Hasta La Ideas

Packed in brightly colored geometric patterns, a regional treat pleases the palate and the eye

Taking an age-old confection into the 21st century, Divan‘s Turkish Delights are a classic recipe housed in elegantly modern packaging. Discovered on a recent trip to Istanbul, Divan has been handcrafting these delicious delicacies since 2006. The small sugary cubes are comprised of a base of chopped dates, pistachios and hazelnuts and come in 13 intriguing flavors—including Orange, Rose Aroma, Lemon, Pistachio, Mint, Chocolate, Mastica, Almond, Ginger, Hazelnut, Cinnamon, Coffee, Chocolate Coated Rose.

The gelatin gourmet confections make a great gift for anyone with a discerning sweet tooth. They can be found at Harrods, one of Divan‘s 14 patisseries or specialty shops around the world.

Raw unfiltered honey produced in Seattle backyards

Corky Luster is a Seattle-based certified beekeeper. Two years ago he launched Ballard Bee, an enterprise he calls an “urban pollination company.” His fast-growing initiative includes 60 onsite beehives at his Northwest Seattle home, plans to expand to 100 in the coming year and hives placed throughout his neighborhood. Luster maintains the hives and compensates sponsors for their time and the use of their property with jars of Ballard honey—a deal so sweet that next season’s spots are already filled.

Each jar’s laboratory-inspired packaging lends a modern feel to the product, while the honey itself actually comes in a more natural state than most conventional brands. Whereas many mass producers heat their honey and press it through very fine filters which not only destroys natural enzymes but also alters the taste, Luster’s honey is raw and unfiltered.

Ballard honey sells in 22-ounce jars at vendors throughout the Northwest, as well as online from Blackbird for $21 per jar.

Chocolate to melt away the woes of the U.S.’s biggest shopping day of the year

While Black Friday refers to the day that often finally puts retailers in the black for the first time in the year, other phrases—black tie, black label, black book, black diamond—imply the class of spoils that such a cash infusion might afford. Playing on the concept, Compartes Chocolate’s Black Collection, launched today, makes a fitting gift for a CEO with a sweet tooth.

Impossible to resist, the collection uses premium ingredients—black sesame and wasabi, Macallan single-malt scotch, black truffles, and Guinness Stout—paired with sumptuous patterns in edible ink and organic single-origin dark chocolate (all fair-trade certified from Madagascar, Venezuela and Ecuador) to make each a little handmade jewel of chocolate decadence. L.A. chocolatier Jonathan Grahm, Compartes founder with over 200 seasonal flavors under his belt, created the flavors and explained the process of matching flavors, “I brought in these amazing black truffles and I started to play around with different chocolates to blend them with and came up with something incredible. The Macallan 15-year single-malt scotch is another great ingredient on its own, blending it with luscious dark chocolate compliments its flavor.”

Going on to describe a bit of the philosophy behind the blends, as well as his approach to packaging them, Grahm said, “I wanted to create a unique and different chocolate experience where I can blend these interesting flavors together and let them also stand out on their own. Each box is composed of just these four new black collection truffles allowing you to really get a taste of this interesting and special chocolate combinations.”

Compartes Black Collection premieres Black Friday—26 November 2011—and is available as a twenty piece for $55 and ten piece for $30.

Jazz up cupcakes with the latest in peel-and-press frosting decor

Give store-bought or homemade cupcakes a DIY makeover with Ticings‘ edible icing appliques, a peel-and-press garnish now featuring holiday-inspired and artist-designed sets for the fall season’s perpetual festivities.

Created by award-winning artist Anne Keenan Higgins, the deluxe Halloween kit includes an adorably spooky set of over 80 appliques. Known for her sophisticated yet cartoon-like stationary, Higgins brings her fun-for-all-ages charm to the world of baked goods with standard size and mini Ticings for bite-sized cupcakes, brownies, macaroons and more. The set also comes with an assortment of all-natural dark and white chocolate sprinkles, vanilla sugar, recipes and instructions for the ultimate decorating experience.

A line of limited edition sets, Ticings’ artist-designed series features creations by London-based graphic designer Björn Altmann (shown below), Flavio Mor of Barcelona and L.A.’s Daniel Lu.

Easy to use, Ticings adhere to any soft frosting for a seamless finish. Completely edible, tasteless, kosher, gluten-free and FDA certified, the kits sell online for $15-60, depending on the size of the set. To save a little dough, pick up the party packs from Haute Look between 3-4 October 2010 for sales on a number of different sets.

Halloween images by Sweettoof Studios Inc. and Anne Keenan Higgins

While a no-brainer with ice cream sundaes, the makers behind Izzybelle Chocolate Sauce intend for it to pair well with almost any type of food. Flavors like Orange, Chili Cinnamon or Raspberry perfectly enhance foods spanning nacho chips to chicken with its smooth consistency and subtly balanced taste.

Comprised of both healthier and fewer ingredients than the average chocolate syrup, the Colorado-based chocolatiers create Izzybelle in small batches, maintaining each jar’s high quality flavor.

For a full list of Izzybelle chocolate sauces and an array of toothsome recipes, see their online shop. Each jar runs $13.

Photos by Kristina Sacci