Petit Fours

These all turned out well, but it's certainly harder baking smaller things!  They tend to dry out faster, and clean lines matter.  These little chocolate covered Petit Fours ("little ovens") had freshly made jam in the middle and were my favorites.  Clockwise, I made Vanilla Madeleines, Pistachio Financiers, Orange Zest Tuiles, and tiny Madeleines.   

Merry Christmas

It's that time again!  We had our annual Holiday party, and as usual had way too much food. 

I love the little boxes of candy from Sugarfina. They have so many options of colors and flavors it's out of control. 

Easy to make festive cookies and cupcakes. 

Milk Jar Cookies

I finally tried Milk Jar after hearing how amazing it was, and I am certainly into it. It still not my favorite cookie, but pretty awesome.  Above is the Rocky Road, my favorite out of the ones I tried - super chocolatey!

This is the chocolate chip walnut which somewhat reminded me of the Levain cookie.

This was the pecan caramel chocolate cookie, super sweet and gooey!

Stella Barra Hollywood

I only just discovered the new Stella Barra in Hollywood this week and I think it could be a game changer in that neighborhood.  I haven't tried the Pizzas yet but the bakery section is incredible.  Above is the Chocolate Chip Bacon Cookie.  It was pretty smokey but so moist and sweet.

This is the Flourless Chocolate Chip Cookie with Walnuts.  It's dense and chewy with the perfect crunch. 

And the winner...the Chocolate Chip Rice Krispies Treat cookie.  There was melted marshmallow everywhere!  That RKT flavor leaked through to the already amazing cookie base making it extra sweet.  Such a great combo idea I love it!

Holiday Party

Last weekend my roommates and I held our second annual holiday party, where I overdecorated our tree with Candy Land themed ornaments.

Gingerbread Village

Cozy Decorations

Candy from Dylan's

Champagne with Pomegranate Seeds

Savory Table 

Caprese Skewers

Sweet Table

Snowflake Sugar Cookies 

Funfetti Cupcakes

Peppermint Oreo Balls

Of course we had way to much food, and so many left overs, but it was so hard to limit ourselves we got excited!  Everything turned out great and I can't wait to do it again next year.  

Happy Holidays!

Sweet! Candy Store

This week I went to Sweet! a candy store in the mall on Hollywood & Highland. It was MASSIVE! It felt like an emporium of treats and toys. I spent a good three hours in there looking around, there were probably ten different rooms to see, it was never-ending.  However, I didn't feel as charmed by it like you do when you walk into Dylan's.  The music, the lighting and the whole vibe was just dull. It was also worrisome how overstocked they are will ALL types of candy. There was everything from nostalgia candy, international treats, strange variations on classic favorites,  they even had rows and rows of regular Snickers.  I hope they sell enough of everything before they go stale.  They still had a lot of kinks to work out, but I do see a lot of potential! 

They had tons of different candy to pick yourself, but all the good stuff was behind the counter so they have to scoop it out for you.  I didn't like that you can't do this yourself, that's the exciting part. However, they did let me sample almost everything, so that was a perk. 

Jelly Belly Marilyn

They had lots of classic cookie jars, like Rosie

Chocolate Oscars

The largest gum ball machine I've ever seen

Chocolate Shoes

Sweet! houses the only Wonka store in the US

There were several artisan collections of chocolates that were all so beautiful. I tried six different flavors, some were good some were very strange. At this high price of $3 - $5 each, I would say skip this and buy the novelty items, like the Golden Egg!

A real chocolate Golden Egg!

Snozzberry Fudge - tastes JUST like Snozzberry

The Yucky Room 

I died

This was the best part of the whole store, and the real reason to go back.  Build your own chocloate bar at the Chocolate Lab.

I chose a dark chocolate bar, Nutella filling, glazed walnuts, graham crackers and toffee bits.  It was INSANE.  The quality of all the ingredients was really impressive.  I'd pay $8 for this one bar again in a heartbeat!