ZOMG, Candy!

If y’all follow me on Twitter (plug plug plug), you already know that I’ve been bragging about Hedonist Chocolates lately. They’re a small business chocolatier in Rochester, NY, where I used to live, and they turn out many delicious confections, including a ZOMG!-worthy set of chocolate-covered salted caramels.

I love those caramels. I bought a box last year when I was back in Rochester for a visit, and they’re my go-to gift when I need to send something nice to someone who lives far away. Considering all the free candy that I get, you know something’s good when I put my money where my mouth wants to be.

Last week, the NY Times named Hedonist’s Salted Caramels one of the 10-best chocolate-covered caramels in the U.S.!! And gave them the first slot in their graphic.

I’m quite excited for Hedonist, as such high praise is certainly well deserved. On the more selfish side, I’m also pleased that some culinary heavy-hitters corroborated my impression of the caramels.

Hedonist was kept busy busy filling all the orders they received after the Times piece ran. It’s now likely too late to get these caramels in time for Valentine’s Day (unless you live in Rochester), but do yourself a favor and get some anyway. You won’t regret it!

Customized chocolate bars were a flashy fad about a year or so ago. David Lebovitz recently posted a smart way to make your own customized bars without needing fancy, professional molds. You can just use leftover (and cleaned!) plastic food containers!

I’m definitely going to try this after my next bulk bin shopping trip for dried fruit and nuts. And don’t be scared by David’s suggestion to temper the chocolate. Tempering is optional anyway, and if you do it with a microwave, it’s way simple.

I bet these would also make for a sweet and special Valentine’s Day treat for your sweet and special Valentine…

About a month ago, I wrote (and raved) about Truffles by Coquette. Just in time for Valentine’s Day, they’ve created a special coupon for readers of ZOMG, Candy! The coupon code ZOMGCANDY will save you 20% off your order at their online store.

Go forth, and buy your sweethearts some delicious artisanal truffles! If you end up picking up some Godivas at the last minute, I will so judge you.

Cake Wrecks is a website that collects hilarious examples of poorly decorated cakes. Recently, they showed an example of a Hershey’s Kiss inspired cake gone horribly wrong.

The originals from Half Baked were adorable and looked delectable. The wrecked version, however, looked like a boob job gone bad.

Via Neil, news of an interesting new ad campaign from Kit Kat. Building on their “gimme a break” slogan and taking advantage of our current culture’s anxiety about our constantly wired world, they’ve built a bench in Amsterdam that blocks all WiFi signals, so people can truly take a break.

Photograph by Tim Keen/JWT Amsterdam.

A fun, attention getting idea! The only change I’d make is to have the bench dispense little Kit Kats.

Easter is a long ways away, but Easter candies are already out at my local grocery store. I think anyone buying Easter candies that early is either has iron willpower or eating it all him/herself.

Serious Eats recently ran a recipe for Bouchon Bakery’s marshmallow eggs. They look gorgeous but also fairly challenging to make. Maybe if you start practicing now, you’ll be ready to serve them when Easter actually rolls around.

There can be a fine line between candy and snack/dessert. I generally don’t review cookies, but I have reviewed Pocky and Pocky-like treats. I’ve never reviewed chocolate-filled cookies because they fall into a grey area on the candy to snack/dessert spectrum.

Fortunately, Serious Eats tried a bunch and crowned Hello Panda to be the champ. Koala’s March came in last, which is a shame, as I think they have the cutest Koala pictures printed on the cookies.

Now that winter has sort of hit North Carolina, there are some mornings in which I really can’t get going without a hot drink, and I’m not really a coffee person. Ideally, there’d be an LA Burdick right by my lab so that I could grab a cup of drinking chocolate every morning, but alas, I didn’t get into hahvahd for grad school.

Instead, I keep hot cocoa mix handy. Currently, it’s a box of Starbucks Toasted Marshmallow Hot Cocoa, which is okay in a pinch. If you’re curious about how the full line of Starbucks Cocoa tastes, Serious Eats tried them all.

Last Sunday, the NY Times Magazine’s Design column was on “Who Made That Hershey Bar?” Apparently, Hershey started off making caramels, but “the caramel bubble eventually burst,” so he got into chocolate. I bet that caramel bubble was delicious…

Chocablog ran a neat profile of Busto Arsizio Prison in Milan, Italy, where prisoners make chocolates that are sold under the Dolci Liberta (translation: sweet liberty) brand. According to the profile, the chocolate making keeps prisoners out of trouble, teaches them skills, and allows them to make some money. And the chocolate that they make is award-winning.

What a unique and delicious sounding social rehabilitation venture!