Jacques Torres’ products are excellent, and there is not much to detract for that. A correspondent recommended the Alizé Heart of Passion, but the nut pieces are my favorites, with the Heart and other fruit pieces second. Most of the nut pieces, such as the Heavenly Hazelnut, had the fine crunchy texture of a praliné. The Cinnamon Praline was also a great nut piece, with hazelnuts. The European Peanut Butter had sort of an airy taste to the peanut butter. The Heart had a nice pop to the passion fruit flavor enveloped by chocolate flavor. The Creamy Raspberry, Fresh Squeezed Lemon, and Love Bug were also excellent fruit pieces.
Along with the Chocolate Chip cookies, you can choose from the Dark Chocolate Sea Salt (a brownie-like cookie made with Valrhona dark cocoa and Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips. It delivers a subtle and delightful “ting” of salt on the tongue), the clever Lemon Blueberry White Chocolate Chip, the White Chocolate Cherry Chip which is baked with tart Montmorency dried cherries, and a hefty Oatmeal Raisin.
The Maison du Chocolat packaging, while very sophisticated, is pretty conservative and not as sexy as our top pick. The textured box mimics pebbled brown leather and has the logo stamped on the back. The adjective that comes to mind is “professional”; it looks luxe but understated and reserved. We think this box of chocolate would be great as a corporate gift, or for your mother-in-law.
Not only does dark chocolate reign supreme in the dessert world for its complex bittersweet taste, but it's also ranked as one of the healthiest superfoods because it's loaded with antioxidants. These powerful antioxidants naturally found in dark chocolate can actually help reduce anxiety and depression — particularly when those experiences are related to or triggered by high stress levels. So if you're experiencing the winter blues, consuming antioxidant-rich foods like dark chocolate can be an effective natural remedy.
You'll pay a little more at Ethel M, even compared with other hand-crafted chocolatiers. For example, the least expensive design-your-own box is $39.99 plus shipping. Standard shipping will cost you $9.99 unless you're ordering $100+. The good news is that their "standard" shipping is 2-day and includes insulated mini-coolers with cold packs, to keep your chocolates unmelted.
