From A Homemade Heirloom to the Wonderfully Weird, Here are 5 Chocolate Gifts Guaranteed to Earn You Props
All are luxurious. Some are bargains. Your chocolate lover will thank you.
In Regift Purgatory, there is an endless supply of Russell Stover and Godiva pre-boxed chocolate assortments. The grab-and-go gifts are convenient for gift buyers, but given the storm of abundance that is holiday season, many people don’t actually end up consuming all of the food gifts they receive. The prosaic are the first to be consigned to the reject pile.
When it comes to gifting chocolate, or treats of any kind, it helps to present something that makes enough statement to entice its recipient to slip off the bow, unwrap the package, and indulge in the sensory delight you’ve given them. Enjoying chocolate is inherently about consumption — but it’s also about having a delightful experience. (Ah, dopamine!)
Here are five suggestions for making the chocoholics in your life happy. One of them includes a recipe to make at home. I’ve tried products from all of the sellers, and this post is free of affiliate links. All I’m getting for these plugs is the hope that I make your gifting easier.
I made an effort to address different budgets. Whatever the price tag, these are all luxurious in their own right.
The line-up, in no particular order of ranking:
Grammy’s Christmas Candy
Harbor Sweets
Omnom Chocolate
Chocopologie
Bon Bon Bon
Let me know which ones make it to your favorites list.
Grammy’s Christmas Candy - a homemade legacy
This is the stuff I irreverently nicknamed “Christmas Crack” because it is made in sheets and then broken up into irregular pieces. And it is shockingly addictive. Candy this tasty and soooo easy to make is almost criminal.
It was standard currency in my mother-in-law’s annual Christmas traditions. She crafted batches to gift to people who helped her throughout the year and of course, to stuff stockings and serve to her large family (ten grandkids!) in dishes scattered around her home’s common areas.
When I got my hands on the recipe, I found that, like many a handed-down culinary treasure, Grammy never wrote it out exactly the same way twice. She gave me at least three different versions that resembled memos to herself, always with enough detail to suss it out, but never detailed into step-by-step instructions. I misplaced each of these slips of paper in house moves and aggressive de-cluttering sessions. Ultimately, to give this deserving heirloom some permanence (and make it easier to keep track of), I asked Grammy to write out the recipe for me once more. I had tea towels printed with what she gave me, which I gave as holiday presents to all of my husband’s siblings.
Grammy’s Christmas Crack Candy - The Recipe
INGREDIENTS
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter plus extra for generously greasing pan liner
Dairy-sensitivity note: I use Green Valley lactose free butter whenever I can find it. I have not had a lot of success substituting plant-based butters in this recipe. If you do, please drop me a message and let me know what product(s) you use!1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
~12 - 16 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
~ 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
Other nuts like toasted hazelnuts or roasted almonds should substitute well.
TOOLS
Heavy-bottomed deep saucepan1
(I use my small enameled cocotte, which works perfectly. The candy slides right out, and it’s not too heavy to lift when pouring out hot melted sugar.)Candy thermometer
Long handled stirring spoon
Silicone spatula
Large baking sheet + Silpat liner to fit (or parchment paper)
Offset spatula, cookie spatula (optional, but very helpful to turn the candy)
Hot mitts to protect your hands
DIRECTIONS
Before we begin, a note of caution. Boiling sugar is VERY hot and can (will) cause serious burns when it comes into contact with your skin. Proceed with caution when stirring, removing the candy thermometer from the pot, and pouring out the caramel.
Now that you’ve been warned… on to the fun!
Prep your baking sheet. Line it with a Silpat liner or parchment paper and grease generously with butter.
Add sugar, butter, water, and salt to the pot and clip candy thermometer to the side. Over medium-high heat, melt the ingredients, stirring occasionally to keep them from burning. The substance will bubble and increase in volume as it cooks.
Cook to “light crack” stage. Trust your eyes even more than your thermometer: Before removing the caramel from the heat, check the color. The candy will start to turn a light brown/amber color around the edge of the pot. Stir from the edges inward to distribute the color through the rest of the bubbling mixture. Keep stirring — the color changes quickly once the candy gets this hot. Once the color turns bright orangey brown (the temperature on the thermometer at this point should correspond to about 285F), it’s ready!
Remove pot from heat. Carefully remove candy thermometer (hot beads of sugar mixture can fling themselves from the bottom of the instrument if you move it around too quickly, and this is an easy way to get burned).
Pour the hot sugar mixture into the middle of the prepared sheet pan. Using a silicone spatula, scrape every last bit from the pot, then use the spatula to spread the mixture evenly over the pan in a layer 1/8”-1/4” thick.
Melt 6 - 8 oz of the chocolate chips.
Stovetop: Use a double-boiler over med-low heat on the stove, stirring frequently until chips are fully melted. (The water in the bottom pot should simmer, not boil).Microwave: Place chocolate chips in a microwave-safe ceramic or glass bowl. Heat for 10-20 second bursts, removing the bowl after each burst to stir the melting chips and distribute heat until the chocolate is smooth and glossy.
Pour melted chocolate into the center of the candy mixture layer. Using silicone spatula, spread the chocolate evenly across the cooling sugar mixture until the sugar layer is completely covered.
Sprinkle 1/3 - 1/2 cup chopped walnuts across the surface of the chocolate. Tap nuts very gently to set.
Allow to fully cool. This will take some time, at least 1-2 hours. (I like to have another kitchen project queued up to work on while the candy sets.)
The chocolate will lose its glossiness as it cools. Once candy is fully cool, carefully lift the slab up from the sheet pan liner and turn over. Use an offset spatula to release the candy from the liner and help you support it as you turn it over in one piece.
If it does break, don’t panic, since ultimately you’ll break up the candy into smaller bits. Simply push the slab pieces as closely together as possible before completing the chocolate coating on the second side.
Melt the remaining 6 - 8 oz of chocolate chips. Repeat steps 7 through 9.
Once candy is fully cooled, break into pieces of different sizes and package as desired in airtight containers for gifting.
Store candy in refrigerator for freshness (though it rarely lasts long!)
Harbor Sweets - a great local business with extra buzz
When our friend Johnny retired from the corporate world a few years back, he realized the dream of many kids and Roald Dahl fans: he acquired a chocolate company. Not just any chocolate company, but one with a rich, fifty-year old history as purveyor of top-quality handmade chocolates. Harbor Sweets’ distinctive signature Sweet Sloops and other nautical-themed chocolates celebrate the company’s New England seaside roots.
I am a huge fan of the company’s deliciously balanced, meltingly smooth Gather Collection — so much so that I am gifting them to dozens of people this year! Harbor Sweets donates 2.5% of every Gather Chocolate sale to the Pollinator Partnership to help protect vital honeybees. Gather Collections start at $28.50.
Chocolate Santas, festive Peppermint Bark, chocolate sauces and ice cream toppings can be slipped into stockings, wrapped for Secret Santa trades, or presented to holiday party hosts. Or go bigger with one of many assortments, some of which are designated gluten-free. Shop online or try Harbor Sweets chocolates for yourself in one of their stores on Boston’s North Shore. From $10 up.
Omnom Chocolate - otherworldly, from the outside in
I discovered Omnom when I visited Iceland for a writer’s conference. But you don’t have to fly off to the land of ice and snow to enjoy it. Some Whole Foods stores and U.S. specialty shops sell them, as do many airport duty free stores. You can also shop Omnom’s web store here — just double-check shipping times to the States.
Like Iceland itself, there is nothing same-same about an Omnom confection, so prepare for the unexpected. These chocolates flaunt unusually playful creativity. Each premium bar is tucked inside a sturdy paper envelope illustrated with fanciful creatures that nod at mythology, fantasy or folklore, and origami craft at once. The bars are scored unconventionally — designed to break into irregular, glass-shatter pieces rather than identical mini serving squares.
Omnom is for the adventurously open-minded. Even basic flavors like Omnom’s Caramel, a milk chocolate bar with bits of crunchy caramel, taste different than similarly categorized American candy bars. The chocolate melts more slowly, and it’s got a different level of sweetness; savoring it slowly on your tongue brings out its fullest flavor.
Daring eaters may appreciate the offbeat Black n’ Burnt Barley, a black chocolate bar that is actually white chocolate colored with activated charcoal that coats crunchy bits of toasted, puffed barley and lava salt. Sounds gross, but it has a great texture and surprisingly complex taste. Chocolate-covered licorice is another flavor combination that most Americans find odd, but it’s common in Nordic countries, and quite delicious if you like black licorice or anise! Find it in bars like Lakkrís + Sea Salt; other distinctive Nordic flavors are celebrated in the seasonal Spiced White + Caramel chocolate bar scented with orange peels and warm spices. Bars start at $8.99 USD.
Food allergy warning: Omnom’s products are manufactured in a facility that handles dairy, nuts, sesame seeds, and gluten.
Chocopologie — inventive + artsy chocolate bars
The first Chocopologie chocolate bar I came across was Fig + Honey at a gourmet shop cash register. Drawn in by its lush-sounding ingredients, the bar’s assertive appearance, with its dark chocolate surface looking something like a mini Jackson Pollock in edible 80’s neon, sealed the impulse buy deal. With no regrets.
The flavor combinations that make up the full line of upscale Chocopologie bars make me wonder about what inspired their maker to create each one. When and where was he when he came up with the concepts? Many of them suggest certain places of origin — Fig + Honey bar speaks to me of the Mediterranean; Açai and Puffed Quinoa evokes South America; the Flat White Espresso Bar, Australia or New Zealand; while the S’Mores Bar and Dried Cranberry Pumpkin Seed Trail Bar reflect true-blue American influence.
Behind these chunky squares of goodness is Fritz Knipschildt, a Danish-born fine chocolatier who immigrated to the U.S. and started a chocolate company, House of Knipschildt, out of his Connecticut apartment. The company has grown from its humble beginnings, enough that Knipschildt now outsources Chocopologie bar production while continuing to make his extra-premium handmade fine chocolates and cakes in-house. (The beautiful House of Knipschildt line includes an inspired Mixologist Collection, whose flavored ganaches evoke favorite cocktails like the Dark ‘N Stormy, Side Car, and Cosmopolitan; the Spicy Collection2, with “citrus, spice, and everything nice” translated into Tangerine Ancho Chili, Mango Habanero, and Raspberry Jalapeño Mojito filled chocolates; and and fine Caramel Sea Salt bonbons accented with pink Hawaiian sea salt.)
At $10 each, the flamboyant Chocopologie bars make a thoughtful but not bank-breaking gift that, with their uniqueness, show your gift recipient that you didn’t just phone it in for them. Click on the embedded links above to shop Chocopologie online.
Bon Bon Bon - a punny Maximalist’s fantasy
Maximalists, rejoice. ’Tis the season to celebrate with Bon Bon Bon’s exuberant in-your-face kitschiness. Anyone with a healthy appreciation for the quirky and weird, ironic or not, may want to get their hands on these delights from Detroit.
Bon Bon Bon sorts its filled confections with the allergy-inflicted in mind so you can dial in on what you need and skip what you don’t. There are collections with nuts, and without; gluten-free only boxes; vegan; dark; milk chocolate; white chocolate; even special seasonal trios that pay homage to the signs of the Zodiac (for the astrologically obsessed). Assortments start at $10.50 for 3 Seasonal Special Bons or sets of 6 or more Bons start at $21.
I sampled a small collection of the Contains Nuts Box of Bons, which arrived fresh on ice in a bright turquoise Bon Bon Bon logoed reusable insulated lunch bag. The 6 pieces — Hazel-What?, Pudge Brownie, Mustachio, Swimming Turtle, Mexican Shortbread and PB & Jam (which successfully stuffed the essence of an elevated peanut butter and jelly sandwich into chocolate) — engineered texture and flavor components into clever, boxy little flavor bombs.
Bon Bon Bon is a small, woman-owned shop that threads joy and good humor throughout its operation, from its bubblegum pink website to the swag it sells. Where else will you find a tiny mustache adorning a fine chocolate? Check out the retro novelty molded chocolate cassette mix tapes ($10), chocolate computer floppy disks provocatively labeled “Hot Pics!” ($10), the punchy and non-edible pink and red “Good People Deserve Good Chocolate” totes ($15), and much more online for fun, unconventional gifts.
It’s your turn:
Who is your favorite chocolate lover?
Which of these chocolate treats would YOU hope to receive?
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Please resist the temptation to use “just whatever” saucepan you have on hand. Thin bottomed pans tend to heat unevenly, which can burn your candy. https://chefreader.com/heavy-bottom-saucepan-for-candy-making/#google_vignette
I have not personally tried the Spicy Collection, but given the overall quality of Knipschildt’s products, they’re likely a good bet if these types of flavors appeal to you.