J.P. Licks' Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream

Leila already raved about J.P. Licks.  Let me pour on the praise.

Vegan ice cream is hard, though we have reviewed a number of good options.  J.P. Licks is one of, if not the, best.  While the cream base I think is the worst of this crowd, it employs a strategy that goes straight to my heart -- keeping the ice cream not too sweet.  It's definitely a dark chocolate flavor.  It totally surprised me, and I loved it.

Bottom Line: A delicious vegan "dark" chocolate ice cream.

Cardullo's Gourmet Shoppe in Cambridge, MA: featuring Olive and Sinclair 75%, Fruition 70%, Vosges 65% Gingerbread Toffee, and The Tea Room Green Earl Gray 60%

During a recent trip to Boston, Kasey and I purchased three bars at Cardullo's Gourmet Shoppe:

The Olive and Sinclair bar was too fruity for me, and -- while I believe it when the label says it is stone ground -- it did not have the classic, gritty "stone ground" texture.  Kasey liked it though.  When I complained that it was too fruity, Kasey brought out a 70% Fruition bar that immediately sent me into fruitiness shock.  I had previously taken issue with their 66% bar as being too fruity, and the 70% was even more extreme.  

The Vosges Gingerbread Toffee bar was surprisingly delicious.  Kasey liked it but was not as excited as I was.  I thought the gingerbread and toffee added a nice texture and did not take away from the chocolate flavor.

The Tea Room Green Earl Gray bar was the most interesting.  You get smacked by the taste of tea and oils the moment you bite in, before even tasting the chocolate.  It was all too much for me, but Kasey clearly enjoyed it.

Bottom Line: Three interesting bars from a shop(pe) with a great selection.  As usual, I pick the Vosges bar.

The Whoopie

If there's one thing we love here at Chocolate NYC, it's mail. Particularly mail containing chocolate. So you can imagine our joy when we received this at Chocolate NYC headquarters:

What's inside? What's inside?

This big white package, that's what!

But what is inside this big white package?

WHOOPIE PIES!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with whoopie pies, they are a popular New England baked good that basically takes a cupcake and turns it into a sandwich. This is a genius design for those of us who love cupcakes but can't eat them without getting frosting all over our noses (which is, frankly, a waste of frosting). This particular brand of whoopie pie is called The Whoopie and is created by Chococoa Baking Company, in Newburyport, Massachusetts.

Here are some key facts about The Whoopie:

-It's made with organic ingredients; local, free-range eggs; and other things that are good for the environment. This is why we eat chocolate, folks: to save the environment.

-It's petite; only two inches in diameter. One of our Chocolate NYC taste testers described it as "just about enough whoopie pie." I described it as "just about enough whoopie pie" after I ate three of them in a row. But I also have a notably high tolerance for baked goods.

-It's sold at twenty-five Whole Foods Markets in NYC! So we do not even have to travel to Massachusetts to get more of these bad boys. We can get them within blocks of where we live, which is lucky, because these things are delicious, and we are lazy

The Whoopie comes in four flavors, all with chocolate cakes, but with different fillings: vanilla, espresso, and raspberry buttercream, and chocolate ganache. There are also seasonal specialty flavors. Here's how each one fared in our taste tests:

I liked the chocolate ganache one best, obviously, because it was the chocolatiest. The filling was really fantastic. Actually, almost all the fillings were top-notch, with excellent consistency. The cake was a little too dry for my tastes (not a surprise in pre-packaged baked goods), but the frosting in the middle really helped provide balance to the cakeiness.

The one filling that didn't please me was the raspberry. It tasted too artificial to me. The vanilla one, on the other hand, was particularly lovely, even rivaling the chocolate-on-chocolate whoopie. The vanilla one tasted like a classic whoopie pie of my childhood, only higher-quality and clearly doing a better job of saving the environment.

BOTTOM LINE: If you're not getting boxes of these in the mail, you should probably go to Whole Foods and buy some. And then throw a dinner party, and invite me. The Whoopie would make an excellent post-dinner party nibble.

Foray to Massachusetts #7: J.P. Licks

Boston is a city known for its ice cream. It has a lot of ice cream shops that could arguably be called the best in the city: Emack & Bolio's, Lizzy's, and Toscanini's, to list only a few examples.

For what it's worth, my vote is for J. P. Licks. I have mentioned J. P. Licks before, in my Downtown Boston Chocolate Walking Tour, and I'm sure I will mention J. P. Licks again. It's hard to say enough good things about them.

For starters, check out these flavors:

And the flavors change every month, too! My go-to choices are the mint Oreo, the Oreo cake batter, and the brownie brownie batter. But usually there are so many good monthly flavors that I don't even have room in my cup for the old standbys.

This time around I went with a scoop of the ginger snap molasses and a scoop of the extreme chocolate.

Both flavors were excellent. And that's what really sets J. P. Licks apart: it's not just that their flavor concepts sound good. It's that the execution lives up to the descriptions.

BOTTOM LINE: My top contender for best ice cream in Boston.

Foray to Massachusetts #6: Trident Booksellers and Cafe

As a native Bostonian and a book lover, I have a big soft spot for Trident Booksellers and Cafe. Trident does both its jobs equally well: the cafe part serves delicious food, and the bookstore part is a well-stocked independent bookseller.

Trident is the sort of place where you want to get a hot chocolate and buy a book and just curl up and hang out for hours. Especially because the hot chocolate looks like this:

Often on this blog we laud hot chocolates that are basically bars of melted chocolate. Trident's hot chocolate is not one of those. It is a different breed, one that involves a fair amount of milk, too, and whipped cream, obviously. But the chocolate still shines through. It's frothy and warming and just the right amount of sweet, and it makes you feel like a kid at a soda fountain. It's not the most artisanal hot chocolate in downtown Boston, but it is one of my favorites.

BOTTOM LINE: Why doesn't every bookstore sell hot chocolates like Trident's?

Foray to Massachusetts #5: Area Four

When you read the following description on a menu, you don't have a choice; you have to order it and see what happens.

"Take 4: Chocolate-Peanut Cake, Cream Cheese Mousse, Caramel Sauce & Pretzel Bits"

Here is what happened:

This delight was from Area Four, a pizza shop and bakery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I enjoyed everything I ate at Area Four, and this cake was no exception. I give full points for creativity.

BOTTOM LINE: Whenever you see a menu item with this many delicious-sounding components, buy it. Seriously, it's not like you're going to bake your own chocolate-peanut cake with cream cheese mousse, caramel sauce, and pretzel bits any time soon.

Foray to Massachusetts #4: Tres Gatos

I have had a soft spot for churros and chocolate ever since the summer I was 16, when my best friend, Allie, and I went to Spain and ate churros and chocolate roughly every single night around 3am. It is hard not to have a soft spot for churros and chocolate: they are a fried thing dipped in thick liquid chocolate. What's not to love?

I have found that it's impossible for any churros anywhere in America to live up to my memories of the churros in Burgos, Spain. But these Tres Gatos churros did a very good job.

This dipping chocolate was killer: thick and warm. When I got too full to eat any more of the churros, I just scraped up the rest of the chocolate with my spoon. Plus Tres Gatos is really cute and cozy and had other tasty (non-chocolate) stuff on their menu. I recommend it here.

BOTTOM LINE: An excellent choice for churros in Boston.

Foray to Massachusetts #3: Eat Cake

Eat Cake is a charming little independent cake shop in Newburyport, Massachusetts. They do wedding cakes, which I've never tried. And they have a massive menu of cupcakes, including A LOT of chocolate options, which I have sampled.

I believe these are, as described on their website, the "Double Chocolate Mint Chip cake dipped in Chocolate with Mint buttercream dipped in Chocolate again." They were chocolatey. They were minty. I was happy.

BOTTOM LINE: If I lived in Newburyport, I would go to Eat Cake and would indeed eat cake every day of the year.

Foray to Massachusetts #2: Terry's Toffee Chai-cago Spice

Terry's Toffee Chai-cago Spice is yet another product that I picked up at the fabulous Cocoanuts. It was really good.

Terry's Toffee's website describes it as an "infusion of cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom & pepper, dipped in dark chocolate." But it wasn't too spicy, and you can trust me on that, because I am very sensitive to spice. It was enjoyably warm. Like a chewy Mexican hot chocolate!

BOTTOM LINE: Like a Mexican hot chocolate in candy form.

Foray to Massachusetts #1: Downtown Boston Chocolate Walking Tour

I spent Thanksgiving weekend in Boston, where I visited a lot of chocolate venues-- some of them old favorites, some new delights. I did not take photos at all of them. I also did not eat things at all of them. Only because I did not pace myself well, so I got too full for more chocolate. Poor life planning.

Anyway, I'm offering you here a more complete Boston Chocolate Walking Tour. Pace yourself better than me, and do your best to make it to all of these places. I promise it's worth it.

Here is a map of all of them, because I am technologically adept:


View Chocolate NYC Boston Walking Tour in a larger map

Start at your furthest point north and east: the North End, near the Haymarket T stop. First stop is Mike's Pastry (300 Hanover Street, Boston, MA 02113), the most famous place in Boston to buy cannoli. They have so many cannoli flavors here. Like chocolate mousse! Chocolate Ricotta! Other chocolate flavors!

The North End is known for its food, so you're not done here yet. Next visit Cocoanuts (28 Parmenter Street, Boston, MA 02113). This place is beautifully curated, and they carry so many delicious options, including some of my favorites (Liddabit Sweets and Asher's), as well as brands I'd never even heard of before (like Zoe's). I met one of the owners, and she is clearly a woman who knows and loves her chocolate. I would like to go back here and buy one of everything, please and thank you.

Photos of Cocoanuts, for your salivation:

Next cross the Greenway to get to Quincy Marketplace, a historical Boston shopping area where you can find the historical Boston Chipyard (257 Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Boston, MA). The Chipyard was founded in 1976. It is a Boston institution. (That's right, it was sounded on America's bicentennial year. Coincidence? Okay, yes, probably.)

The Chipyard makes small, chewy cookies in flavors like "banana chocolate chip" and "oatmeal raisin chocolate chip" and "double chocolate." I would say more about this place, except I didn't buy any cookies, because they wouldn't sell me just one-- they only sell them in bags of a half-dozen-- and frankly I was already full from my first stops on this walking tour. I disapprove of that policy.

Now walk even further west, to Beacon Hill, where you will find the appropriately-named Beacon Hill Chocolates (91 Charles Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02114). This is another very high-quality chocolate shop. I could have spent all day and $300 dollars in here. Thank God, I did not.

Also in Beacon Hill is a branch of J. P. Licks (150 Charles Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02114), one of my all-time favorite Boston ice cream brands. THEY HAVE SO MANY FLAVORS. Special flavors for this month include options like, "Chocolate Peppermint Sorbet - Sinfully rich chocolate sorbet refreshed with mint and chunks of peppermint candy." I can't, guys. I just can't.

Now walk a little south and a little further west, so you're heading down Newbury Street, Boston's premier shopping street. (Think 5th Ave., only calmer and classier, because it's New England.) Your first stop off Newbury is L. A. Burdick (220 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA). L. A. Burdick now has a store in NYC, so you can trust that they will get a more complete review one of these days, but for now let me just say that their shtick is offering a half dozen single-origin hot chocolates, which are exactly as good as they sound.

Next stop on Newbury Street is the Hotel Chocolat (137 Newbury Street, Boston, MA). This place has a very sleek, European feel. And they offer free samples sometimes. And they have one chocolate tasting box, and I don't know what is in it, but it costs $230.

Your last stop is ice cream: Emack and Bolio (290 Newbury Street, Boston, MA). Their website tagline says "ice cream for the connoisseur," and if that's not me, then frankly I don't know what is. I love Emack and Bolio ice cream; always have. They now have a branch in NYC, so again you can expect a full review some point soon. Not to give it away, but: it's going to be a positive one.

And that's it! The best of downtown Boston in one amazing afternoon.

Did I miss any of your favorite spots? Let me know! I'd love to check them out.

Storm Rations C1: Murdick's Plain Chocolate Fudge

Murdick's Fudge is the fudge of my childhood, so to me, it is the archetype.  It's based on Martha's Vineyard, but when I showed up at my brother's apartment as a storm refugee, he somehow had some lying around.  I didn't ask questions; I just dove in.

I know there are multiple styles of fudge, texture-wise.  The way Murdick's does it is great.  It stays firm, to the point where you can basically snap pieces of it off; then you put it in your mouth, where it melts beautifully on your tongue.

The great thing about fudge, and I don't know how they (they being the wizards, worldwide, who make fudge) do it, but it manages to have both an extremely rich chocolatey taste and be extraordinarily sweet.  Typically the higher percentage sugar, the lower percentage chocolate.  I always thought that was, like, math.  But apparently fudge wizards are not bound by math.  And Murdick's gets this exactly right.

Bottom Line: Maybe it's just my childhood talking, but this is the fudge up to which I hold all other fudge, and the standard is rarely ever met.

Soco Creamery

Soco Creamery sells pints of ice cream through various stores, including many stores in New York City. If you can’t leave New York for some reason, then I recommend buying one of these pints (especially the Mexicali Chocolate). But if you can leave the city, then I recommend driving all the way to Great Barrington, Massachusetts, to go to the actual Soco Creamery in person.

Soco Creamery is my happy place. Unlike the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, Soco does a zillion different flavors. Their Dirty Chocolate is superb, and I always get a scoop of that, which I will then usually complement with a scoop of something more exotic. And toppings! They make sundaes here like no one’s business. Your best bet is to rope a friend into sharing with you so you can go whole hog: hot fudge, bananas, everything. That’s what I did when I got this:

This was on the Fourth of July, which explains the red, white, and blue whipped cream in here. What else was in here? Peanut butter sauce. Reese’s Pieces. Hot fudge. Two flavors of ice cream. Honestly I don’t even remember. I just remember being in an uninterrupted state of bliss.

BOTTOM LINE: One of the best places to get an ice cream sundae in the Northeast.