Ballantyne Magazine covers news, events, real estate, restaurants, shopping, health, schools and business in the upscale Ballantyne Area of Charlotte, NC.
Issue link: https://ballantynemagazine.epubxp.com/i/42111
BALLANTYNE | cover story Cocoa is still king. It gathers family and friends together over the holidays via chocolate-laced cookies, chocolate-iced cakes and much more. Check out the chocolate- covered strawberries at The Gallery Restaurant (top), Gallery Restaurant's Decadent Chocolate Cake (right) and the Chai Masala Latte cupcake from The Blushing Bakeshop (below). with cream cheese frosting and cinnamon — is named. "Our most popular filled chocolate cupcake is our Matthew, which is a chocolate cupcake filled with chocolate- peanut butter ganache and topped with peanut butter buttercream," Foster continues. "People love him. It's one of our more popular ones. It's really rich and decadent. I'm not a huge peanut butter fan but he's up there on my list." Visit the store's website, www.theblushingbakeshop.com to check which days of the week your favorite flavors appear. Cupcakes are $2.75-$3 each. The Real Deal Sometimes nothing but chocolate will do, and for 36 BALLANTYNE MAGAZINE those times head to Kilwin's, 14835 Ballantyne Village Way. Whether it's truffles, nonpareils, fudge, chocolate- dipped Twinkies or chocolate ice cream, Kilwin's has the fix — and 80 percent of it's made in store. Owner George Click says milk chocolate is by far the most popular fudge, which runs $14.95 per pound, but chocolate peanut butter and Ballantyne Mud (vanilla- based fudge with chocolate folded in with a ribbon of caramel down the center) also rate high. Click's faves are German chocolate fudge and double dark fudge. Strawberries, $24.95 per pound, are hand-dipped on- site in milk, white or dark chocolate, and people travel to get them by special order. Last February's Valentine's Day strawberry sales doubled from the year before. The store's glass cases brim with chocolate — from the pecan tuttles (Kilwin's version of the "turtle") and Bombe truffles to chocolate-dipped Oreos, Rice Krispies treats, marshmallows, gummy worms, CELEBRATING TEN YEARS 2000-2010 Twinkies and more. S'mores come ready-made here for nights when you want to make the gas fireplace seem more decadent. Click recommends popping the s'mores in the microwave for a few seconds for that campfire feel. What sets Kilwin's apart? Taste for yourself, but Click explains that it's all about how the chocolate is made. "Our chocolate doesn't have any of the wax and paraffin in it that make other chocolates really shiny and pretty," he says. "Our truffles might not be the prettiest truffles in the world, for example, but when you eat them you get that pure chocolate flavor." WINTER 2010-2011