The fine folks at Candy Dish Blog (the National Confectioners Association) have too much candy! So they want to give it away to some candy lovers. They’ve got some tasty organic candy canes from Pure Fun and some Zachary gumdrops. I know, those sound so Christmas. But with a little imagination you can use those candy canes as swizzle sticks for some cocktails or warm two in the oven to form a heart.

(Image by Sally Rye under Creative Commons License via Flickr)

Here’s how you win:

Winners will be announced on shortly after. Shipping will be done by the National Confectioners Association (so you’ll have to be willing to tell them where you live!). Good luck!

UPDATE 2/6/2008: Due to a miscommunication the entry period closed about 36 hours early. Winners are announced at CandyDishBlog. It was awesome to read everyone’s list. (Really, no one wanted the Candy Blogger at their cocktail party?)

Each day on the floor is a cacophony of flavors, smells, colors and even sounds. There’s a sociability element to it and at certain times of the day some booths are jam packed while at other times it’s mystifying that they’re not. And as tempted as I am to grab people walking by to get them to try something that I’ve just discovered, I have to remember to focus on my own goal, which is to let you readers know what’s on the cusp of breaking out as a big new trend and what classic favorites are still out there to be experienced.

One item I tasted the first day and promptly forgot their name was Rubicon Bakery. So after searching for two days, I found them again and even got another sample for later review. They’re all-natural freeze-dried meringue kisses flavored with berries and dipped in Guittard’s dark chocolate. They’re called CocoaBerries and already have a great following with calorie-conscious folks. Low calories & oodles of antioxidants aside, I loved the Strawberry ones which aren’t at all sweet, but bursting with a fragrant & tangy crunch inside a dark chocolate shell.

On the second day my eyes glazed over part way through, just as I arrived in the California Pavilion (really just a corner where a lot of the California companies were concentrated). So I went back with an empty stomach and a renewed sense of adventure.

Coco-Luxe, which has amazingly beautiful packaging, has some new bars. I was smitten with the one called Monkeyin’ Around which is milk chocolate with banana chips & cocoa nibs. I got an array of all their cocoa nib bars (Happy Trails in Dark and Spumoni in White) for a more extensive try back at Candy Blog Studios.

After a few near misses, I finally found Brandini Toffee, which is made in Southern California and has won oodles of awards. The flavors are dark and woodsy, with strong butter and burnt sugar flavors. Then just a touch of chocolate to hold some crushed almond bits to the pieces. They package them in tins or boxes.

I also took a few minutes to check back in with companies that I’ve tried quite a few times. Plush Puffs was there, with the best kind of display, an interactive one. They had little set of burners for fresh-toasting your choice of marshmallows. (They’ve made them a bit smaller, which makes them one big bite or two small bites.) I had a vanilla bean one which smelled so wonderful as it toasted. I paired it with a fresh and wonderful Peerless Cappuccino (one of the other benefits of a mixed food show instead of a single focus one like All Candy Expo).

There were some other fun marshmallow goods at the show. I enjoyed a nice taste of Butter Baked Goods had a Matcha Tea Marshmallow. They were light and puffy, not too sweet with all the fragrant punch of green tea and none of the bitterness.

Though the combination of chocolate and coffee beans has been around for a while, I thought Javaz by How Do You Take Your Coffee brought a few new twists to the idea. They have both milk and dark chocolate covered coffee beans that are specially selected & roasted to be good tasting when eaten, using organic and fair trade beans. And then they’re also given a candy shell.

They also have a line of Java Rocks which are little coffee infused chocolate pieces that are covered in candy shells that look like little pebbles. I hope to get more info on them as they start appearing in markets.

I was so pleased though to get to spend at least a half an hour at an import company called Crossings French Food (website). They handle French confectionery products including some of my favorites such as Arnaud Soubeyran (Montelimar Nougat) and Chocolat Bonnat and never made fun of my pronunciations.

Everything is just so stunningly beautiful that I wanted hug it. (Okay, maybe I was high on sugar, caffeine & chocolate.) I don’t even know where to begin, but here are a few highlights:

Dragees Pecou is an old French company that takes their candy panning very seriously. The colors are bright and crisp, the palette fresh and appetizing and the ingredients sound fantastic. One of the appealing new developments is that they’re going to be selling them in small packages of about 4 ounces each (often you can only get them in bulk or repackaged by a third party).

I tried (pictured left to right):

Fruit Cordials in bright citrus colors.

Little meringue kisses dipped in milk, white and dark chocolate.

70% Dark Chocolate in heart shapes and pastel colors.

I also tried these crazy-divine Chocavenlines Hazelnut in Chocolate Candy Coated, White which were a hazelnut covered in chocolate and then a melt-in-your-mouth white coating.

To take home for review, I have some Paris Caramels made with goat’s milk. I tried some of the more traditional cow-based Fleur de Sel and they’re insanely buttery.

If you can’t tell, this one booth made the whole trip worth it. I want to repaint my house in these colors. I want to string these and wear them like pearls. I want to fill huge floor-to-ceiling glass cylinders with the dragees and just stare at them all day long. (And it all tasted good, too.)

Kraft had a nice booth that highlighted their chocolate brands: Cote D’Or, Terry’s Chocolate Orange, Milka and Toblerone.

Toblerone debuted a Fruit & Nut bar in Europe last year and it’s finally arrived on our shores now. In addition, Terry’s Chocolate Orange was explained to me. They have their standard Milk Chocolate and Dark Chocolate version. Then they add in a seasonal flavor each winter. This year it was Peppermint, the year before a White Chocolate. And next year we’ll get a Toffee Crunch Terry’s Orange. (But there’s still a larger selection in Europe.)

I try not to approach company’s with too many preconceived notions, whether I’ve had a bad experience at their booths before (after all, these trade shows are primarily for them to make sales, not explain their products to me) or just haven’t liked their products. But hey, I’m known for being capricious and carrying a grudge as much as being descriptive and exhaustive. And that tactic paid off on when I went to the Sweets company booth. They make taffy and fruit jelly sticks.

But this year they have something a bit more elegant. Dark Chocolate Wine Gels in Port, Cabernet and Champagne. The short sticks are elegantly packaged in half round “tubes” with a little cellophane sealed tray. The taste is subtle and not at all fake or like it’s trying to hard (like, frankly, salt water taffy can be). I’m looking forward to finding them in stores soon.

I’m packing up my car for the drive back to Los Angeles, it’s absurd how many samples I have. Many are old favorites that I’ve picked up for personal consumption, but I’m also planning a bit of a giveaway while it’s still cool enough to ship.

Related Candies

1. Fancy Food Show 2009 Notes - Day Two
2. Fancy Food Show 2009 Notes - Day One
3. Sconza Jordanettes
4. Short & Sweet: Fancy Food Bites
5. Nougat de Montelimar
6. Artisan Marshmallows: Plush Puffs

Seattle Chocolates has revamped their line of bars, with spiffy moderne designs in bright colors. I want them to make socks, scarves & ties to go with them. (They did actually have some promotional buttons to go with them that I did pick up.)

Picked up some ample samples of Figamajigs with Mint which are just lovely in a white and pale green candy coated lentil style and their Figamajigs Raspberry bar. Love their simple combination of real figs and cocoa with dark chocolate.

Lake Champlain has a lovely line of new organic truffles. I only got to try the fig and honey. It’s a true ganache center, with more of the dark berry tones and touch of caramel sweetness of the honey.

They also featured the return of their fabulous novelty foil treats for Easter.

Chuao looked colorful and spicy as usual. I mentioned that the Firecracker, introduced last year at the All Candy Expo, was a bit too spicy for me and they were happy to report they’ve cut the spice. Sure enough, it’s much easier on my throat, but still has a warm burn to it (plus the fun of the pop rocks).

Seth Ellis Chocolatier has really bold packaging, but what stopped me in my tracks was the Candied Lemons, it’s actually dark chocolate covered candied whole lemon slices. Tangy, zesty, sweet and creamy.

This photo is of their ginger truffle, which I didn’t try, but I did have their lemon truffle and thought that was tasty as well.

L’Estasi Dolce had the best truffle of the day. They do a line of wine infused truffles, but it was the was Lemongrass and Ginger in dark chocolate that was the real winner for me.

New Tree is kind of a sleeper for me, I like that they combine cool flavors, I think their naming is a little kooky and the chocolate a little chalky sometimes… but then again the packaging is pretty. But I was transfixed by their new line Alpha, which has omega 3 fatty acids, courtesy of flax seeds. The Thym bar also has the flavor of thyme in it, it was so fresh and bright and the dark chocolate set it off so well, it was a wonderful fresh taste in a crowded room.

Gifford was a nice find, great traditional wax paper wrapped caramels. Also a great story of a company with a great heritage brought back from bankruptcy.

Ferrara Pan, known for Lemonheads & Atomic Fireballs, has expanded into chocolate panned goodies recently. I tried some of their nuts, but was taken with their Dark Chocolate Covered Biscotti. It’s a mild, semisweet chocolate and a hard, crunchy biscotti bite. Very munchable.

For fans of the discontinued Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Covered Pretzel Bites, you’ll be happy to find out that I’ve found the source. They’re at Chocolate Potpourri and called Chocolate Pretzel Balls and are available in milk, dark and white.

On the non-candy front:

Q Tonic was really refreshing, all tonic & citrus and virtually no sweetness.

Dry Soda has a really nice array of soda flavors, no high fructose corn sweetener and a really great not-quite sweet flavor.

Rogue Creamery makes great Blue Cheese. But I think everyone already knows that.

Coach Farms from New York had some lovely goat cheeses, especially their triple cream.

(All photos by Emanuel Treeson, (c) All Rights Reserved)

I know that most folks are glued to their TVs, listening to the radio or viewing streaming versions on the web of this joyous inaugural.

Here’s a confectionery break. (And a break for me, but I’ll have a roundup from Fancy Food posted soon.)

(Chocolates shown are from Cosmic Chocolates, their most popular set right now. Photo by Emanuel Treeson (c) all rights reserved.)

The 2009 Winter Fancy Food Show is back in San Francisco and huge. It takes up both halls of the Moscone Center and on Sunday, the opening day, I got through about one half of the floor.

Here are some random notes:

B.T. McElrath, the Minneapolis artisan chocolatier, rolled out their new line of bars with a preview of the new packaging and tasting of all four.

The star for me was their bar called Salty Dog Salty Dog (Dark Chocolate, Toffee Chips & Salt). The others are a Passion Fruit, Tangerine & Chocolate bar, Chile Limon Chocolate Bar and a Dark Chocolate and Milk Chocolate (40% cacao).

The actual molding of the bars is nice. It’s segmented and each is a little dome, so it’s easy to break apart for portioning. They come in cellophane sleeves and then inside a paperboard box. The design of the box is quite nice, a bit of a changeup from the usual design for McElrath, each is coded with a different pattern at the top of the box and then a picture of the bar on the front. It’s a nice effect when you see them all together on a shelf.

Other new bars that caught my attention were:

Scharffen Berger has a super dark milk chocolate bar. It’s 68% cacao. Add in some milk and some crushed cacao nibs and there’s not much room for sugar. It’s very mellow and not quite as malty as the Milk Nibby bar I’m so fond of.

I found two places out on the floor that were sampling KShocolat (website), a wonderful chocolate company I’ve tried before but can’t find a good source for in the United States. I’ve been looking for their dark chocolate and cardamom bar and have previewed it and can say, I love the combination. I’ll have more on that in a few weeks.

I stopped by Melville’s, which is always fun. I love their honey spoons (though they’re kind of expensive) so I love to get samples. They have so many new items. One is a new line of the spoons for drinks that are made with real cinnamon sticks instead of wooden sticks, so it will really give your cocoa or tea a flavor pop. Other items were beautiful new molded lollipops (the bees were so cute), a line of big fruit & vegetable pops (yes, a buttered popcorn pop like an ear of corn).

My favorite new item of the show though is probably the unique one. Impressions Fine Foods Hot Chocolate Mochi Krunch - spicy brown rice crackers covered in dark chocolate. It might not sound like much, but I can see being angry that these aren’t sold in bigger packages.

It’s a little disk, about the size of a quater of puffed brown rice. A little salty, it has a natural sweet and nutty flavor and then it’s covered in chocolate. There are plain milk & dark and of course the spicy one.

Other notable non-candy nibbles (because I try other things):

Big Island Bee’s was previewing a vanilla infused ‘Ohi’a Lehua Blossom honey. It’s more like a spread and has wonderful malt, vanilla and beeswax notes.

Fabrique Delices Artisnal Charcuterie had an awesome duck procsciutto that I really have to find for my next cheese plate.

Guittard has a few things for bakers & home chocolatiers. One that I thought really fills a need is the Guittard Extra Dark (63%) Chocolate Chips (no extra cocoa butter). Not at all chalky or bitter, but much less sweet than their semi-sweet, the “less cocoa butter” part will help them keep their shape ... and they’d probably make really good hot chocolate.

(All photos by Emanuel Treeson, (c) All Rights Reserved)

Related Candies

1. Scharffen Berger Milk Nibby Bar
2. Short & Sweet: Fancy Food Bites
3. Fancy Food Show 2008 Notes - Part Two
4. Fancy Food Show 2008 Notes - Part One
5. Guittard Akoma Fair Trade Chocolate Chips
6. Melville Candy Company Honey Spoons
7. Show Notes - Fancy Food Show - Tuesday

I thought I got a huge score at the 99 Cent Only Store a few weeks before Christmas when I found Terry’s Dark Chocolate Oranges for only 99 Cents. They even said they were good until February 2009.

I was still dubious and bought only one to try it out.

Sadly it was bloomed, though only slightly. Blooming is when the cocoa butter in chocolate migrates to the surface. As this was only the slightest haze, I figured a recipe where it was melted would at least mean I didn’t waste that buck. There are 20 orange slices in a Terry’s Chocolate Orange.

So after a few tries at proportions, I made some quite passable hot chocolate with it.

Recipe for One 12 ounce Cup of Hot Orange Chocolate (double or triple as necessary)

Pour milk into a saucepan and add chopped chocolate. Whisk over medium heat then add cocoa and continue to whisk until hot. Don’t boil.

It’s sweet, creamy and with a slight hint of orange, it’s a nice change from overly sweet pre-made mixes. Add another slice if you want really rich hot chocolate.

Next I might try making some chocolate pudding.

Related Candies

1. The Easiest Chocolate Pudding (not quite from scratch)
2. Grandma’s Caramels
3. Chocolate Hellfire Chip Cookies
4. Terry’s Chocolate Orange Confection
5. 33 Uses for Leftover Candy Canes
6. Malted Crisped Rice Squares
7. Terry’s Chocolate Orange

Menu for Hope is back for its fifth year and is as big as ever. The multi-blog effort is headed by Chez Pim and raises money for the United Nations World Food Programme.

It’s a raffle where various bloggers, individuals and companies have donated food-related items.

Here’s my annual roundup of confectionery goodies up for grabs this year. (You can see the complete list of goodies here.)

Each raffle ticket is $10. Please be sure to read the complete listings about any geographical or timing limitations before you buy your tickets.

Item Number: EU04

Description: 2 boxes of Parisan style macarons from Petites Bouches

A pair of sligtly crisp nut-flecked cookies sandwich the most luxurious buttercreams and the creamiest ganache made from premium Valrhona Chocolate. Made from raw organic almonds and organic brown eggs. (US only.)

Link

Item Number: EU02

Description: A stack of hand-chosen, just for you, real Swiss chocolate bars. This was one of the prizes I really wanted last year.

You get to pick your preference for nuts or not, milk or dark ... an awesome opportunity to get a different taste every week.

Link

Item Number: UE05

Description: Small Box of LA Burdick Chocolate Mice

I tried these earlier this year, they’re simply too cute - little truffle mice with almond slice ears ... everything is edible except for the tails.

Link

Item Number: UE11

Description: La Maison du Chocolat’s Shimmering Snowflake Coffret

Over a half a pound (about 29 pieces) of delicate chocolate creations. Includes the holiday flavors: chestnut, orange confit stick, dark ganache with banana, milk ganache with ros? Champagne, milk pralin? feuillet? with hazelnuts and almonds, almond paste with citrus zest, and dark plain ganache. (U.S. only)

Link

Item Number: UE12

Description: Five boxes of Garrison Confectioners handcrafted chocolates inspired by PAMA Liqueur

The PAMA Tart is a heavenly layered chocolate ganache and graham cracker crust treat laced with pomegranate flavor. The PAMA Cosmo, a great twist on the classic drink, delivers a flavor explosion by coupling premium vodka with fresh, invigorating lime juice. But the true test of a cordial is its ability to stand to toasted nuts, and PAMA passed with flying colors with Garrison"s Nutty PAMA creation. It combines a perfected blend of roasted nut and pomegranate for a truly indulgent experience.

Link

Item Number: UE17

Description: The ‘Studio Collection’ Box by Chocolatier Oliver Kita

A retail value of $40, this box 16 deliciously creative sweets.

Link

Item Number: UW23

Description: BonBonBar Tower of handmade candy bars, caramels, and marshmallows.

3 Caramel Nut Candy Bars, 3 Malt Candy Bars, 3 Orange Candy Bars, 3 Single Malt Scotch Candy Bars, 12 Vanilla Marshmallows, 12 Passionfruit Marshmallows 1 Container of Hot Chocolate Mix

Item Number: UW24

Description: Scharffen Berger Chocolate Gift Package

5 pounds of petit baking squares, The Essence of Chocolate cookbook plus an (extra) bitter t-shirt.

Link

Item Number: EU03

Description: US$50 gift certificate from bento supplier J-List.com PLUS 3 bento books

JList is an awesome place to find all sorts of Japanse treats like Mentos, limited edition KitKat and HiCHEW.

Link

Item Number: EU06

Description: Damian Allsopp chocolates

Christmas chocolates from Fortnum & Mason . Damian is unique in his use of water-based ganaches. This creates fabulously intense flavours such as pear and anise, salty liquorice and “Christmas.”

Link

Item Number: CA08

Description: Gift box from Kerstin’s Chocolates

12 high quality, Edmonton-made chocolate bars from Kerstin’s Chocolates. (Canada only.)

Link

Raffle ends on December 24th. Winners will be announced in January.

See this page for the complete list and directions for how to purchase the tickets from Firstgiving.

I’m in Ohio at the moment but will hit the road to traverse Pennsylvania in a few minutes.

While here I’ve had some fun candy adventures so far. My mother and I went to Cleveland to the Malley’s Chocolates factory and watched them make dark chocolate macadamia nut clusters, Christmas Malley Ohs (chocolate covered Oreos dusted with crushed peppermints) and hand paint three foot tall chocolate Santas. I’ve already eaten half of a Dark Chocolate Pretzel Crunch bar and proclaim it fantastic and satisfying.

Later in the day with hit Mitchell’s Fine Candies and were awed by the huge collection of hand made dark chocolate goodies. While there I tried two of their newer creations in The Graecia Collection. A ginger, pistachio and marzipan piece with a Cointreau cured orange peel dipped in dark and a little layered milk and dark gianduia piece with espresso and Ouzo. Fabulous.

We’ve also prowled the local grocery stores and I’ve found some fun items from German company Moser Roth, the Goetze’s Apple Caramel Creams, a grocery store brand of Autumn Mellocremes, sour Smarties, some more Peanut Butter Kisses and candied fennel seeds. My mother also presented me with a huge box of local chocolates called Goumas who do wonderful toffees & caramels (that’s all I’ve tried so far).

I expect to hit Hershey’s Chocolate World and Wilbur’s Chocolate Factory tomorrow.

(I also expect to have better connectivity so hopefully I can post the reviews I wrote on the plane of such things as Dove’s Tiramisu Promises, GoNaturally Organic Hard Candies and some other stuff I can’t remember.)