A little chocolate is a fine addition to a dessert cheese board. Or, a delicious housewarming or office gift.
We found several tasty and well-made new products for this holiday season. Many are special order or just for the holidays—that’s a guarantee of freshness for you. Break the bars into squares or pile on the bonbons and marshmallow puffs. An affordable indulgence.
Seed and Bean Bars
Seed and Bean started with seeds and beans lavished in high quality ethical chocolate. Now they also make delicious bars in clever and unusual flavours, $7. Their beans, from Ecuador, Dominican Republic and São Tomé in west Africa, are made into chocolate at a small production facility (the batch size is just 45 litres) in England. They are in the forefront of ethical companies and zero waste initiatives; even the foil is compostable, made from something called Natureflex, which is created from eucalyptus wood pulp. Italian Centre Shop south carries most of the flavours, Freson’s Stony Plain has Lavender Dark, Cornish Sea Salt and Lime and Coconut Raspberry Extra Dark. Maven & Grace have a limited assortment.
Barú Hot Chocolate Powders
Want to try the most delicious hot choc mix ever? Barú is it. The three Italian Centre Shops stock both the Dark and Marshmallow Chocolate Powder and the Dark is also at the Bon Ton Bakery, Freson Bros and Sunterra, $10.
Summerdown Mint Chocolates
Summerdown distills its own Black Mitcham mint to make an exquisite peppermint oil. The result? Their confections possess a fresh, clear and vibrant peppermint taste. The Mint Chocolate Collection, $18, can be found at Freson Bros, and the Italian Centre south and Maven & Grace. Freson Bros stock the Peppermint Thins, and Freson’s Fort Sask stocks the Dominos, both $16. Maven & Grace has the Peppermint Creams, $16.
Pralibel Belgian Pralines
Belgian pralines are filled chocolates, what we might call a bonbon, and Pralibel, with its all-natural flavours and melt in your mouth deliciousness, are top-notch. The luxurious gift box called the Dome is available at Careit Urban Deli, Homes and Cottages and the Plaid Giraffe, $45. The Cubes, $16.50 are stocked at Bella Casa, Heart of the Home, Homes and Cottages, Italian Centre west and the Plaid Giraffe.
Mallow Puffs
Super-puffy vegan marshmallows dunked in UTZ-certified Belgian dark chocolate. They are made without gelatin but there is no loss in flavour—they are most delicious, $7. Three flavours: Raspberry is stocked at Careit, Maven & Grace and Sunterra; Salted Caramel is at Freson Bros, Maven & Grace and Sunterra, Vanilla Bean is at Careit, Freson Bros, Heart of the Home, Maven & Grace and Sunterra.
Galerie au Chocolat Bars and Bonbons
Galerie au Chocolat in Quebec have made their products from sustainable and ethical Belgium chocolate since 1985—gluten-free, made in a peanut-free facility, kosher, non-GMO, they use no emulsifiers and the dark chocolate is vegan (not all dark choc is dairy free). The bars come in both dark and milk chocolate at Bon Ton, Careit, Freson’s Stony Plain, Heart of the Home, Homes and Cottages, Italian Centre north and west, Maven & Grace and the Plaid Giraffe, $4. The assorted chocolates in a gift box are at Homes and Cottages and Maven & Grace, $20. The green gift box of assorted chocs (hello teacher’s gift) at Careit, Freson Bros and all Italian Centre Shops, $18. Love the holiday tree ornament in white, milk and dark, at Careit, Freson Bros, Heart of the Home, Homes and Cottages, Italian Centre south and Plaid Giraffe, $7.