Friday, June 3, 2011

La Maison du Chocolat's Summer 2011 Collection

Summers in New York are unbearably hot and humid. It's tough without air conditioning, and much too warm for serving temperature of chocolate. Luckily, La Maison du Chocolat stores are kept at steady, optimal environments for chocolate. This summer, they're rolling out a few unique and limited items, while bringing back a few big hits.


My favorite item for the summer collection is the Chiberta set of five French Basque bonbons. I didn't know Baque country had chocolate, but apparently it's the historical origin for French chocolate. The Txokolate Iluna or "Solemn Ganache" is pure dark chocolate. For a change in texture, the Praline Macaron has pieces of crushed macaron shell within the ganache for a crunchy filling. The Etzia is a milk chocolate ganache with wildflower and chesnut honey highlights. This was my favorite of the five. For the more exotic, Almond Paste with Patxaran has an anise liqueur enhanced almond paste center. The Espeletako Piperra has a spicy pepper kick. These are available for a limited time, and while expensive, they are certainly unique ($24 for 10 pieces, $60 for 30).
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The Salvadore Raspberry Mousse Cake makes its return. The cake was introduced a few months ago at La Nuit du Gateau, or the Night of Cake. Semi-sweet chocolate with raspberry highlights, this cake is available from one to twelve servings ($8-110).


During the summer, the stores serve chocolate, pistachio and caramel ice cream. They also have strawberry and raspberry sorbets ($4.50/scoop). The wild strawberry sorbet I had was fruity and natural. No artificial strawberry flavors.

For a limited time in the summer, the stores will have a Macaron Sylvia ($2.75 ea), milk chocolate ganache with notes of biscuits and honey. They usually sell two types of dark chocolate macarons, but I especially enjoyed this lighter one.

La Maison du Chocolat
lamaisonduchocolate.com
You can purchase online or at any other of these four boutiques:

1018 Madison Ave
Manhattan, NY 10075
(212) 744-7117

30 Rockefeller Center,
Manhattan, NY 10020
(212) 265-9404

63 Wall St
Manhattan, NY 10005
(212) 952-1123

Short Hills Mall
New Jersey, 07078
(973) 379-5043

Photos courtesy of La Maison du Chocolat.

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6 comments:

gourmetpigs said...

Did you get to try all these? *jealous* Love La Maison du Chocolat, but their 2-day shipping fee is pretty steep.

Aaron said...

@gourmetpigs I did indeed get to try all of these. I don't have as many blogger perks in NYC, but I do have a great relationship with La Maison. You're in town often enough anyway, no need to ship. Hopefully this collection will stay in stores for your next trip.

Vittle me this... said...

Aaron, I enjoyed reading your post and meeting you at the Maison event. Hope to see you on another gastronomic adventure in the city!

Vittle me this... said...

I am glad you got the pun, it usually takes a few tries with most people.

c h a said...

How would you compare their summer collection to their everyday chocolates ? Just curious! haha, I googled summer collection of la maison chocolates and found your blog. I was just wondering if I should try :)

Aaron said...

@c h a The summer collection has some unique flavors that are worth checking out. Though if this is your only visit, you may want to stick to the classics that made La Maison famous.