confections}

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Hot Chocolate on a Spoon

Available in over 46 exotic flavors, including Strawberry and Pink Pepper, Chili Orange, Sea Salt and Honey and Amaretto and Macaroons -- simply stir into a hot cup of milk and enjoy. 

{The Hotcocospoon from Chocolate Company}

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Kate Blumm has shaken up the Brooklyn foodie scene in recent months with her lively and spot-on Fort Greene food reviews for the New York Times, so we were thrilled when Kate emailed us from Mexico City with pictures and this tidbit: "...among my many discoveries was the delightful little shop Princesse Cacao in La Condesa, one of the D.F.'s most upbeat and hip neighborhoods. This tiny place transforms supreme-quality cacao from the nearby provinces of Tabasco and Chiapas into delicious milk and dark chocolate, and from that into exquisite bonbons--many of which reflect Mexican flavors (tamarind, cardamom, maracuya-- a tropical fruit, etc.). Their chocolate-by-weight includes a thrilling shape that translates to "little cat's tongues." In my opinion, they are doing a simply top-notch job blending the tradition of European chocolate-making with traditional Mexican flavors. I haven't seen a website for them, but here's the NYT's assessment."

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La Chocolaterie de Jacques Genin

{Images from here; More on Jacques Genin} 

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Homemade Hot Chocolate to Go

David and Jeanie Stiles spend their time making children's fantasies come true by building some of the most sought-after treehouses in America and writing a line of best-selling "how-to" books on playhouses, treehouses, and other rustic retreats. They are pioneers in what I would call the "simple-yet-decadent" lifestyle, living in a fairy-tale 19th century barn in East Hampton where the fire is always roaring in winter and homespun treats like hot chocolate, s'mores and plum cake are always beckoning.

So when Jeanie invited me to try what she considers to be "the best hot chocolate in New York," I leapt at the chance. We met on the Upper East Side at a neighborhood place called Corner Cafe and Bakery, where the homemade hot chocolate was ladled into simple paper cups. I took one sip and knew that this was anything but simple. It's a hot chocolate that just strikes the perfect balance on all fronts--not too rich, too creamy, or overwhelmingly chocolatey. And for those of you who prefer an "American-style" hot chocolate to the "European-style" cup, this is the hot chocolate for you. It's a simple, yet decadent treat.

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