(1.) Painter Girl Laissez Les Bon Bons Roulez
Monica Passin has her recipes custom-made by Brooklyn’s venerable JoMart, and donates the net profits from these cinnamon-dusted, pecan-and-honey-infused confections to a New Orleans arts organization. (Twelve for $20 at paintergirlchocolates.com.)
(2.) Scharffen Berger
The distinctive 72 percent–cacao Las Islas Caribbean Bar ($6.50) blends beans from Trinidad, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic. And the dark-chocolate-covered dried champagne grapes ($8.50) are perfect movie contraband. (473 Amsterdam Ave., nr. 83rd St.; 212-362-9734.)
(3.) Bouchon Bakery bouchons
Named for their corklike shape, these dense, rich, chocolate-chip-studded cakes are the closest Thomas Keller comes to the humble brownie. ($10 for six at Bouchon Bakery, Time Warner Center, third fl.; 212-823-9366.)
(4.) Vosges Haut-Chocolat’s Groove Collection
The holiday assortment ($75, with a CD) commemorates the African-American influence on music through bonbons like the “blues,” which melds hickory-smoked bacon and milk chocolate. (Vosges Haut-Chocolat, 132 Spring St., nr. Greene St.; 212-625-2929.)
(5.) CocoaVino fig caramels
The brainchild of a pastry chef and a sommelier, this Brooklyn-based company crafts confections from local, seasonal, and sustainable ingredients. The fig caramels—variously flavored with Madeira, orange, and apple—come twelve to a $35 box, and taste as pure as their makers’ intentions. (Cocoavino.com.)
(6.) La Maison du Chocolat’s Le Cube
This eight-piece, $24 jewel box of an assortment combines two new seasonal pralines (mandarin and winter spices) with milk and dark ganache. The mouthfeel is luxurious and the packaging divine. (La Maison du Chocolat, 1018 Madison Ave., nr. 78th St.; 212-744-7117; and 30 Rockefeller Center, at 49th St.; 212-265-9404.)
(7.) Chocolat Michel Cluizel
As is his wont, Cluizel gives milk chocolate its due, especially in his new 47 percent–cacao Maralumi bar ($6). And the Once Upon a Bean box ($40) is an edible tutorial in the individual steps and incremental flavors of making chocolate. (Chocolat Michel Cluizel at ABC Carpet & Home, 888 Broadway, at 19th St.; 212-477-7335.)
(8.) Chocolat Moderne’s “The Player” Bistro Bar
We love the irresistible breakability of Joan Coukos’s Bistro Bars ($6). “The Player,” infused with single-malt Scotch, evokes the smoky, boozy aroma of a posh men’s club—in a good way. (At City Bakery, 3 W. 18th St., nr. Fifth Ave.; 212-366-1414.)