(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- The only drawback about getting a box of chocolates—even if it’s a very expensive, pretty box—is that once it’s opened, you’re often looking at a grid of uninspiring shapes and colors. Not so with the striking confections at Stick With Me Sweets, a small-batch chocolatier in New York’s Nolita neighborhood. Founder Susanna Yoon conceives of each one as a standalone dessert, with flavors such as matcha green tea and dulce de leche, and tops them with a glossy, hand-painted finish so they look as good as they taste.
The Competition
● One of the earliest colorful confectioners was Jacques Genin, who’s been selling hand-painted chocolates at his Paris shop—designed like a chic cosmetics store—for close to a decade. A nine-piece box is $14.
● At $3.25 apiece, the honey saffron and jasmine bonbons from New York chef Gabriel Kreuther have a painterly flair.
● Christopher Elbow’s San Francisco shop offers gourmet chocolate collections, incorporating the ingredients of the season, for $2.50 per piece.
The Case
Stick With Me Sweets bonbons are almost too pretty to eat. But just almost. It’s the meticulously sourced filling that sets them apart: The Vero pecan-pie-flavored one is made with Elliot pecans from Georgia and mixed with sea salt caramel and crunchy praline. A citrusy kalamansi meringue pie includes a layer of custard, whipped cream, and a thin graham cracker base. The shell, a burst of bright yellow covered in green specks, is impossible to resist. $88 for a 24-piece bonbon box; swmsweets.com
To contact the author of this story: James Tarmy in New York at jtarmy@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Gaddy at jgaddy@bloomberg.net
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