| Caramel apples
at Amy's Candy Kitchen in Cedarburg |
 |
For the
sweet-toothed person in your life, a sugar-coated treat with
Milwaukee-area ties is the perfect gift for the holidays, whether it’s
caramel apples, chocolate bars, truffles, hot-chocolate mixes or wacky
concoctions like margarita caramels. Here are some sugary sweet
suggestions.
Amy’s Candy
Kitchen | Cedarburg
The Goodies:
Caramel cooked in copper kettles and Belgian chocolate are ladled over
apples to create nearly 100 different caramel apples ($10-$25)
inspired by seasons and life events, such as a winter-holiday favorite
(peppermint caramel apple with white Belgian chocolate) and a quirky
specialty (gummy-bear covered caramel apple). It’s a five-star twist
on a classic treat.
Backstory:
Making caramel apples since 1996.
Find It: Retail
store at W62N579 Washington Ave., Cedarburg; or via
AmysGourmetApples.com or (800) 513-8889.
Great for
Gifting: You can tailor your selection to almost any age or interest.
Omanhene |
Whitefish Bay and Ghana, West Africa
The Goodies:
Hot-cocoa mixes in two flavors (mint hot cocoa, $8.75; and hot cocoa,
$7.50); produces intense, velvety cups of hot chocolate when milk is
added.
Backstory:
Whitefish Bay resident Steve Wallace started Omanhene in 1991 as the
first company to export a chocolate product from Ghana. All 300
Omanhene employees receive health care and subsidized housing.
Find It: Beans
& Barley, Outpost Natural Foods, Alterra Coffee Roasters and
Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co.
Gifting With a
Cause: It’s a socially conscious chocolate with local ties.
Le Rêve
Patisserie & CafeWauwatosa
The Goodies:
Macaron cookies (95 cents each) sandwiched together with pastry cream,
in pretty pastel colors crafted from natural flavors such as pistachio
or hazelnut. They are the only macaron makers in southeastern
Wisconsin.
Backstory: Part
of this French restaurant’s to-go pastry case since opening in 2008.
Find It: Le
Rêve, 7610 Harwood Ave., Wauwatosa.
Great For: The
foodie who thinks he or she has tasted it all.
Becky’s
Blissful Bakery | Pewaukee
The Goodies:
Four-ounce box of margarita caramels ($10.99) made with all-natural,
all-organic ingredients like organic blue-agave tequila along with
pressed-lime juice a dusting of sea salt.
Backstory: Since
2007 owner Rebecca Scarberry has whipped local, organic ingredients
into her line of sweets.
Find It: Good
Harvest Market, Whole Foods Market and Larry’s Market.
Great for
Gifting: They’re perfect to tuck into a desk drawer for an afternoon
treat.
Indulgence
ChocolatiersWaukesha
The Goodies:
Chocolatier’s Selection truffles ($7.85 for four, $22 for 12 and $43
for 24) with artisan and offbeat flavors like coconut haba-ero, Thai
peanut butter or limoncello espresso.
Backstory:
Globe-hopper Julie Waterman started this artisan chocolate company in
2007, the flavors largely inspired by her trips around the world.
Find It: 4525 N.
Oakland Ave., Shorewood; or at Stone Creek Coffee, Beans & Barley
or Sendik’s Food Markets.
Great For: Fussy
sweet-toothed palates.
|
The Hot
List
RED ALERT:
Is no one going to mention the elephant in the room? Or, in the
case of the Third Ward’s new chocolate cafe, the large red
elephant projected outside on the Broadway-adjacent sidewalk?
Opening last month, Red Elephant, 333 N. Broadway, is a
chocolate lovers paradise — whether you prefer to sip, spoon
or nibble. Decadent truffles, rich chocolate whipped cream,
pastries, dipping sauces, hot cocoa, mochas and more guarantee
you a cocoa experience that, much like its namesake, you will
never forget.
TEA TIME:
The Pfister Hotel’s afternoon tea is again being served to
save one and all from the winter doldrums in a most elegant
setting. Tea is served from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday
inside Blu, located on the 23rd floor of the Pfister, 424 E.
Wisconsin Ave. It’s silver service tableside, complemented by
an array of fresh scones, sandwiches and pastries. A tea butler
is there to educate, blend and suggest perfect pairings.
Afternoon tea is by reservation only at (414) 935-5942.
ALL THINGS
COFFEE: Stone Creek Coffee just completed a top-to-bottom
renovation of its factory operations at 422 N. 5th St. The 1898
Cream City brick building, designed by Chicago World’s Fair
architects Burnham and Root, has been home to Boston Store and
Palmolive Soap, among others, before becoming Stone Creek’s
roasting facility in 1999. Check out the new The Factory Store,
a place for sipping java and The Stone Creek Kitchen, where
specialty food products designed to pair with Stone Creek coffee
are made. The building also now houses a training center and
coffee quality lab. For more information, go to www.stonecreekcoffee.com
—
Jordan Dechambre and Janet Raasch |
