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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Chocolate-dipped Everything

I should have paid more attention during my high school French classes, but since I was too busy passing notes with Heidi Van Den Aardweg and another girl named Stacey (her last name escapes me, but she had pretty freckles and looked like Mia Sara), I'm not quite sure what Sandra Avital does, since her blog is entirely in French. Is she a chef, a baker, or a photographer? Either way, her love of chocolate needs no translation, as her artful blog Le Pétrin can attest. Particularly fascinating are her pictures of chocolate-dipped foods, like the chocolate dipped zeppole, pretzels, and churros featured here.

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Edible Oprah

No one goes “big” like Oprah Winfrey. The departing Queen of Talk hosted Monday’s show “That’s Incredible!” on an all chocolate set. The setting included a grandfather clock, table, books, chess set, fireplace, vase of flowers and chandelier -- all made of Godiva chocolate. At the end show (which included a visit from the world’s tallest dog) Oprah invited the audience on stage for a taste the set which was built using 7,000 chocolate bars and 2,400 truffles.

{Photos from here; View the "Making of" video here}

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Addicted to Pain

The first batch of pain au chocolats at Patisserie Claude in New York's Greenwich Village usually sell out by 10:00am every morning. That's how good they are. Last week, I got there too late to catch the first batch, but decided to wait twenty minutes for the second batch and had the distinct pleasure of eating the pain au chocolat you see above just minutes after it came out of the oven. It was pure unadulterated heaven, with just the perfect proportion of rich, dark chocolate melting into buttery, flakey pastry. More importantly, it reconfirmed my opinion that even after the legendary Claude retired last year and his longtime apprentice Pablo took over, this place still makes the best pain au chocolat in the city.

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