There’s nothing quite like NYC during the holidays. The city is all decked out and just so festive! We were fortunate to spend a couple days eating our way through the city with my parents over Christmas. Read on for our foodie highlights and a fun giveaway from Milk Bar!

The very first thing we did was head over to the Shake Shack by our hotel by Bryant Park. The burgers were tasty and the refreshing beer was cheap, but my chocolate custard “concrete” with chocolate covered pretzels, peanut butter sauce, and marshmallow sauce, really stole the show!

The next day we checked out the Macy’s windows and took the subway down to the Lower East Side to visit Doughnut Plant. This was at the top of my foodie wish list  and definitely worth the trip.

The carrot cake and blackout (chocolate cake donut filled with chocolate crème and topped with chocolate frosting and cookie crumbs) donuts were extraordinary, and the valrhona chocolate and seasonal panettone donuts weren’t far behind – go, go, go here if you’re ever in NYC!

Then we headed up to Papaya King for lunch, which I couldn’t resist visiting since 1. hot dog eating is required when you’re in NYC and 2. it was just featured on Anthony Bourdain’s new layover show. Plus, it was super close to the Met, our next destination! I thought the hot dogs were pretty average actually, but the papaya drink was just delightful and after having one sip, immediately regretted only ordering a medium.

On Christmas Eve we walked around Times Square and did our best not to get too cheesy in M&M’s World.

Then we walked around Central Park for a bit and introduced my dad and Apolinaras to Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery, which my mom and I loved during our last trip to NYC. The Chicken Dumpling Soup and Nutter Butter Cookies were just as good as I remembered, and Apolinaras’ shot rib sandwich just melted in my mouth.

That evening we had a terrific time exploring Eataly, a 50,000 square foot “Italian Food Hall” brought to the Flatiron district by Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich. The emporium houses a bunch of restaurants, each featuring one aspect of Italian cuisine (e.g. fish, meat, pasta, panini, etc) and an amazing market with rows and rows of speciality Italian goods. We chowed down on panini, and I had the best hot chocolate of my life!

We took it easy on Christmas Day and just ventured out for a Chinese lunch at Szechuan Gourmet. Other fun activities over the next couple of days included seeing the musical Billy Elliot, touring Radio City Music Hall, and shopping up a storm with my mom. We also visited the United Nations, where Apolinaras’ late father worked as a journalist and checked out the apartment where he lived for four years. On the food front I had a surprisingly good wasabi tuna wrap at Pig ‘N’ Whistle, and we had Kati Rolls a couple of times, which are Indian flatbreads stuffed with delicious meats and veggies, mmm.

And finally, we also made it to Milk Bar, the pastry shop headed by Christina Tosi, which is part of David Chang’s Momofuku empire. We sampled all the cookies and had a scrumptious pistachio croissant. I was scared the compost cookies wouldn’t live up to my high expectations, but I really liked them! My favorite treats, however, were the corn cookies, because they were just so unique and tasted exactly like fresh sweet corn, in a really good way. In fact, I couldn’t help but pick up Christina Tosi’s new cookbook and some of Milk Bar’s freeze dried corn powder, so I can make my own corn cookies at home whenever I crave them! Of course, I was thinking of you all too and picked up an extra set for a giveaway!

To enter to win, just leave a comment on this post letting me know which restaurant/bakery/food truck you most want to visit in NYC. I need to start working on my list for next time! Entries must be in by 11:59 pm EST on Monday, January 9.

The fine print: I’m sponsoring this giveaway myself. The winner will be picked with random.org on Tuesday, January 10 and announced shortly thereafter.

Guess what I have for you today? Yep, a muffin recipe, which I’ll get to in a second, but also a giveaway for a super cute apron like the one I’m wearing above! I was recently contacted by a rep from Shabby Apple, an online shop best known for their lovely vintage dresses, about reviewing one of their adorable aprons. I jumped at the chance, since a girl can never have too many wardrobe options, and eventually settled on the carrot cake style. I couldn’t be more pleased – it’s super flattering and a gorgeous vibrant pattern. They’re the perfect gift for anyone who enjoys spending time in the kitchen. To enter to win your choice of one of their aprons, see the details at the bottom of this post!

Now, on to the muffins. I couldn’t stop thinking about the flavor combo of orange peel and coriander, which we recently learned is used to spice Allagash White during our brewery tour. I finally decided to mix the two into a yummy batch of muffins, along with white whole wheat flour, oat bran from Trader Joe’s, orange juice, and a bit of oil and molasses. I sweetened the batter with brown sugar and golden raisins and sprinkled a few salted sunflower seeds on top for a bit of crunch. I kind of love that a beer inspired a fairly healthy muffin recipe!

Giveaway details: To enter, just leave a comment on this post letting me know which Shabby Apple apron you’d pick if you win. Entries must be in by Thursday, July 7 at 11:59pm EST and the winner will be picked with random.org and announced shortly thereafter. Sorry, only those living within the continental United States are eligible to win. But, all my readers can use the coupon code “CakeBatterandBowl10off” at checkout until July 30 to receive 10% off your purchase! Also, if you “like” Shabby Apple on their facebook page, you’ll get access to future special promotions and exclusive discounts.

The fine print: Shabby Apple sent me a complimentary apron to review and they are providing an apron for this giveaway, but I received no compensation for this post and all opinions are mine.

Orange Coriander Oat Bran Muffins
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup oat bran
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup orange juice
1/4 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons dark molasses
1 large egg
1/2 cup golden raisins
2 tablespoons quick-cooking oats
2 tablespoons salted sunflower seeds

Directions:
Heat oven to 350˚F. Place oat bran, flour, brown sugar, orange zest, coriander, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl and mix until combined. Place orange juice, canola oil, molasses, and egg in another bowl and whisk well. Pour liquids into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Stir in raisins. Evenly distribute batter into 12 cups of a muffin tin lined with paper cups (each will be 3/4 full). Top evenly with oats and sunflower seeds. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes at 350˚F or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Makes 12 muffins.

Nutrition: 174 calories, 6.3g fat, 2.3g fiber, 3.3g protein per muffin
Cost: $0.41 per muffin

To celebrate, you know I had to do a giveaway. I actually have two, one sponsored by me and one from CSN Stores, who as you probably know, has everything from modern dining room furniture to gorgeous bakeware.

First, I wanted to share the two cookbooks that have inspired me most in the past year. Cooking from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iver has given me enough confidence to try creating my own recipes with an Indian twist, like Indian Saag Naanburgers, Chicken Tikka Masala Naanwiches, Indian Spiced Salmon with Pineapple Chutney, and Indian Spiced Cauliflower, Potato, and Pea Soup. Cooking from  Mexican Everyday by Rick Bayless made me realize how much I like ancho chile powder, which I’ve used in my Mini Meatball Mexican Soup, BBQ Chicken Tacos, and Latin Crab Bisque. I love both these books and wish I could send you all copies.

Two readers will each win one cookbook and there are two ways to enter:
1. Leave a comment letting me know which cookbook you’d like.
2. Tweet about this giveaway and leave another comment letting me know you tweeted.

In addition, I also have an $80 CSN Stores gift card to giveaway. To make this contest extra fun, I’d like to do a little scavenger hunt. There’s one very common ingredient that I’m not a fan of and is not in any of my recipes. Think you know what it is? To enter to win the gift card, leave a separate comment letting me know. The winner will be chosen randomly from all the correct answers. If no one gets it, I’ll choose a winner randomly from everyone who entered. Fun, huh.

Entries must be in by 11:59 pm EST on Saturday, March 5. Sorry, only U.S. and Canadian readers only are eligible for the CSN gift card, but I’ll ship the cookbooks anywhere. Good luck and thank you for following me on my foodie adventures!

The fine print: I’m sponsoring the cookbook part of this giveaway myself and CSN is sponsoring the $80 gift card, but I received no compensation for this post and all opinions are mine. The winners will be picked with random.org on Sunday, March 6 and announced shortly thereafter.

Can you believe Valentine’s Day is just around the corner? Apolinaras and I don’t exchange presents or anything, but I do like the excuse to indulge in more chocolate than usual and I also enjoy going all out in the kitchen to make a really decadent meal. This year the festivities began early because I made these over the top heart cookies last week so I could share them with you before the 14th. I also received a fabulous box full of Guylian Artisanal Belgian Chocolates to sample. Mmm, their chocolate seashells have a praline truffle center enrobed by milk, dark, and white chocolate – divine! And, I have a cute Valentine’s day package of them to giveaway, so check out the details at the bottom of this post to enter to win.

But first, here are the cookies, which were inspired by the cute white and pink heart shaped sprinkles that jumped into my cart at the grocery store. I’m such a sucker for sprinkles and muffin cups with fun patterns – they get me every time! Luckily, I was at the store by myself, so I didn’t have to deal with any eye rolling from Apolinaras. Poor guy, a container of sprinkles from my stash always seems to fall out when he opens our baking cabinet. Then when he tries to put it back, another one gets pushed out since it’s literally overflowing with decorating supplies. I’ve shown him my technique to simply shove things in the back, but he likes things orderly and never takes my advice. I suppose I don’t follow his advice to stop buying sprinkles either though, haha.

Anyway, I eventually decided to make chocolate cookies in the shape of hearts. Of course I couldn’t stop there, and amped them up by putting a layer of eggless cookie dough on top, followed by ganache and the sprinkles. The cookie dough here is a classic chocolate chip without the chips. I figured if I was rolling the dough out to cut into hearts, that I wouldn’t want any hard pieces of chocolate getting in the way. As you probably know, playing with eggless cookie dough is one of my favorite past times, so if you try these, the trick to getting perfectly shaped hearts out of the dough is to grease you counter really well with butter and slightly chill the dough. SO good – I wish I still had some of these left!

To enter to win the chocolates, just leave a comment on this post letting me know what your ultimate Valentine’s Day meal would include. Entries must be in by Wednesday, February 16 at 11:59pm EST. Good luck and thanks Guylian!

The fine print: Guylian’s Chocolates sent me a variety of their goodies to sample, but I received no compensation for this post and all opinions are mine. The winner will be picked with random.org on Thursday, February 17 and announced shortly thereafter.

Valentine’s Day Heart Cookies
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Chocolate Cookie Layer:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup baking cocoa powder
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cookie Dough Layer:
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons milk
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt

Ganache Layer:
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup Valentine’s Day sprinkles

Directions:
To make the chocolate cookies, place butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a large bowl and mix until well creamed; stir in egg and vanilla extract until smooth. Stir in flour, cocoa, espresso powder, baking soda, and salt until soft dough forms. Refrigerate for an hour or until well chilled. Heat oven to 350˚F. Spread a bit of extra cocoa powder out your counter and rolling pin and roll out chocolate dough to about 1/4–inch thick. Cut out heart shapes with a cookie cutter and transfer to cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Repeat with remaining dough (I got 17 cookies with my cookie cutter). Bake at 350˚F for 10 minutes or until set. Transfer to cooling racks and let cool completely, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the eggless cookie dough. Mix butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a large bowl until creamed; add vanilla and milk and mix until well blended. Mix in flour and salt. Shape dough into a ball and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until chilled. Place chilled dough on a well greased surface (I spread butter on my counter before rolling out the dough each time), roll out to about 1/4-inch thick, and use the same heart cookie cutter to carefully cut out the same number cookie dough hearts as chocolate cookies you have. Place cookie dough layers on top of chocolate cookie layers.

To make the ganache, place chocolate chips and cream in a small microwavable bowl; microwave on high for 1 minute, stirring after 30 seconds. Continue stirring until the chips are melted and the mixture is smooth. Place dollaps of ganache on top of the cookie dough covered heart cookies and use the back of a spoon to spread ganache evenly over each cookie. Sprinkle evenly with sprinkles! Place cookies in the refrigerator for an hour or until ganache is set. Makes 17 cookies.

Nutrition: 351 calories, 18.0g fat, 1.7g fiber, 3.8g protein per cookie
Cost: $0.37 per cookie

Remember when I mentioned that I was looking forwarding to reviewing Harold McGee’s new book, Keys to Good Cooking?

Well, I got it a couple weeks ago and have really been enjoying it! The subtitle of the book, “A Guide to Making the Best of Foods and Recipes” sums up its premise. McGee has written a wonderful reference guide full of tips that will make every cook a bit more successful in the kitchen. He intends for his readers to simply look up what they need to know before they use a specific ingredient or try a new preparation method, and the book is full of extremely useful information!

For example, in the fruit chapter I learned that plant-ripening fruits (citrus fruits, most berries, grapes, cherries, melons, pineapples, and plums) don’t ripen or develop much more flavor after being picked and should be refrigerated or consumed soon after you purchase them, while delayed-ripening fruits (apricots, avocados, bananas, kiwis, mangos, pears, peaches and nectarines, persimmons, and tomatoes) should be allowed to ripen at room temperature before you eat them. Who knew plums and peaches should be treated differently?!? The book is full of useful tips and I highly recommend it!

And, one of you will find out for yourself how cool the book is because I have a copy to giveaway! To enter to win, just leave a comment on this post letting me know about a great book (cooking related or not!) that you’d recommend I add to my reading list. Entries must be in by Tuesday, October 26 at 11:59pm EST. Good luck!

The fine print: Penguin Press sent me two free copies of this book – one to review and one to giveaway. I received no compensation for this post and all opinions are mine. The winner will be picked with random.org on Wednesday, October 27 and announced shortly thereafter.

Today is my birthday! And to celebrate, CSN Stores, which has everything you need to stock your kitchen, from dutch ovens to cake pans, is hosting a giveaway for an $80 gift card (which goes a long way with their great prices!). To enter, just leave a comment telling me about your favorite birthday dessert. Thanks CSN!

I started celebrating early last weekend by whipping up a fun treat. If you haven’t guessed it based on my blog design, my absolutely favorite kind of cake is carrot cake. We had it at our wedding and I always request it on my birthday too. But, donuts are my second favorite goodie, and in fact, during my senior year of college, my friends bought me 21 donuts to attempt to eat on my 21st birthday! I think there were only 4 or 5 leftover the next day – pretty impressive, huh? That Man vs Food dude should be shaking in his boots! Anyway, I knew I wanted to try combining my two favorite desserts into one, so you guessed it, I made carrot cake donuts!

These drop donuts were inspired by Jenny’s recipe for Glazed Caramelized Roasted Banana Bread Drop Doughnuts, which earned her a spot on Ultimate Recipe Showdown the season before I was on the show. I made a thick carrot cake batter that I dropped with a cookie scoop into hot vegetable oil and then fried up the treats until they were golden brown. There’s only a little bit of sugar in the donuts because I slathered them with a pretty sweet cream cheese frosting. I piped some on top and also did a little dipping! They are super indulgent and perfect for a celebration!

Giveaway details: To enter, just leave a comment on this post describing your favorite birthday dessert. Entries must be in by Thursday, September 9 at 11:59pm EST and the winner will be picked with random.org and announced shortly thereafter. CSN Stores is sponsoring this giveaway but I received no compensation for this post and all opinions are mine.

Carrot Cake Drop Donuts with Cream Cheese Frosting
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Carrot Cake Drop Donuts:
Vegetable oil for frying
1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/3 cup crushed unsweetened pineapple
1 large egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded carrots (I shredded mine with a coarse cheese grater)

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 1/3 cups powdered sugar
2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions:
To prepare the carrot cake drop donuts, heat vegetable oil to 350˚F in a fryer. Make yogurt, crushed pineapple, and egg in a large bowl until smooth. Mix in flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt until a thick dough forms. Mix in shredded carrots. Use a small cookie scoop or a generous tablespoon to drop small batches of dough into the hot oil and fry for 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from oil, drain on paper towels, and cool completely.

To prepare the cream cheese frosting, place powdered sugar, cream cheese, butter, vanilla extract, and lemon juice in a large bowl and beat with a mixer until smooth, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed. Place frosting in a pastry bag and pipe frosting evenly over carrot cake drop donuts. Makes 14 drop donuts.

Nutrition: It’s my birthday, I’m not going there!
Cost: $6.08 per batch

I’ve mentioned before that I don’t make many main course salads because it’s a pain to chop up all the necessary veggies to make a restaurant quality plate of greens at home. But, I also tend to get lazy about making anything other than a boring balsamic vinaigrette, which is a shame since the dressing usually makes the salad in my opinion! So when the creative team behind Girard’s salad dressings contacted me about trying several of their new flavors, I was really excited, especially since I’ve actually been a fan of their products for several years now (it all started when I randomly picked up a bottle of their yummy spinach salad dressing for a baby shower I co-hosted back in Chicago). They have 14 regular and 4 light varieties so there really is something for everyone.

So Girard’s sent me three of their new flavors to try – apple poppyseed, creamy balsamic, and peach mimosa, and also their signature champagne dressing. They were all very tasty, but my favorite was the peach mimosa because it was so creative – I actually wished I had come up with the idea for this flavor combo! Since I enjoyed the dressings so much, Girard’s offered to also send a package of the four dressings I tried to five of my readers!

There are two ways to enter to win:
1. Leave a comment on this post telling me about your favorite salad recipe (I need some new ideas!).
2. Tweet about this giveaway (using @cakebatterbowl) or post about it on your blog or Facebook page. Please leave a separate comment for this entry.
Entries must be in by Sunday, August 15 at 11:59pm EST. Good luck!

p.s. The fine print:  Girard’s sent me the salad dressings to try for free and is sponsoring this giveaway, but I received no compensation for this post and all opinions are mine. The winners will be picked with random.org on Monday, August 16 and announced shortly thereafter.

We arrived in plenty of time and spent about an hour and a half in line before being escorted over to have our books signed. Chef Keller was very warm and down to Earth. My mom asked about his Bouchon Bakery Nutter Butter recipe and he metioned that a cookbook featuring items from the bakery would be out in the fall!

The book itself is gorgeous and full of pictures and recipes that make my mouth water. I‘m having a hard time deciding what to make first, so if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know! And of course I wanted to share a bit of this experience with you, so I’m giving away a signed Ad Hoc cookbook!

There are two ways to enter to win:
1. Leave a comment on this post telling me what your experience was like at one of Thomas Keller’s restaurants or let me know which of his restaurants you’d most like to try.
2. Tweet about this giveaway (using @cakebatterbowl) or post about it on your blog or Facebook page. Please leave a separate comment for this entry.

Entries must be in by Tuesday, June 1 at 11:59pm EST. Good luck!

Oh, and the fine print:  I’m sponsoring this giveaway myself and the winner will be picked with random.org on Wednesday, June 2 and announced shortly thereafter.

Thanks so much for all your support about URS! Since I haven’t been able to get into the kitchen this week, I thought it would be the perfect time to tell you about an absolutely delicious set of bon bons and truffles that Chef Eric of Derry Church Artisan Chocolates recently sent me. The flavors were all very unique and inspired by different parts of world, which I think is very clever.

My favorites were the Savannah (a spin on peach crisp with peach jam in a white chocolate ganache piped into a bittersweet chocolate cup and topped with a toasted oat/brown sugar and cinnamon crisp), Rome (strong cappuccino and milk chocolate ganache piped into a milk chocolate cup mold and topped with a creamy white chocolate mousse), and Cairo (Medjool date paste and aged balsamic vinegar reduction in a bittersweet chocolate ganache enrobed with bittersweet chocolate and accented with brown sugar and molasses) – just writing out the descriptions is making my mouth water! Each chocolate is like a little work of art and they are very reasonably priced considering they contain organic local ingredients and are handmade.  The best part is that Chef Eric has graciously offered to send one lucky reader a 15 piece bon bon set!

There are two ways to enter:
1. Check out the different flavors offered by Derry Church Artisan Chocolates and leave a comment letting us know which one you’d most like to try.
2. Tweet about this giveaway, or post about it on your blog or Facebook. Don’t forget to come back and leave a second comment with the link for your second entry.

Entries must be in by Thursday, April 15 at 11:59pm EST. Good luck and thanks Derry Church Artisan Chocolates!

p.s. The fine print:  Derry Church sent me the chocolates to try for free and is sponsoring this giveaway, but I received no compensation for this post and all opinions are mine. The winner will be picked with random.org on Friday, April 16 and announced shortly thereafter.

I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than with a giveaway. I love buying presents – I’m one of those people who will brainstorm and research until I find the perfect gift. So, I’ve actually been thinking about this giveaway for a couple months now and slowly accumulating items for two prize packages that I would love to receive!

The first prize set ties in with my new blog design that is finally up (yay!) and is a Martha Stewart Cupcake carrying case, Williams Sonoma Daisy Crown Cupcake Pan, and a cute set of 6 spring sprinkles from Target.

The second prize set is an adorable apron from Anthropologie, a shower gel set from Sephora featuring apple pomegranate, vanilla cupcake, guava passion, and coconut crème scents, and a Stila Mango and Pomegrante Crush lip gloss set.

When you comment, just let me know which prize set you like the most and that’s the one you will be entered to win.

There are two ways to enter:
1. Leave a comment letting me know which of my recipes you’d like to try most.
2. You can get an additional entry for each time that you’ve blogged about one of my recipes (if you were inspired by one of my recipes and changed things a bit, that counts!). Post each link in a separate comment.

Remember, don’t forget to tell me which set of prizes you would like to be entered to win in each comment. Entries must be in by 11:59 pm EST on Friday, March 5. Good luck and thank you for following me on my foodie adventures. I’m already excited to see what the next year will bring!

The fine print:  I’m sponsoring this giveaway myself and the winners will be picked with random.org on Saturday, March 6 and announced shortly thereafter.

p.s. The winner of the CSNstores Crème Brulee set giveaway was commenter number 55, Ashley – congrats!

And what better way to celebrate than with a giveaway! CSNstores.com is a Boston based online retailer that has a huge selection of home and office items, from bar stools and fitness equipment to wine refrigerators and bakeware. They have generously offered to give a BonJour Bain Marie set, which includes everything you need to make Crème Brulee successfully at home, to one lucky reader! The set includes a pro torch and four square ramekins that fit snuggly into a pan that contains a water bath – nothing says celebration like a perfect Crème Brulee!

There are two ways to enter:

1. Check out CSN’s over 200 online stores and leave a comment letting me know which one you had the most fun browsing.

2. Tweet about this giveaway or post about it on your blog or Facebook. Then come back and leave an additional comment with the link for your second entry.

Entries must be in by Wednesday, February 24 at 11:59pm EST. Good luck and thanks to CSN for hosting the giveaway!

And the fine print:  CSN Stores is sponsoring this giveaway and the winner will be picked with random.org on Thursday, February 25 and announced shortly thereafter.

When Hotel Chocolat recently contacted me about trying their premium chocolates, how could I resist? Hotel Chocolat (shok-o-la) is a UK chocolatier that specializes in high-end luxury chocolates, so I jumped at the chance to check out their new hip shop on Newbury Street in Boston.

The store itself was warm, sleek, and inviting, with shelves and tables brimming over with their signature chocolate slabs, truffles, and whimsical chocolate bars. I expected the cool contemporary store, but was surprised by the very wonderful, friendly, and unpretentious service (and yes, I was shopping anonymously!)! I immediately felt at home asking all my foodie questions.  All their chocolates are organic, and they actually own a cocoa plantation in St. Lucia and see the chocolate making process through from start to finish.

After perusing the store and sneaking in a few pictures, I decided I needed to sample a variety of treats. I selected the Christmas Goody Bag, which contained a cute solid milk chocolate penguin and Santa, milk chocolate Christmas pudding slab with crunchy shortbread cookies, Christmas Star hazelnut and caramel truffles, and a bag of Munchkin Snowballs, which are mini shortbread cookies surrounded in white chocolate and dusted with sugar!

Everything was incredibly rich and decadent. I couldn’t stop myself from ripping into the package on the train and was immediately transported to another place with just one luxurious bite!  The chocolates sets are the perfect holiday hostess gifts and I was so happy I was able to try them – thank you Hotel Chocolat!

And don’t worry – Hotel Chocolat didn’t forget about you! I’m giving away a Christmas Goody Bag and Milk Chocolate Advent Calendar to two lucky readers!

There are two ways to enter:

1. Check out Hotel Chocolat’s Christmas Chocolate Gifts and leave a comment with a link to the item you most want Santa to leave in your stocking!

2. Tweet about this giveaway (using #cakebatterbowl), or post about it on your blog or Facebook. Don’t forget to come back and leave a second comment with the link for your second entry.

Entries must be in by Saturday, December 5 at 11:59pm EST. Good luck!

The fine print:  Hotel Chocolat provided the chocolates I sampled for free and is sponsoring this giveaway, but I received no compensation for this post and all opinions are mine. The winners will be picked with random.org on Sunday, December 6 and announced shortly thereafter.