New York Magazine

(Photo: Dwight Eschliman)

The Sweet
1. Chocolat Michel Cluizel Brownies
Seth Greenberg, son of William Jr., has brownies in his blood, but these super-fudgy specimens are made with Michel Cluizel 72 percent cacao chocolate and sold only at the chocolatier’s Stateside boutique ($45 a dozen; 888 Broadway, at 19th St.; 212-477-7335).

2. Venchi Assenzio
With absinthe newly trendy, the market has grown for this exotic Turin-made dark-chocolate bar flavored with wormwood extract and dill—just the sort of curiosity you’d expect to find at the funky new Spuyten Duyvil Grocery ($5; 218 Bedford Ave., at N. 5th St., Williamsburg; 718-384-1520).

3. Jacques Torres’s Mudslide-Cookie Mix
If a batch of these cookies strategically placed by the hearth on Christmas Eve doesn’t get the little ones in good with Santa, nothing will ($12.95; 350 Hudson St., nr. King St.; 212-414-2462).

4. Papabubble Candy
The Barcelona-based confectioner’s new Soho shop handcrafts psychedelic Cindy Lou Who–size lollipops, plus little nuggets in flavors like kiwi and passion fruit ($4 to $15; 380 Broome St., nr. Mulberry St.; 212-966-2599).

5. Vosges Peanut-Butter Bonbons
The greatest thing to happen to peanut butter and chocolate since Reese’s. The ingredients are organic, and each bonbon is sprinkled with sea salt ($27 for nine pieces; 1100 Madison Ave., nr. 83rd St; 212-717-2929).

6. 1880 Honey-and-Almond Brittle
This one isn’t local, but Despaña, the excellent Spanish-foods shop that carries it, is. And Marcona almonds make a more sophisticated brittle than Planters peanuts ($10.60; 408 Broome St., nr. Lafayette St.; 212-219-5050).

7. Kyotofu Original Gift Box
A Japanese-inspired assortment of soufflé cupcakes, soybean-pulp-enriched cookies, and “mini miso chokos”—irrefutable proof that chocolate and fermented bean paste really do belong together ($25; 705 Ninth Ave., nr. 49th St.; 212-974-6012).