La Dolce Vita

LA DOLCE VITA
HAPPY ENDINGS ABOUND WITH THESE DECADENT, HOLIDAY-NONSPECIFIC SWEET TREATS,
PERFECT FOR A DINNER PARTY, HOSTESS GIFT OR REGULAR OL' FAMILY MEAL

If you love licorice, you’ll flip for Route 29 Napa’s Red and Black Licorice Piglets. Perfect for a quick snack or to pack away in lunches, their itty bitty size ensures that you (probably) won’t get too carried away eating them. ($3 for 4 oz, www.route29napa.com)

Feeling fall-y? The Carrot Cake and Sweet Potato Drop Cookies from Veggielicious Cookies and Cakes are just what the doctor ordered. Free of processed sugars, hydrogenated oils, artificial flavors and colors, these organic, vegetable-based delights not only taste amazing, they’re amazingly healthy.
($19.95 and 17.95, www.veggieliciouscookies.com)

Who says you can’t drink your chocolate? An instant bestseller, Hot Hot Chocolate from Jacques Torres is made with real chocolate, not cocoa powder. The result? A thick, rich, creamy hot chocolate that bursts with flavor. Feeling daring? Try the Wicked Hot Chocolate, which features allspice, cinnamon, ground, sweet ancho chili peppers, and smoked, ground chipotle chili peppers. ($18, www.jacquestorres.com)

One bite of the Marbelle Brownies from Hilton Head Island, SC’s Signe’s Heaven Bound Bakery & Café may make you swear off the plain old chocolate variety forever. Made by swirling a white chocolate and cream cheese marble around thick brownie batter and chocolate bits, the result is quite possibly the best brownie ever. ($38 for one dozen, www.signesbakery.com)

Virginia is crawling with wild blackberry bushes, and the customers at Virginia’s Mom’s Apple Pie Company know the real thing when they taste it. This variety, made from locally-grown Chesapeake Thorny berries can’t be beat. ($13.99, www.momsapplepieco.com)

Adored by nearly every celebrity in Los Angles, the cupcakes from Sprinkles Bakery are second to none. Luckily, they're available through mail-order, so these chic, tasty beauties can be yours regardless of where you live. ($46 for one dozen, www.sprinklescupcakes.com)

If you’re looking for a light dessert finale for a dinner party, you’ll find exactly what you’re seeking in Williams Sonoma’s Mousse Cups Assortment. Taking the traditional mousse in an exotic new direction, the set includes three refreshing, tropical flavors—ginger, mango and green tea—delivered frozen in ready-to-serve cups. After thawing, simply place the desserts on a tray and let your guests choose for themselves. ($42.50 for 12, www.williamssonoma.com)

Thanks to the Gourmet Sugar-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies from Carolina Cookie Company, those who love sweets but are bound to a sugar-free diet no longer have to miss out on dessert. They’re sinfully delicious, minus the sin. ($14.95, www.carolinacookie.com)

SAVORY FARE
NO SWEET TOOTH FOR YOU? CHECK OUT THE SUPERBLY SALTY SELECTIONS

Ask any Southerner: no party below the Mason-Dixon line is complete without cheese straws. The Three-Cheese Cheese Straws from the Mississippi Gift Company contain white cheddar, Parmesan and bleu cheeses as well as the contemporary freshness of basil and garlic.
($7.95 for a 6.5 oz box, www.themississippigiftcompany.com)

For popcorn lovers who can take the heat, a tin of Dale and Thomas’s “Buffalo Dave” Hot Wing variety will hit the spot. Other varieties worth sampling: White Cheddar and Black Peppercorn and Sweet & Spicy BBQ. ($30 for a 2-gallon gift tin, www.daleandthomaspopcorn.com)

There’s nothing nutty about loving almonds. We can’t get enough of the Smokehouse Roasted Almonds from the Baltimore Coffee and Tea Company. They’re low-carb, but super high in taste. ($8.32 for 1 lb., www.baltcoffee.com)

Small-scale cheesemaking is once again thriving in Ireland, Scotland and England. With the Taste of the Isles sampler from Cowgirl Creamery, you can sample Ireland's Cashel Blue, Scotland's Isle of Mull and England's Appleby’s Cheshire. ($55, www.cowgirlcreamery.com)

—Chelsea Kaplan

Click here to read all about Deputy Editor/Beauty Director Chelsea Kaplan's life with child in her blog, “I'm Somebody's Mother?”