Oh, how far we’ve come. A few years ago(!), we debuted our very first advent calendar – something I would have loved as a child. Truth be told, I would love it today as an adult. As I wrote about in this 2021 blog post, I had never had an advent calendar, and pined for the days I could join my cousins or friends in opening theirs.

Here we are, three years later, and our fabulous, talented production manager, Rebecca has taken on creation of the advent calendar. This year, I can’t stop drooling over her confections. Here are just a few of her creations – all made with transparently sourced and clean ingredients:

*Chocolate Dipped Orangette*

*Pistachio White Chocolate Cluster*

*Catanies*

*Peppermint Bite*

*Magic Cookie*

Are you drooling yet?

. TEach chocolate confection that Rebecca developed has a story. Want to learn more? Keep reading to see what inspired her! And then make sure you click on the link to pre-order your advent calendar so you can try each of these yourself! (Also, if you want to learn more about Rebecca, make sure you stop by during our open hours to say hi, and read this blog post of yore that introduced her).

Catanies

This summer, I traveled to Barcelona, Spain. In true chocolatier fashion, I embarked on a chocolate tour of the city, where I vited the oldest chocolate mill in the city (nearly 200 years old, and still used weekly to make chocolate)! I sampled some Catalonian chocolate delicacies. This trip introduced me to Catanies, a marcona almond bathed in caramel, surrounded by white chocolate and rolled in cocoa powder. This is my spin on the melt-in-your-mouth treat!

Lemon White Chocolate Raspberry

My inspiration for this bite came from a birthday cake my parents got for me as a little girl: multi-tiered with creamy, tart lemon and jammy raspberry filling in each layer. I can still taste it. This bite is a lemon whtie chocolate filled with raspberry ganache, made just from chocolate, local cream and single ingredient raspberry jam.

Ornament Shaped Peanut Butter Truffle

A festive, elevated take on a year-round favorite. This 72% dark chocolate ornament is stuffed with our homemade peanut butter filling.

Hazelnut Truffle

Who doesn’t love chocolate and hazelnuts for the holidays? This is a lovingly-crafted, minimal ingredient spin on your favorite hazelnut truffle (sans the gold foil).

Magic Cookie Bar

My Aunt Caroline made the best Magic Cookie Bars at the holidays – graham cracker crust, sweetened condensed milk, coconut, dotted with chocolate. I looked forward to these bars every year growing up, but haven’t revised them as an adult, or as a chocolatier! The holidays are all about nostalgia, and I took this childhood taste memory and spun it into a decadent bite for you – dark chocolate filled with creamy coconut and graham.

Pink Tree

In elementary school, we took a trip to the historic Fenton House (located in Jamestown, NY, near where I grew up). It was Christmastime and one room in the mansion had a pink Christmas tree. That year I vowed that I would one day have a pink tree of my own, and now I do! This strawberry white chocolate tree is an ode to making our own Christmas traditions and shaping the lives we want year round.