Preeeesenting!  In person!  Those small and sugary bundles of dynamite:

JELLY HEARTS!

Aren’t they beautiful?  They’re made with agar and are 100% vegan and gluten-free – also, they’re awesome.  They come in four flavors: guava, meyer lemon, cassis and blood orange.  Don’t you think your Valentine might like some?  Place your orders now and turn your loved one’s heart into (agar) jelly!

Let’s start with the richest, mintiest, prettiest new candy bar in town: the Humbug!  Our new seasonal bar is a rich and crumbly chocolate sable cookie covered in smooth peppermint ganache, dipped in white chocolate and sprinkled with crushed candy canes.

It’s as delicious as it is beautiful, and you can find it at the Flea and New Amsterdam markets this weekend!  We just didn’t think that seven kinds of candy bars was enough – the Humbug makes eight (!) flavors (!), and if you haven’t tried them all, you are missing out, times eight.

The next new thing to discuss is a bevy of hot beverages – specifically, hot cider at the flea and vegan hot chocolate at New Amsterdam!  Now, hold on a minute there, misters.  I know, I know… vegan?  VEGAN hot chocolate?

Yes.  And, speaking as a staunch non-vegan (I love me some cheese), I am personally vouching for the deliciousness of this hot chocolate.  Made with light coconut milk, rich cocoa, a hint of coffee and very little sugar, this is the stuff hot chocolate dreams are made of.  It’s unctuous and oh-so-chocolatey, and yes, it’s vegan.  Give it a go – you won’t be disappointed.

We’ve even come up with a solution to offset your rich, dark cup of hot cocoa – apple cranberry muffins.  We’ll have these at New Amsterdam, so between the muffins, the cocoa and the Humbug, you really have no excuse not to be there.

My last piece of news?  Is really more like a little hint.  POP-UP.  STORE.  MANHATTAN.  Details to come soon!

This week, check out Edible Manhattan for an inside look into what it’s like to be Liz and Jen, fabulous and fabulously hardworking entrepreneurs that they are, and stop by Inc., while you’re at it, to peep another piece of awesome Liddabit press!

Since it’s officially November, you’re probably officially preparing for the holidays, so please do yourself a favor and get down to the Flea or New Amsterdam this weekend and pick up a pie bar.  Do it.  Do it.  When pecan pie and candy bars combine, magic happens, people.  Magic.  And don’t even get me started on the pumpkin pie bar.  Just go get one.  And then another, because as you’ll find out, one just won’t do.

We’ll also have the very last of the summer’s S’more bars available (and by “very last,” I mean we have about ten left, so go snag one while you can!), as well as some deliciously gooey monkeybread for sale at New Amsterdam!  If you don’t know what monkeybread is, all you really have to know is that it starts with croissant dough and gets gooey-er and cinnamon-ier and yummier from there.  Go get some.

Also, this week’s kitchen bake off was a battle of epic proportions.  Stay tuned to hear more about battle scone!

In other news, we’re excited to announce the results of the very first intramural Liddabit kitchen bake off!  In the spirit of healthy competition (and perhaps an unhealthy love for baked goods), we Liddabit kitchen staff put our candy-making skills on hold on Thursday to engage in what we’re hoping will become a weekly bake off challenge.  The inaugural challenge?  Battle banana bread!

Once the rules were set (everyone who enters also judges, and the winner picks the category for the next week’s battle), the trash talking began.  Would Jen’s banana bread rule the day?  Or would it be Joan, who was doing some serious research, or Liz, armed with her Grandpa’s recipe?  On Thursday we all showed up, recipes and loaf pans in tow, and we began to bake.  In total, there were five of us facing off to become Top Banana.  Gauntlets were thrown.  Swearing was rampant.  Flour was everywhere.  The whole place smelled like bananas.

Then, finally, it was over.  Five loaves of banana bread huddled on the cooling rack.  There could only be one winner.

After a careful tasting – of Jen’s flambeed banana/candied walnut bread, Liz’s walnut/shaved chocolate/olive oil bread, Molly’s peanut streusel bread, Joan’s coconut milk/roasted bananas/chocolate chunk bread and Marissa’s pecan/sliced banana loaf – it was unanimously decided.                                     

Sturdy and moist and perfectly banana-y, Marissa’s bread (see below, right) earned her the title of TOP! BANANA!

Congrats, Marissa!  She’ll enjoy a full week of bragging rights before next week’s challenge: scones!

Stay tuned to find out who will win the Liddabit kitchen bake off: battle scone!

Because, dear Liddabit-ers (Liddabit-ians?  Liddabit-ites?), things are happening over here, and you don’t want to miss any of these things.

Thing number one: brittle!  That’s right – that October chill in the air?  Bad for tank tops but great for making brittle, and we’re pretty excited about it.  Be on the lookout for some old-fashioned peanut brittle and brown-sugar pecan brittle at both the Flea this Saturday and at New Amsterdam on Sunday!

Other things you don’t want to miss at the Flea and New Amsterdam this weekend include a farewell to our seasonal summer products (better come get your S’more bars and fig-ricotta caramels while you can!), and the return of your cool-weather favorites, both apple cider and chocolate-stout-gingerbread caramels… don’t you just love the fall?

The final thing?  Jen and Joan’s amazing cranberry coffee cake.  We’re selling it at the New Amsterdam Market on Sunday – so we’ll see you there?

S'more, please!

I know, I know…I’ve been neglecting you.  Trust me, I feel pretty crappy about it.  But we’ve been BUSY, man!  Like, really busy!  And then there’s the business classes we started taking, and the interns we’re managing, and the weather we have to stay ahead of and the full weekends at the Flea…

Sigh.  No, excuses won’t change anything.  But I’m here now, baby, and that’s what matters.  So what’s new, you ask?  Lots!  This weekend:

-Mother’s Day treats! The Chocolate Doom bar is back: salted cocoa sablé cookie, milk chocolate ganache, and whipped white chocolate – all dipped in rich dark chocolate.  We added a little gold luster dust, ’cause we were feelin’ fancy.

-Also new are rose-and-honey heart shaped lollipops, and fresh greenmarket rhubarb jellies (also in adorable heart shapes).  Come on, guys…it’s your MOM we’re talking about here.

-The S’mores bar!  This is one of my personal favorites, and it’s back and better than ever.  Hearty homemade graham cracker, smoky chocolate ganache, and bruléed fluffy marshmallow; all dipped in milk chocolate.  I long for the days when we stored everything at my apartment…

Aside from that, we shot a promo and a segment for “Foodcrafters” on the Cooking Channel; bought a car (I want to call it the Bitmobile!); been writing up a storm on Serious Eats; and have generally just been running around like crazy.  But I promise I’ll try and be better about posting new stuff here – cross my heart.  And we have a bunch of new stuff coming up, so you’re going to want to stay informed.  Mwahahahaaaa.

Anyway, we’re looking forward to being at the Flea tomorrow and Sunday — see you there!

Just kidding.  We know what holiday is coming up.  We also know that you’re likely to procrastinate and wait till the last minute to buy something.  And you know what?  It’s ok!  We feel you!  And we’ve got you covered.  We’ll have a totally awesome pop-up store with Kumquat Cupcakery Feb. 11-14 in Greenpoint, and you can stop by then.  Details on hours and specials to follow.

But for those of you planners-ahead, take note: we will be debuting two new bars at the Flea tomorrow (and Sunday).  They are special for Valentine’s Day, they are awesome, and we will stop making them after February 14th.  For a whole year.  They will be up on the store next week; but they’ll be at the Flea tomorrow.  I repeat: tomorrow.

Now, there’s a reason I’m being very clear about this: there are two of us.  We will make as much Valentine’s Day candy as we possibly can.  But I predict, with my uncanny psychic abilities, that supplies will go fast and furious (I’ll do my best to keep y’all up-to-the-minute on Twitter).  Which is why I’m telling you now: we’ll have the Valentine’s bars at the Flea tomorrow.  You should come buy some.

But I’m getting ahead of myself – I haven’t even told you what they are yet!  Well, Chocolate Doom is basically what it sounds like: total chocolate overload, in the best possible doom-y way.  It has a crumbly salted cocoa sablé cookie base, a layer of creamy milk chocolate ganache, and a light whipped white chocolate ganache on top of that.  Covered in dark chocolate, of course.

My Spicy Valentine is more or less my personal idea of candy nirvana: a tangy, slow-burning passion fruit/cayenne caramel with crisped rice, also dipped in dark chocolate.  It’s insane, and we’ll be sampling some of it this weekend.  Seriously.

Seriously.

You should come by.

…Okay, that’s enough with the seriousness and the Valentine’s whatnot.  (Until next weekend, of course.)  In the meantime, I hear that there’s some kind of sporting event coming up…polo semi-finals?  Cricket championship?  I can’t quite remember.  But I do hear that people who enjoy sports also enjoy beer.  And pretzels.  And potato chips.  Get the picture?  We have a special gift package for you on the site – you know, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Don’t let the cold keep you away – we’ll be tucked downstairs in the vault with samples and smiles!  And limited-edition Valentine’s Day sweets.

Seriously.

We’ve been wanting to do this for a while – we’ve heard your pleas! – but we haven’t been able to.  No one was around to help, we couldn’t work out a schedule, et cetera et cetera.  But everything’s fallen into place like the tumblers in a big gnarly dungeon lock, and we will now be at the Flea both Saturdays AND Sundays at One Hanson!  The Evil Plan marches on!

So what does that mean for you, dear customer?  Well, first of all, more candy.  DOUBLE the candy.  And we have a new caramel this week (if you subscribe to the newsletter, you’re already in the know): Preserved Lemon/Olive Oil.  I love preserved lemons in pretty much anything; I had them for the first time just a couple of years ago, and the combination of bright citrus, saltiness, and pucker factor more or less blew my mind.  I’d always wanted to do a truffle involving them for years, but never quite got around to it.

Then fate intervened in the form of our friend and Fatty Crab chef extraordinaire Corwin (son of Roni-Sue, erstwhile employer and eternal mentor) — who hooked us up with some preserved lemon powder, made in-house by him and his team of magical ninja-wizards.  Seriously amazing stuff.  Jen came up with the olive oil flavor pairing, and boom.  Legend.

I happen to think it’s incredible.  We’re still in beta-testing and have a reeeeally limited amount of them this weekend, so first come first serve.  Try ‘em and let us know what you think!  (They’ll likely be involved in a secret Valentine’s Day project; more of which next week…)

Oh yeah, speaking of  — we’re teaming up with the queen of the mini-cupcake, Keavy of Kumquat Cupcakery, to do a pop-up store in Greenpoint’s Kill Devil Hill!  How freakin’ excited are you?!  Have you *seen* how gorgeous her Valentine’s Day gift boxes are?  Do you even *know* the cool stuff we’ll have for your Valentine?  (Think passion fruit, chocolate, hibiscus, chocolate, cayenne, blood orange…chocolate…)

You know we won’t hold out on you.  All shall be revealed next week.  Abide until then, sweet followers — we’re looking forward to seeing you this weekend!

Well, first of all, it’s a candy bar.

Second of all, it features peanut butter.

Crunchy peanut butter.

…and third of all, there’s MARSHMALLOW. (one of my favorite things ever.)

Now, we don’t know how y’all feel about the ol’ Fluffernutter, but we happen to be huge fans.  This bad boy is along the same lines, but without all the processed whatnot: a tender shortbread cookie, generous layer of crunchy organic peanut butter, and fluffy handmade marshmallow to top it all off.  It’s dipped in milk chocolate and it’s freakin’ delicious.

Aside from that, we’ll have loads of caramels – Beer & Pretzels (and Slurtles!), Sea Salt, Chocolate Sea Salt, Chocolate-Black Truffle and Stout-Gingerbread.  Our last batch of Hard Apple Cider caramels of the season will be on sale tomorrow too, so step lightly!

Also on the table will be our Barley-Tea and Honey Lollipops, Pecan-Brown Sugar Brittle, Honeycomb, and standard candy bars – Snacker, Lime-In-The-Coconut and the famous King.  Come hungry!

We also want to let you all know that we’ll be donating 10% of our sales tomorrow to Heart To Heart International, to help aid victims of the Haiti earthquake.  This also extends to our online store, tomorrow through next Friday.  Thanks in advance for all your support.

We’re so excited to see you all tomorrow!  Here’s to 2010.

As you may also know, the beer is made by the renowned Brooklyn Brewery.

What you probably don’t know is that we only JUST got around to telling them about it.  We were apprehensive — would they be excited about the candy?  Mad that we didn’t tell them before?  Bored by our lengthy account of how all these crazy sweets came into existence?

Lucky us — they’re super cool!  I had the privilege of seeing all the big shiny machines, meeting some of the mucho nice employees, and wandering in (be still, my heart) the massive warehouse — before hauling cases upon cases of delicious Brooklyn Brown Ale, East India Pale Ale, and just-back-in-season Chocolate Stout back to the kitchen.  ALL of which — cross my heart — got reduced to go into delicious caramels for you folk.  It hurts sometimes, being such givers…but that’s how we roll.

Henceforth, we’re adding Brooklyn’s awesome, old-school logo to our products featuring their fantastic potions — in order to give them due credit for the flavor we’ve been poaching from them thus far.  We have some other packaging overhauls going on in the meantime as well, but those are more for us; we’re evolving aesthetically, and feel that a schmancier look is in order.

Don’t worry.  We won’t get all snooty on you.

As for the Flea tomorrow, the now-famed Slurtles will be making their triumphant return!  In case you’ve been hiding under a candy rock, these are our Drunken Turtles — featuring our Brooklyn Brown Ale/IPA caramel and dark chocolate poured over bar-appropriate snacks, and topped with dark chocolate.  We have Pretzel and Potato Chip varieties, both delicious in their own special ways; we encourage you to try both and let us know which you like better.

Your humble blogger will be out of town for a few days on chocolate-related business — but look for online store-related news in the coming weeks.  Get excited!