Jeni’s | Dessert Surveillance

2016 Fancy Food Show

As a chronicler of dessert and business trends (and perhaps much more importantly, a glutton), I attended the Specialty Food Association’s 2016 Summer Fancy Food Show,

What did I notice?

A lot of caramels; chocolates and desserts infused with spirits; and sometimes a combination of the two. Coconut was everywhere. A fair number of nut butters; treats made with nuts; and nuts for snacking. Interestingly, peanuts seem to be embraced now, instead of shunned.

Here are some of the interesting products I saw and/or sampled:

Milk Chocolate Apple Caramels from Lake Champlain Chocolates - Photo Courtesy of Lake Champlain Chocolates (VT)

Milk Chocolate Apple Caramels from Lake Champlain Chocolates – Photo Courtesy of Lake Champlain Chocolates (Burlington, VT)

Milk Chocolate Apple Cider Caramels from Lake Champlain Chocolates — I don’t know of any other apple-filled chocolate product. It is a 2016 sofi^TMfinalist in the Chocolate category. (The sofi^TM awards are bestowed by the Specialty Food Association.)

Chocolate Peanut Brittle from Sir Francis Bacon – Photo Courtesy of Sir Francis Bacon (Atlanta, GA)

Peanut brittle from a company with a rather unusual name, Sir Francs Bacon Peanut Brittle. Why stop at plain Peanut Brittle when you can snack on Brittle gussied up with bacon and then coated with milk chocolate?

Clairesquares’ Shortbread & Caramel Dark Chocolate Squares – Photo Courtesy of Clairesquares (San Francisco, CA)

Clairesquares’ Shortbread & Caramel Dark Chocolate Squares — This product is a 2016 sofi^TMfinalist in the Cookies, Brownies, Cakes or Pie category.

Brooklyn Blackout Cake Ice Cream from Steve’s Ice Cream – Photo Courtesy of Steve’s Ice Cream (NYC)

Brooklyn Blackout Cake Ice Cream from Steve’s Ice Cream — Growing up in Brooklyn, I have fond memories (as most Brooklynites did) of Ebinger’s Blackout Cake – a filled and frosted Chocolate Cake, complete with Chocolate Pudding inside.

Turkish Coffee Ice Cream from McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams – Photo Courtesy of McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams (Santa Barbara, CA)

McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams’ Turkish Coffee Ice Cream — The Company’s tag line for this product: A true coffee fanatic’s ice cream. (Well, I am a coffee fanatic…)

White Chocolate Sauce from Somebody’s Mother’s – Photo Courtesy of Somebody’s Mother’s (Houston, TX)

I’ve written about the next two products before, but can’t resist mentioning them again: White Chocolate Sauce from Somebody’s Mother’s and Jeni’s Roasted Strawberry Ice Cream.

So few days….so many carbs!

Early Summer Product Roundup

Key Lime Cookies from Broadway Baker (NYC) – Photo Courtesy of Broadway Baker

Let’s look at some products that are either seasonal, new, or just plain interesting.

Christopher Elbow’s Fresh Lemon Chocolate – Photo Courtesy of Christopher Elbow (Kansas City, MO)

Christopher Elbow’s Fresh Lemon Chocolate – a combination of Lemon Pate de Fruit (a lemon jelly candy) and Lemon White Chocolate Ganache. As I adore white chocolate and like lemon, and think they pair beautifully, I think it’s a pity you don’t see more desserts with this combination. Interestingly, even though lemons are available year-round, this is more of a seasonal summer treat. Since lemon and other citrus fruits are so refreshing, citrus desserts are firmly entrenched in the summer months.

Broadway Baker’s Key Lime Cookies – Photo Courtesy of Broadway Baker (NYC)

Another summer citrus dessert is Broadway Baker’s Key Lime Cookie. (Also see the Dessert Surveillance posting on Key Lime Pie.). It’s a butter cookie infused with Key Lime juice and zest and to complete the summery Key Lime package, it’s topped with a smooth Key Lime frosting.

Jeni’s Key Lime Pie Cultured Yogurt – Photo Courtesy of Jeni’s (Columbus, OH)

Key Lime also makes its presence known in frozen yogurt. Jeni’s offers a limited-time “Cultured Key Lime Pie Frozen Yogurt” flavor. In addition to Key Lime juice, milk and yogurt, this frozen treat sports pieces of graham cracker crust.

Graeter’s Summer Peach Ice Cream – Photo Courtesy of Graeter’s (Cincinnati, OH)

Peaches are in season in the summer and what better way to celebrate their arrival than to combine them with ice cream. On Graeter’s line-up is a limited edition Summer Peach flavor.

Mokaccino Bar from Tcho – Photo Courtesy of Tcho (Berkeley, CA)

And for those of us that are serious about both our Coffee and our Chocolate and like the idea of combining them, Tcho’s Mokaccino Bar is a Milk Chocolate Bar with Blue Bottle brand Coffee.

Guido Sobino’s White Chocolate Bar with Crunchy Hazelnuts – Photo Courtesy of Guido Sobino (Italy)

Of course, I couldn’t include just one White Chocolate candy. Italian Chocolatier, Guido Sobino, offers a Bianco Pralinato (White Chocolate Bar with Crunchy Hazelnuts).

Venchi’s Chocolate-Coated Cremino Bigusto Piemonte Bar – Photo Courtesy of Venchi (Italy)

Chocolate-Coated Cremino Bigusto Piemonte is a chunky bar with a layer of white chocolate, a layer of hazelnut paste and to make things even more interesting, both layers are wrapped in a thin coating of dark chocolate. This Chocolate Bar is the product of another Italian Chocolatier, Venchi.

Choc Chick’s Organic Cacao Butter – Photo Courtesy of Choc Chick (UK)

Do-it-yourselfers can purchase cacao butter only – that’s right, cacao butter, the foundation of white chocolate. Since you’re adding sugar and flavorings you’re customizing your White Chocolate Truffles. Choc Chick, the company that offers this Cacao Butter, also sells kits with Cacao Powder so you can craft your own Chocolate Truffles.

So many summer desserts…..why isn’t summer longer?

Dessert Surveillance

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Tag Archives: Jeni’s

2016 Fancy Food Show

Early Summer Product Roundup