The Tomato Knife

Before I get to the chocolate cake part, let me talk about the BEST MACARONS IN PARIS. Promise you they’re linked… Last year for my sister’s 25th birthday, my mom and I trekked all over the city collecting macarons. The first part of our goal was to surprise the birthday girl with 25 (yes, an [...]

It’s amusing, the number of random, yet special little finds, I come across in even the most ordinary grocery stores around here. Take, for example, the tin of chocolate powder I found just the other day. Inside, there’s nothing complicated – just 100% pure chocolate, ready for concocting goodies like hot chocolate or buttercream frosting. [...]

In Bracieux, France, the same small village that inspired Alexandre Dumas to write about the fictive musketeer, Porthos, you’ll find a chocolate factory. Not far from Blois in the Loire Valley, chocolate-maker Max Vauché, has set up a chocolatier worth visiting. We took a tour of the contemporary facilities (where dried cacao beans stuffed into [...]

It’s Mardi Gras! While Halloween may be underplayed in France, Mardi Gras certainly isn’t. A tradition stemming largely from the Middle Ages, children and teenagers (and even some adults) giddily dress up in all kinds of colorful costumes for a day of festive revelry.  No trick-or-treating or candies for this celebration; instead, French tradition calls [...]

What happens when you add New Mexican chili powder to a traditional moelleux au chocolat? You get an intense chocolate dessert that makes you feel like you’re traveling continents by simply lifting your spoon.  At first, you’re in France.  You bite into tradition- smooth, rich chocolate.  Then you’re transported across the Atlantic with a spicy [...]