A New Year

From Miette

A short while ago, we received some sad news: after nearly 3 wonderful years, our beloved Confiserie would be closing. We were the saddest candygirls in town. We stopped ordering candy (but we love ordering candy!), looked into Unemployment (wasting valuable Cakewrecks time!), and invested in waterproof mascara (there were some tears shed). We sold through our candy, and prepared to step into new roles at Miette, or elsewhere.

Tomorrow was to be our last day, but we have some surprising, amazing news! Thanks to some last-minute re-negotiations, we are keeping our darling candy shop! Instead of a day of sad good-byes, it will be a day of festive yays!

We will be taking this opportunity to close (just for a few days!) for a makeover montage, Miette-style. There will be some cleaning, some painting, some 80s Cooperation Music, and a mad dash to get as much candy back in the shop as we can! We're not doing anything crazy like changing the wallpaper (can you imagine?!), just a nice spruce & refresh as we move into our new year.

Thank you to everyone who's been so kind, and concerned, and just grand these past few weeks, and these past few years! We hope to see you soon, and for a long time to come!

Confiserie Hours
December 31st: 11am-3pm
January 1st-6th: CLOSED
January 7th & Beyond: 11am-7pm Everyday

Miette Advent Calendar Day 24: All together now- "And a Partridge in a Pear..."

From Miette

...let's go with "And a partridge & a pear!"

It's Christmas eve, but your loyal Miette elves have kept our little shops fully decked with all kinds of festive treats. Somehow our bakers were able to finish one last batch of decorated cookies, we don't know how they do it. This year we're making Penguins, Trees, Gingerbread Folk, and the lovely Partridge & Pear you see above. Pop into the shops while they last!

!!All Miette shops close at 3pm today, and will be closed all day tomorrow! We have trees to trim and nog to spike and mistletoe to hang!!

December 24th: Decorated Cookies
Availability: Very limited quantities at each shop!
Price: $10/each

Miette Advent Calendar Day 23: These are 3 times as cute as they look in the photo.

From Miette

Diane of Maison Bouche has outdone herself this year! She's created an entire line of wintery, woodlandy, faux-boisy wonders. Fleur de Sel Chocolate Clogs! Lavender Logs! Milk & Dark Chocolate Acorns! Caramel Praline Logs! We're sold out of most of those (d'oh!), but we have lots of gorgeous Marzipan Pinecones, because we saved those for last!

I cannot get enough marzipan, but unfortunately lots of the marzipan in the world is super-cute! & super-gross! like paste! Don't worry, we don't sell any of those. I happily go for the cute-but-good style, but Diane went all-out: subtle, creamy, sophisticated marzipan surrounded by snappy dark chocolate. Even fancier, the marzipan comes in classic almond, bergamot, and rose. You know our customers are bergamot & floral crazy. Maybe you don't know that- they totally are.

December 23rd: Maison Bouche Marzipan Pinecones
Availability: Ferry Building, Octavia, Chestnut
Price: $14 for set of 6, in the cute box you see above
Notes: Contains nuts, of course! Handmade in Oakland!

{Wholesome Holiday Activity of the Day: Go for a lovely outdoor swim at Mission Pool. You'll feel like you're in Sweden, with the steam rising magically from the water and the moon overhead (if you go at night). $5, in the beautifully mural-ed building on 19th (not 18th!) between Valencia & Guerrero}

Miette Advent Calenday Day 21: Ah, from the mouths of babes

From Miette

This year, we've been very proud to offer, for the very first time, Adorable Milk Chocolate Mrs. Claus! Finally! We're not entirely sure what Mrs. Claus' role is in the North Pole pantheon, but we're sure she contributes quite a bit, and deserves to be commemorated in delicious chocolate form. She's rosy of cheek, pleasantly plump, and sporting a holly tiara that we all really, really need. Hey, you have to work Christmas eve, you might as wear a fabulous holly tiara.

One young customer was not very impressed, however. When his mom suggested Mrs. Claus as his treat, he retorted, "I'm not going to eat an old lady!". That's the kind of quote that gets us through the day!

December 21st: Mrs. Claus
Availability: Ferry Building, Octavia, Chestnut
Price: $2

P.S. Yes, I finally missed an advent calendar day yesterday. What finally did me in? The 1-2-3-4 punch of:
1.Tiny surprise birthday party before work for our fantastic assistant manager
2.glorious Chrislamikkah celebrations
3. Gingerbread house building competition- I mean party!
4. Miette stocking-stuffer holiday candy extravaganza at Jack London Square

To make up for my lapse, here's a new holiday feature: Wholesome Holiday Activity of the Day!
{Today's Wholesome Holiday Activity}: Watch "Emmett Otter's Jugband Christmas" It is the most darling, simple, and sweet of all the Muppet movies, and you'll really feel like you're in the snowy countryside. They nailed it, right down to that particular winter light. Get cozy, and enjoy.

Totes!

From Miette

Get yourself to the brand-new, not-quite-finished, but still nice-&-pink Miette in Jack London Square, and get yourself a free Miette tote! With Purchase! Today, 10-2!

From Miette

We've got the cutest stocking-stuffers in town: little milk chocolate Mrs. Claus, traditional (& hilarious) Christmas crackers, peppermint meringue Snowflakes, marzipan snowpeople, and tiny penguin truffles. Yes, penguins!

From Miette

It may be foggy, but it's easy to feel holiday-cozy surrounded by all these lovely-smelling trees and twinkly lights!

Sunday 12.20.09

10am-2pm, during the Farmers' Market!

Jack London Square

Miette Advent Calendar Day 19: Two of our favorite things, together at last

From Miette

Ribbon Candy! It's so ribbony! People ask for this year round, but we like to wait for the winter holidays and go all-out.

From Miette

We have two favorite types of ribbon candy. The first is hot pink & chartreuse & we sold out before I could take a photo! The second, that you see above & below, is lovingly handmade by Hammond's of Colorado. Each peice is unique, and the colors are so christmassy classic.

From Miette

Of course, some of them would also make a great gift for your favorite Italian.

December 19th: Hammond's Ribbon Candy

Availability: Ferry Building, Octavia, Chestnut

Price: $7

Miette Advent Calendar Day 18: I finally learned to spell "poinsettia"

From Miette

Live poinsettias are so fun in their over-the-top leafy splendor (I especially love the salmon-pink ones!), but sometimes one can't get one's act together enough during the holidays to care for a new, slightly high-maintenance plant. There's wine to mull & ribbons to curl! Six-inch ribbon curls!

But a chocolate poinsettia...dessert & decoration in one...now that's holiday efficiency.

December 18th: Poinsettia Bombonierre Availability: Ferry Building, Octavia, Chestnut Price: $10 Notes: Made in Italy; Each petal is a candy-coated chocolate hand-wrapped in cellophane

Miette Advent Calendar Day 17: Modular Holiday Fun

From Miette

These gingerbread house kits are so awesome & Ikeaesque! Whip yourself up some simple icing/mortar, connect Panel A to Wall 3, and then you're ready for the fun part. Decorating with candy. We can all be the wicked, architectural genius witch from Hansel & Gretel (played by Lady GaGa in the current Vogue)! Maybe a bit less wicked.

December 17th: Gingerbread House Kit
Availability: Ferry Building, Octavia, Chestnut
Price: $8
Notes: Made in Sweden

Miette Advent Calendar Day 16: So, the list has been checked...

From Miette

...and apparently, y'all have been quite naughty this year, because the candy coal is flying off the shelf. It helps that the coal is handmade, a delightful cinnamon flavor (we detect hints of tea-tree & other lovely herbs...), and your classic coal-miner font. Miners are all about the serif.

December 16th: Hammond's Candy Coal
Availability: Ferry Building, Octavia, Chestnut
Price: $4/bag (or $15/lb, at Octavia only)
Notes: I almost forgot the best part! The coal turns the deserving recipient's mouth blue! Don't tell!

Miette Advent Calendar Day 15: Tasteful, & Not-So

From Miette

Hammond's handmade candy canes have become a winter tradition here at Miette! Just look at how simple & tasteful & quintessentially candy-caney they are! Everything you could hope for in a candy cane, in seasonal flavors such as peppermint, cinnamon, apple pie, cranberry, and more!

December 15th : Hammond's Candy Canes
Availability: Ferry Building, Octavia, Chestnut
Price: $4
Notes: These are large! Approximately 10 inches!

From Miette

On a more personal note, the Candyshop girls would like to thank the dollar-stores of San Francisco, especially the one on 16th between Valencia & Mission, for stocking such awesome holiday decorations. We had our winter-holiday party last night, and there was hot-pink & gold tinsel galore. As much as we love double-satin ribbon, and hand-wrapped artisan chocolate bars, come quittin' time sometimes a girl just needs some glitter, some gaudy, and some Dolly.

Miette Advent Calendar Day 14: Super-Festive!

From Miette

Ah, the things that photographs reveal! This was supposed to be a picture of the holiday party favorite, Papillotes! They are shiny, pretty, come in all different flavors (chocolate-orange, marzipan, pate du fruit), and have really terrible French jokes inside the wrapper. The perfect candy to break the ice at a cocktail party!

I thought you might also like to see the beautiful Italian Bombonierres: candy-coated chocolates, painstakingly wrapped to mimic flowers! They look lovely tied to the top of a package, or in a little vase on your holiday table.

But when I look at this photo, all I see is the dust on the cash register! Yesterday we were open at our new Jack London Square location for the very first time, so we had to dig out the ol' cash register from way back in our Berkeley Farmers' Market days! Dusty!

December 14th: Papillotes!
Availability: Ferry Building, Octavia, Chestnut
Price: 75cents
Notes: The flavor is a surprise!

December 14th Bonus Candy: Bombonierres
Availability: Ferry Building, Octavia, Chestnut (types vary by shop!)
Price: $5-$10, depending on type

Miette Advent Calendar Day 13: Candelabras & Butterflies

From Miette

Happy 1st full day of Hanukkah! We think these coins are some of the prettiest chocolates we've ever seen! Gorgeous!

December 13th: Milk Chocolate Hanukkah Coins
Availability: Ferry Building, Octavia (we were sold out but we got more!), Chestnut
Price: 50cents
Notes: Kosher, of course!

Miette Advent Calendar Day 12, Oakland Edition: Eye-candy counts, right?

From Miette

Guess what! We are so excited. Tomorrow, Sunday, December 13th, the Miettegirls are going to be kickin' it old-school, farmers' market-style at JLS. That's cool slang for Jack London Square.

Our new shop there in Oakland is not quite ready: we're still working on a few essential shop components, such as....a pastry case, but we just couldn't wait any longer! Think of it as a sneak-preview, or a tiny holiday candy bazaar. We've got lots of icicles, gnomes, gelt, the cutest marzipan snowpeople you ever did see, and so many darling & delicious stocking-stuffers.

We won't be serving our cakes & cupcakes & such, but you should totally come anyway. It will be super-fun, I promise. I mean, gnomes! And we have four Christmas trees. Four! Just for you, and your wintery, sugarplum, holiday pleasure.

So, in conclusion...
Miette Sneak-Peek
Sunday December 13th
10am-2pm, during the JLS Farmers' Market
Broadway & Embarcadero, Oakland

December 12th: That gorgeous table you see above. If that table goes missing, all of us, but especially Crystal & I, are suspect.

Miette Advent Calendar Day 11: In which the author realizes she may have bitten off more than she can chew

From Miette

These are super-cute! You should come buy them! That's all I got.

December 11th: Chocolate Mice Ornaments
Availability: Ferry Building, Octavia, Chestnut
Price: $12/box of 6

Miette Advent Calendar Day 10: What Vogue Says, Goes

From Miette

In a fascinating article about the art of stocking-stuffers, the Susie Boyt recommends giving some thought to the scent of the contents. So thorough! One of her suggestions is a clove-pierced orange, but our favorite notion was traditional crackers, for their subtle "gunpowdery smell"! It's just not Christmas without citrus, piney-ness, and explosives!

{Hi again, Santa. You know that white dress on page 213 of December's Vogue? The Yves Saint Laurent one? Thanks!}

December 10th: Crackers!

Availability: Ferry Building, Octavia, Chestnut
Price: $3
Notes: Made in the UK

Field Trip to a Christmas Cake Farm!

From Miette

Very soon, we will have our fancy-pants super-official holiday menus, complete with professionally photographed cakes in all their holiday splendor! In the meantime, here are a few shots I was able to get of the cakes in their natural habitat!

Above, you see the elusive Snowball! It is a wintery cousin to our Princess cake, and is delicate & lovely. The Snowball is 6-inches, and serves approximately 6 people. $35

From Miette

And there's a darling woodland Buche de Noel, adorned with handmade meringue mushrooms, holly leaves, & chocolate pinecones! We suspect this yule log might be home to a gnome!

The smaller logs are 4-inches, and serve 4 people, for $20. The large logs are 10-inches, serve 10-12 people, and are $65.

Call any of our shops to place an order! Please allow 3 days notice.

Miette Advent Calendar Day 9th: And that's when things got festive.

From Miette

Miette is drunk with pride & honor. The geniuses at St. George Spirits have created a custom spirit just for us. A whole jug of it. We are the proud possessors of an entire gallon of beautiful, potent Cherry Eau de Vie. It's amazing! This Eau de Vie was designed for our Holiday Chocolate Almond Bonbons, but if one was to drink it, an eyedropper would be appropriate. It is delicious, sparklingly clean & clear, and perfectly balanced but its alcohol content is sky-high.

From Miette

It's not like I wanted to taste it, of course. Just part of the job.

{Dear Santa,
I've been quite good this year, I think. I'm sure whatever you'd like to bring me will be lovely, but if you're looking for suggestions, St. George Single Malt Whiskey &/or Pear Aqua Perfect would be greatly appreciated. And if there's an extra bottle of their Absinthe in your bag, it would be most welcome on a foggy winter's night. Thank you.}

December 9th: Chocolate Almond Bonbons coming soon!

Miette Advent Calendar Day 8: 11pm! Just in the St. Nick of Time!

From Miette

11pm is way past my bed-time, so all I have to say is, did you know Michel Cluizel just opened their first U.S. shop? It's in New York, and it's open 'till midnight! Midnight at a chocolate shop! If you go, I want to hear all about it.

December 8th: Michel Cluizel's Pere de Noel
Availability: Ferry Building, Octavia, Chestnut
Price: $15
Notes: Made in France, Milk Chocolate with White & Dark Chocolate Details

Miette Advent Calendar Day 7: Yul Brenner Really Had Something There

From Miette

Pinecones are totally edible. When they're milk chocolate.

December 7th: Chocolate Pinecone Ornaments
Availability: Ferry Building, Octavia, Chestnut
Price: $1
Notes: Made in Germany

MIette Advent Calendar Day 6: St. Nicholas in all his Sartorial Splendor

From Miette

Neither the Miette shops nor the Miette blog have any religious affiliation, but when we come across the best-dressed Santa variation we've ever seen, how can we resist? Along with the shamans of far-far-north Europe, St. Nicholas was the inspiration for our Santa Claus. He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, and anonymous gifts to the poor, and was sometimes known as Nicholas the Wonderworker. The Wonderworker! You couldn't really hope for a better nickname. Even though we love secret gift-giving, helping the less-fortunate, and anyone who protects children & students (especially now during finals!), the real reason we fell for St. Nicholas is his amazing outfit. Who else would dare to dress in pink? Just look at the little scallops, and the fuzzy mittens! We suspect St. Nick may also be the patron saint of Miettegirls.

December 6th: Milk Chocolate St. Nicholas
Availability: Ferry Building, Octavia, Chestnut
Price: $5
Notes: Made in Germany

Miette Advent Calendar Day 5: Sweet Relish of Cookie!

From Miette

Thank you, candy-makers, for making our job so fun. Just look at that cute packaging! An amazing swirly font, tiny dots, little gingerbread cottages with smoke coming from the chimney! And inside the perfect little box you'll find tiny gingerbread-flavored pastilles. But the best part is that they don't really taste like gingerbread: they taste exactly like animal crackers! A little lemon, a little vanilla, some subtle warm spices, totally animal crackers! I couldn't tell you why that's our favorite part, I guess we're just contrary.

December 5th: Leone Gingerbread Pastilles
Availability: Octavia only SOLD OUT!
Price: $4
Notes: Made in Italy, Vegan

Miette Advent Calendar Day 4: The Danger Zone

From Miette

I have to admit, we like candy with a little bit of mystery. See the silvery little confection above? We're not sure if it's supposed to be a charming snow umbrella, or a deadly icicle all set to plummet from your tree. You know, icicles are so beautiful. I haven't seen any for so long. It's not their fault if people stand under them on unseasonably warm winter days. Let the icicles be free! They are the ephemeral stalactites of winter!

The icicles we sell are just milk chocolate.

December 4th: Milk Chocolate Icicle/Umbrella
Availability: Ferry Building, Octavia, Chestnut
Price: $1
Notes: Made in Germany

The Fellow of the Snow

From Miette

Really, we should just get all the Michel Cluizel wonders out of the way.

I'd like to introduce the "Bonhomme de Neige", seen around these parts for the very first time! I love that he looks as if he was outfitted by super-culinary French children: candied orange peel for the broom handle & scarf, gold-dusted milk chocolate dragees for antique buttons, and dark milk chocolate for all other details. Yes, gold-dusted! French children do not scrimp when it comes to their snowmen.

December 3rd: White Chocolate Snowman
Availability: Ferry Building, Octavia, Chestnut
Price: $15
Notes: Made in France

Only Day 2, and I barely made it

From Miette

Eeeee!

From Miette

Seriously, eeee!

From Miette

December 2nd: Tiny Retro Milk Chocolate Ornaments
Availability: Ferry Building, Octavia SOLD OUT, Chestnut
Price: 50cents each
Note: Made in Germany

Miette~Your Very Own Advent Calendar

From Miette

Miette has a very strict/completely unofficial holiday policy: we don't put holiday seasonal candy out until the appropriate month. This takes considerable restraint, especially this time of year when everything is so freaking sparkly, but we need a chance to catch our breath after Thanksgiving. Don't you?

But we have a lot of sparkly, twinkly, wintry, wondry candy to pack into December. So! I just decided this very instant to show off a new candy everyday. Anyone want to guess how long before I get distracted by the hustle & the bustle & the carol of the bells, and miss a day? Let's just assume it's going to be awesome, all month long. A winter candy wonderland, just for you, cozy at home. Of course, if you live in San Francisco, please brave the sun/fog/cold/perfect weather to come see us!

December 1st: Milk Chocolate Gnome by Michel Cluizel
I don't even want to think about a winter at Miette without this woodland gentleman. His wavy beard! His hands in his pockets! His...intense eyes! Glorious.
Availability: Ferry Building, Octavia, Chestnut
Price: $12