Oh, the trouble we go to for our readers, nibbling on chocolate drops and chocolate-covered cookies and sipping hot chocolate. You can thank us later.
Peppermint hot cocoa bombs
Jocelyn Gragg of Jardi Chocolates spends her days in her Chamblee shop, dreaming up luscious combinations of chocolate and fruit, chocolate and spice, chocolate and nuts. And, for the holidays, she has come up with fun new confections, like this year’s peppermint hot cocoa bomb. It looks like a bath bomb, but it slowly melts, instead of fizzing, when you drop it into hot milk, revealing layers of cocoa butter, chocolate, cocoa mix (a house-made blend of sugar, cocoa powder, salt and toasted milk powder) and, finally, two perfect marshmallow rectangles. The bomb sits on a peppermint bark base that we were tempted to break off and nibble before we dropped our bomb. The small size makes these perfect stocking stuffers.
$6 per bomb. Available at jardichocolates.com/products/peppermint-hot-cocoa-bombs and, for pickup, at Jardi Chocolates, 3400 W. Hospital Ave., Chamblee.
Kosher chocolate for Hanukkah
Sugar Plum Chocolates of Forty Fort, Pennsylvania, has dreamed up an 8 Days of Hanukkah Gift Mailer that will delight young and old. Each artfully decorated box contains a chocolate menorah, lollipops, chocolate-covered sandwich cookies, chocolate-covered pretzels, chocolate-covered marshmallows, a chocolate bar and chocolate drops, all sprinkled with blue and white nonpareils. The kosher chocolate is melt-in-your-mouth luscious, and, since the pieces are a mix of dark and milk chocolate, it should be a hit with all ages. You can hand out the contents over the course of the holiday festival, or make a big splash by sharing it all at once.
$49 for the gift bag. Available at sugar-plum.com/products/8-days-of-hanukkah-gift-mailer.
Credit: VEAUUX
Credit: VEAUUX
Hot cocoa and marshmallow gift box
In Cumming, Laura and Paris Retana of Malvi Marshmallow Confections are busy whipping up fun marshmallows in the flavors you need (cotton candy, fluffy nutter, passion fruit and honey) to complement a cup of hot chocolate. Then, they package those marshmallows in a gift box, with an 8-ounce tin of hot cocoa mix and a 4.5-ounce container of sprinkles, ready to ship to anyone you choose. The cocoa mix is bittersweet, so it’s rich and deeply flavored, which makes it just the right balance for those fluffy marshmallows, which are oversized, so they are not going to fade away in that cup of cocoa. Top everything off with sprinkles, for a festive finish, and you’ve got a very special and satisfying treat for those cold nights that are sure to come.
$30 per gift box. Available at malvimallow.com/products/malvi-hot-cocoa-marshmallow-gift-box.
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