Chill Out to this Brownie

Not only is the Trading Post Cafe one of Taos' coolest restaurants (it was a beloved hangout of longtime Taos resident Dennis Hopper), it also boasts what is perhaps the best Hot Fudge Brownie Sundae in all of New Mexico. This double-decker brownie possesses the perfect balance of density and moistness, and is paired with two creamy scoops of vanilla ice cream, an almost bittersweet hot fudge sauce, and fresh whipped cream. There's nothing more relaxing than sitting in the gorgeous back garden of this restaurant under the shade of hanging plants and devouring this dessert...slowly.

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Kings of Pastry

I love to see a grown man cry -- especially over pastry. For anyone that has every season of Top Chef on their DVR Kings of Pastry, the new documentary from the team behind The War Room, is a fall must see.

KINGS OF PASTRY Theatrical Trailer from Pennebaker Hegedus Films on Vimeo.

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Miette Confiserie & Patisserie in San Francisco

{Miette Locations: Ferry Building Marketplace and Hayes Valley}

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Artisan Chocolate in Charleston, South Carolina

Great sweets are nothing new in Charleston, but until recently this foodie dream town has lacked a seriously modern chocolatier. John E. Battles has changed all of that, turning out small batches of truffles and chocolates bars made from local ingredients in witty and unusual flavor pairing including peanut butter and jelly, parmesan and sweet basil and local bay leaf and cardamom. Sweeteeth chocolates are sold in several Charleston locations.

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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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