The Browniepops Halloween collection, chocolate-dipped sea salt caramel apples from Cocoa Dolce, pumpkin marshmallows from Pete’s Gourmet, burnt caramel Halloween bonbons from Recchiuti Confections, monster cookies from Rolling Pin Productions, the chocolate skeleton bride and groom from Sahagùn Chocolates, the chocolate-covered Halloween strawberries from Secret Spoon, Woodhouse Chocolate’s “bellboy” chocolate skulls and John & Kira’s fig pumpkins (see the post below).
Are we gluttonous? No, just obsessed with the best—and we share generously!
We know it’s fall when we receive our John & Kira’s chocolate catalog with photos of their exquisite Calabacita Figs—a perennial NIBBLE favorite and Top Pick Of The Week. This is an exquisite gift for your favorite connoisseur. The bite-size, organic Spanish figs are filled with silky Valhrona chocolate ganache highlighted with a touch of whiskey, then hand-dipped in 58% cacao Valrhona and tucked into a reusable wood box for beautiful gift-giving.
We use the word “perfect” a lot, but in our book, there’s nothing more perfect than serving these at the end of dinner with coffee or an after-dinner brandy or whiskey (try a smooth Irish whiskey like Jameson or Tullamore Dew). The only problem is our desire to eat the entire box; others may be able to restrain themselves by enjoying one at a time.
If you’re thinking of baking a sweet [trick or] treat, here’s a trick to add that special Halloween touch: Make a cake or cupcakes with a spooky black frosting. It used to be that you had to create black frosting with blue food color, adding it to chocolate frosting drop by drop until the frosting turned black. But now, McCormick makes pure black food color to make life easier (and a boon for those who can’t have chocolate). Decorate the top of your baked treat with candy corn, or check candy shops for marzipan spiders, candy pumpkins and other holiday specialties.
With 102 different flavors of stuffed cupcake,
you’ll be able to celebrate National Chocolate
Cupcake Day for many days to come. Photos
courtesy of The Petite Café.
Very few people we know would decline to celebrate National Chocolate Cupcake Day. So go out and buy a few or stay home and whip up a batch from your favorite recipe or mix.
For quickie chocolate cupcakes, we like Duncan Hines Devil’s Food Cake Mix. We substitute butter for the oil, add 1/2 cup sour cream for more density and richness and a cup of chocolate chips to the mix to be extra-devilish. Two dozen cupcakes come out of the oven in 18 to 21 minutes, ready for your favorite frosting.
Want to send yourself (or someone equally deserving) some special chocolate cupcakes as a gift? Try the stuffed chocolate cupcakes from The Petite Café in Nutley, New Jersey. How about Bananarama, a chocolate and banana cupcake stuffed with Banana cappuccino mousse and topped with banana whipped cream? Blackout, a dark chocolate cupcake stuffed with dark chocolate icing and topped with more dark chocolate icing plus dark chocolate cake crumbs? The Long and Winding Rocky Road, a dark chocolate pecan cupcake stuffed with marshmallow mousse and topped with chocolate icing garnished with marshmallows and pecans? There are 102 flavors—banana, butterscotch, caramel, chocolate, coconut, mango, orange, vanilla and enough other flavors to drive a cupcake lover onto Cupcake Cloud 9.
Allergic to gluten, peanuts, dairy and/or eggs? Buy Cherrybrook Kitchen’s chocolate cake mix or send ready-made yummy chocolate cupcakes that are dairy and egg-free (not gluten free) from Divvies (the chocolate cupcakes were so good, we made them a Top Pick Of The Week).
Want a “special project?” Make these “burger” cupcakes: The “bun” is made of a vanilla cupcake, the “burger” a chocolate cupcake.
If you want to celebrate National Chocolate Cupcake Day more than once a year, that’s OK with us.
Need a sweet treat, like candy or ice cream, but healthier? Want to spend your budget of say, 100 calories? The new YoCrunch 100 Calorie Packs hit the spot, with just 10 or 15 calories from fat. Nonfat yogurt, a blend of sugar and erythritol (one of the sugar alcohols, a natural sweetener that replaces much of the sugar to reduce the calories without artificial flavor) unite to create this 100 calorie, 3.75-ounce treat. And there’s enough calorie budget let to add some famous YoCrunch mix-in. Flavors include:
Vanilla: Vanilla Nonfat Yogurt with Nestle Buncha Crunch Candies or Chocolate Chip Cookie Pieces
Cheesecake: Vanilla Nonfat Yogurt With Graham Cookie Pieces
Strawberry: Strawberry Nonfat Yogurt With Granola
YoCrunch 100 Calorie Packs are sold in six-packs. YoCrunch is certified kosher (dairy) by OU.
Read our review of YoCrunch Naturals yogurt and visit our Yogurt Section for reviews of our favorite yogurts, recipes, our Yogurt Glossary and much more.
100 calories of pleasure. Photo by Hannah Kaminsky | THE NIBBLE.
