» Meet 
At Serious Eats we are serious about chocolate. How serious? Well, we have a chocolate bureau chief. And we left no chocolate unturned or uneaten, so we could wholeheartedly recommend chocolates in any price range. What did we find? In some, but not all cases, you do get what you pay for. But we also found if we shopped and tasted carefully, that less expensive chocolates could be satisfying and delicious. So, without further adieu, the Serious Eats choices for chocolate-giving this Valentine's Day.
Note: Prices do not include shipping unless otherwise stated. [For more chocolate picks, visit Serious Eats.]
Moderately Priced Chocolates
You don't have to have grown up in California to have a soft spot in your heart (and stomach) for See's Candy. Certain See's products are downright addictive. I am partial to the one-pound boxes of Dark Chocolate Nuts and Chews ($15). What's not to love? Various combinations of walnuts, almonds, and caramel enrobed in dark chocolate that are, in the words of Curb Your Enthusiasm's Larry David, "pretty, pretty good." I am also very fond of See's Awesome Peanut Brittle Bars ($7.80 for eight 1-ounce bars), already portioned out to make sure you don't overdo it.
Michael Recchiuti is a terrific San Franciso-based chocolate maker who runs Recchiuti Confections. I love his Key lime pears, his just-sweet-enough fudgy brownies, and his pièce de résistance: burnt-caramel almonds--whole organic almonds in dark chocolate with just a little burnt caramel dusted in cocoa. 40 pieces of burnt-caramel almonds, $10
Los Angeles-based pastry chef Michelle Myers (she and her husband, David Myers, own the fine restaurant Sona) makes lots of great things at her shop, Boule, but I'm always drawn to her crunchy rochers (dark chocolate with lemon chiffon, marshmallow, and crispy rice) and her treacle pecan toffee, which is some of the best butter crunch you will ever taste. Box of 7 rochers, $10; box of treacle pecan toffee, $15
Medium-Priced Chocolates
William Winand worked at legendary chocolatier Robert Linx's Maison du Chocolat in Paris before opening his jewel (or perhaps I should say candy) box of a store in Woodstock, Vermont. He, apparently, absorbed a great deal in France because his chocolates are very much in the same league as his mentor's and cost quite a bit less. You can be secure in the knowledge that each and every piece of chocolate Winand sells is made by him personally. That's the definition of artisanal. I could not stop eating Winand's Cafe Noir, coffee-infused cark chocolate ganache with espresso. And though I prefer dark to milk chocolate his Carre Lait, whipped milk-chocolate ganache, has me rethinking my entire position on the dark–milk chocolate divide. 10 assorted Winand chocolates for $10.50 (or 24 for $24.50)
When I first met Larry Burdick, he and his wife were making their signature chocolate mice in their New York ground-floor tenement apartment for fancy-pants French restaurants. Since then they packed up their whisks and aprons and headed to Walpole, New Hampshire, where they now have a thriving chocolate business. With good reason. Burdick's chocolates (including his impossibly cute mice and penguins) are beautifully balanced, not too sweet, and intensely flavored. They're also not crazy expensive. You can get a half-pound box featuring 40 assorted chocolates and two mice for $28. And if that's a little too rich for your blood, you can opt for a quarter-pound of Burdick's chocolates, 20 pieces, and one mouse for $15. That, my friends, is a chocolate bargain.
Fran's Chocolates
popularized caramels with fleur de sel in this country, and as far as I'm concerned, Fran Bigelow's are still my go-to caramels. I usually get the box that combines the regular gray salt caramels and the smoked salt variety. 15-piece gray-and-smoked caramel box, $22
HIGH-END Chocolates
John and Kira are two politically correct chocolate makers who craft fabulous molded chocolates out of extraordinarily high-quality ingredients--local whenever possible. (Unfortunately, they can't grow cocoa beans in the Philadelphia area.) I'm partial to John & Kira's chocolates filled with raspberry, mint, pistachio, ginger, honey-lavender, and coffee-whiskey. 15 pieces, $29
Robert Linxe is one of the truly legendary French chocolate makers, and his truffles at Maison du Chocolat are irresistibly delicious works of art. Small box of truffles (0.42 pounds), $38
85 Comments
LEAVE YOUR COMMENT
You must sign in to leave a comment