Resourceful dads come up with crowd-pleasing organic chocolate bars
Certainly, there’s sugar everywhere. You may have a hankering for the traditional, mass-produced Mars bars and bionic sours on every corner, or wish to hold out for a more sophisticated free-trade 70% cacao gourmet morsel with enough antioxidants to be classified as a superfood. What about a little bit…
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Whole food candy bars inspired by the roaring ’20s
Bixby & Co. is a fledgling candy bar company with a knack for making delectable sweet treats from whole foods and organic ingredients. Hoping to reinvent the classic American snack, McAleer began producing vegan, non-GMO and gluten-free treats with half the sugar of a traditional candy bar, drawing inspiration from her adventurous great-great-grandparents, Lillian and William K. Bixby, for the chocolate’s 1920s packaging and irreverent attitude. Combining a health-conscious culinary sophistication with that sense of sporty nostalgia, Bixby bars are all about the fusion of whole foods and silky chocolate in a compact treat.
First launched in December 2011, McAleer’s unlikely education spanned Chinese, art history and design before settling in the pastry arts. Her shop, located in New York’s Hudson Valley, produces each of Bixby & Co.’s handmade bars. Eco-conscious to the last, the packaging is composed of soy ink printed on FSC-certified paper. McAleer’s sustainability efforts have won the bars Rainforest Alliance Certification and a membership in Youth Trade.
McAleer’s art and design education shines through in the throwback packaging. Cheeky names like “Whippersnapper” and “Knockout” theme the bars, which are mostly inspired by leisure sports of the ’20s. “Heart’s Delight“—a seductive combination of dark chocolate, almonds, dried strawberries and ceylon cinnamon—features an etching of famed ballroom dancers Vernon and Irene Castle. The newly introduced “Mulligan” and “Birdie” flavors are a his-and-hers pair that pay tribute to McAleer’s days as a golfer.
As the popularity of bean-to-bar chocolate compels confectioners to reconsider sweets, Bixby & Co. is turning that same passion for ingredients toward the candy bar. The flavors are inspired by McAleer’s time abroad in China, where unlikely flavor marriages along the silk road have bred rich regional cuisines. McAleer’s tribute to China, “To the Nines” brings together white chocolate, goji berries, pistachios, almonds and cardamom. “I had this equation of chocolate, fruit, nut and spice that occurred to me,” says McAleer. After a a dose of sweet chocolate and sour fruit, the lingering taste is often a spice—ranging from savory fleur de sel to spicy tellicherry black pepper. The addition of organic brown rice crisp lightens the bar considerably, separating elements and making for a more delicate texture.
Bixby & Co. chocolate bars are available from the company’s online shop.
Images by James Thorne
Re-imagining traditional candy bars
Herds of experimental chocolate makers have entered the game in recent years, while the crowd championing traditional American candy bars remains much more subdued. Brooklyn-based Liddabit Sweets is one of a few confectionaries aiming to reverse-engineer the classic bar with a heritage touch. While we’ve enjoyed their creative caramels in the past (particularly the “Beer & Pretzel” variety), we were once again impressed by the marriage of classic flavors and natural ingredients in their signature “Snack’r” candy bar.
Founders Liz Gutman and Jen King became friends in culinary school, bonding over their shared vision of taking high-end confectionary beyond classic French bonbons and molded chocolates. Shortly after introducing their sweets to the Brooklyn Flea’s “Smorgasburg“, they were able to quit their day jobs to maintain what remains a small operation making bars cut and dipped by hand. Materials for their creations are sourced locally, with honey from the Tremblay Apiaries, chocolate from Taza, dairy from Ronnybrook and beer from the Brooklyn Brewery.
Mother’s Day marks an expansion in the Liddabits line with the addition of “Lemon Moe-ringue“, a tart and tangy take on a classic meringue with lemon agar jelly candy topped with bruléed lemon-zest marshmallow, named for King’s mom. An ode to Gutman’s mother, the yet-to-be-released “Janberry Shortcake” layers strawberry jelly candy and tarragon shortbread under a coating of white chocolate. Also in the works is the “Vegan Coconut-Ginger Caramel”, which promises a wacky departure from the more traditional fare.
Liddabit Sweets will be offering a “Mamacita Gift Package” for Mother’s Day, and the duo have plans to release a cookbook this coming Fall. All the goods can be found at the Liddabit Sweets online store.
Photos by James Thorne
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