9 Holiday Sweets, Treats & Eats That Will Dazzle Confections Enthusiasts
Chef Sonya Jones, Famed Author of Sweet Auburn Desserts, Inspires Our Love for Desserts
During the holiday season, many revel in the delightful decadence of candies, cakes, cookies and other delicacies. Countless have family and friends who love indulging in enchantingly delicious desserts and would welcome them as gifts or to just savor at holiday parties and gatherings.
Famed Chef Sonya Jones, author of Sweet Auburn Desserts: Atlanta’s “Little Bakery That Could” and owner of Sweet Auburn Bread Company, totally gets it. She’s been fulfilling bakery orders for over 23 years. Her southern-inspired desserts, breads, and pastries have garnered accolades and praises from the likes of President Bill Clinton, Food Network phenom Rachel Ray, CNN and Southern Living, and countless others. Her incredible recipes include Raspberry Cream Pie, Red Velvet Layer Cakes, the Naked Hummingbird Muffin, Peanut Butter Pound Cake, Blackberry Jam Jellyroll Cake, and of course, President Clinton’s choice — the Sweet Potato Cheesecake, among many more.
Whether with her cookbook or at her historic Auburn Avenue bakery, she encourages dessert aficionados to indulge in their love for confections and to spread holiday cheer through treats for others during this holiday season. For this holiday desserts guide, I asked Chef Sonya to share why sweets are so favored and why they would make great gifts.
“Sweets make us happy,” shares Chef Sonya. “Some of us were born with ‘a sweet tooth’ and we often look forward to the adventure of a new treat. Desserts offer an array of options from gourmet bakery goods to chocolates and candy. Innovative gourmet sweets, artfully packaged, make impressive gifts to give to others.”
Sweet Auburn Bread Company Sweet Potato Cheesecake
http://www.sweetauburnbread.com/
This delectable dessert is Chef Sonya’s fancy adaptation of the Southern version of the ever-popular cheesecake. Combining dual Southern staples that people love, sweet potatoes and pound cake, she creates this delectable, culinary delight. Pairing the creamy sweet potato filling with the cake crust, she served it to President Bill Clinton on a visit to her store at the Auburn Avenue Curb Market it. He loved it then and so many of her clients and customers love it now.
Delysia Ruby Collection Chocolate Truffle
https://delysia.com/shop/ruby-collection-chocolate-truffles/
This tantalizing nine-piece collection, consisting of classic ruby chocolate truffles, sparkling ruby chocolate truffles, and spiced Ratnanayaka chocolate truffles, is the first ever artisanal Ruby Chocolate Truffle Collection. The classic has sweet and tart chocolates with fruity finishes. The sparkling is infused with sparkling rosé wine, chocolate ganache, rose petals, and dried strawberries. The spice has an exceptional blend garam masala, smoked paprika, adobe peppers, citrus, and a proprietary spice blend.
Swiss Colony Butter Toffee
https://www.swisscolony.com/c/candy-chocolates/
This delicious, buttery, and savory toffee is the perfect gift for yourself or others. You can’t eat just one of the tasty treats. It’s just heavenly. The award-winning toffee received the esteemed Wisconsin State Fair Seal of Excellence. Made with real butter, crushed almonds, and covered in milk chocolate, it is placed in their signature tin for a wonderfully seasonal effect.
Wisconsin Cheeseman Fruit and Nut Breads and Crème Assortment
https://www.wisconsincheeseman.com/p/fruit-and-nut-breads-and-cremes-F13187.html
This thoughtful gift variety of Apple, Lemon, Banana, Blueberry and Carrot Breads are accompanied by sweet and delicious cremes like filbert, honey, cinnamon, and vanilla. The assortment is ideal to gift someone or to serve at your holiday gathering.
Jacques’ Favorites Hat Box
https://mrchocolate.com/collections/hat-boxes
Wow that special person with chocolates from Jacques Torres’ elegant Hat Box Collection. It is inclusive of 25-piece Jacques Choice Chocolates, 10-Piece Champagne Truffles, 18-Piece Assorted Caramels, Dark Chocolate Orange-A-Peel, Chocolate Covered Malt Balls, 6 Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Classic Hot Chocolate. In addition to the hat box, other seasonal choices from Jacques’ holiday collection to consider are Winter Wonderland Bonbons, Hanukkah Bonbons, The First Noel Christmas Bonbons and peppermint chocolate chip cookies.
Bloombae’s
When only the most special of holiday gift-giving touches will do, order Bloombae’s. The handcrafted bouquet of chocolate truffles, in decorative keepsake buckets, are such a delight. They are melt-in-your-mouth delicious and are an especially creative holiday touch.
Eat2Explore
A great present for families with young children, give the educational and tasty gift of the eat2explore experience. The “explorer box” will be sent to families once a month. They’ll discover different cuisines from around the world. The box includes nonperishable products, easy recipes, brochures from the month’s selected country, activity sheet, flag pin, country sticker and a cool collectible.
Chocolate Pizza Company
https://www.chocolatepizza.com/
Add a uniquely delicious touch of pizazz to your holiday gathering with a specialty dessert from the Chocolate Pizza Company. The The Holly Berry Chocolate Pizza (as shown in intro photo) is a handcrafted pizza that includes gourmet chocolate, English toffee, green candied pecans, red dried cranberries, and a hand-scripted white chocolate greeting. Other selections include the Snowflake Chocolate Pizza and the Hanukkah Chocolate Pizza.
Gourmet Popcorn by Candied by Tricia Briley
https://candiedbytriciabriley.com/
You haven’t really tasted gourmet popcorn until you have discovered the delectable creation of Candied by Tricia Briley. Tasty flavors include Cinnamon Bun, Buffalo Ranch, Banana Pudding, Cheesecake, Key Lime, Red Velvet and Cookies and Cream. The exquisitely delicious taste of the spirit-infused Crown Royal Apple, Crown Royal Peach, and Hennessy popcorn are popular.
Leslie E. Royal is an author, international freelance writer, product review expert, social media influencer, and global travel journalist. Her articles have appeared in numerous publications including: ESSENCE, Black Enterprise, FORTUNE.com, AAA Southern Traveler, Upscale, Upscale Living, and The Ashro Blog. She is the creator of the Leslie’s Lane consumer information blog and author of two books: Leslie Lane The Book!: Your One Stop Internet Resource Guide to Links for Jobs, Inspiration, Discounts, FREE Stuff, Scholarships, Travel & More ( $14.95) — How to Write and Self-Publish Your Book for FREE with Amazon’s KDP: An Easy Way to Complete Your Manuscript in Seven Stress-Free Steps (Leslie’s Lane Inc.) ($9.95) Follow Leslie! Instagram and Amazon Author page
