It’s the most chocolatey time of the year. If you’re like, "The actual lyric there is ‘wonderful,’" then, sir/madam, you are just splitting hairs. Come December, every chocolatier in town offers a tempting new treat. These four top our picks for local delights to indulge in this winter.
Granville Island Brewing and Chocolate by Gaya: Local beer and chocolate take an impassioned run toward each other across an airport terminal, embracing in a spectacle of unpredictable harmony in these incredible new bon bons. The chocolate imperial stout-laced ganache, wheat beer passionfruit white chocolate cream and liquid caramel spiked with Lions Winter Ale prove this malty flavour pairing is love, actually. http://gib.ca
Thomas Haas: The local confection king’s kitchen transforms into an elven workshop this time of year, rolling out infinite treats, from elegant sugar frosted pate du fruit (the lychee flavour rules) to decorated chocolate squares that snap over creamy nougatine centres and foamy little marshmallow cubes in flavours like peppermint, cinnamon, pumpkin and berry. www.thomashaas.com
Chez Christophe: A March opening date means this is baby’s first Christmas for Chez Christophe; but with holiday treats that meet the "if you’re going to indulge make it excellent" ideal, the patisserie will soon be as classic as Charlie Brown. Truffles include a sophisticated cinnamon, a sugar-rolled gingerbread with the perfect creamy bite and pumpkin-centred bombe that’s anything but basic. Buy a little chocolate sculpture for the kids and marvel at how they get milk and cocoa to look so frosted and velvety. www.christophe-chocolat.com
The Chocolate General Store: New Whistler chocolatier Amanda Sandahl began making caramels and chocolates when she was a 15-year-old in Belgium, so her craft is honed. Gingerbread caramels are made from cream infused with a spice-market’s bounty. When bitten in half, they pull into viscous facsimile of the curling mountaintop from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Wrapped in locally designed paper-cones, they’re stocker-stuffer perfection. http://thechocolategeneralstore.com
Walking in a chocolate wonderland. —Adrienne Matei
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