Golden Tickets

Who hasn't watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and fantasized about getting their hands on all the sweet items in the heavenly chocolate factory? Well, this fictional delight is coming to life. Nestle-owned Wonka candy is slipping Golden Tickets into bars of its premium line of chocolates aptly named Exceptionals bars. The ten lucky winners of the grand prize along with three of their friends will be invited to take a trip around the world plus $12,500 in spending money. Among other prizes are free airline vouchers, Ticketmaster gift cards, movie certificates and chocolate, of course!

The Exceptionals line of chocolate bars come in three sweet flavors: Scrumdiddlyumptious which is made with toffee pieces, crispy cookies and crunchy peanuts all layered in pure milk chocolate, Chocolate Waterfall is a delectable combination of creamy white chocolate and velvety milk chocolate, and Domed Dark Chocolate is a bar made of rich dark chocolate topped with milk chocolate drops. At $5 a bar, the Exceptionals line is Wonka's exclusive line of chocolate. Get your chocolate fix with a Wonka bar available at Dylan's Candy Bar.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Dylan's Candy Bar

Cupcakes, Anyone?

If you are actively drooling over these mini delights like I am then I suggest you try out the recipe for these killer brown sugar, pecan, caramel frosting cupcakes courtesy of Chik n' Pastry. Get bakin'!

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Chik n' Pastry

America's Worst Fries

Would you like fries with that order? Well, of course, is that even a question anymore? Our love of french fries is unquestionable and has led to some interesting creations of the French culinary classic like chili cheese and gravy soaked fries. With the undoubted tastiness of these concoctions comes the caloric heftiness. David Zinczenko along with Matt Goulding, authors of Eat This, Not That have put together a list of America's worst french fries (not according to taste, of course, but according to their nutritional index). And the worst possible order of fries? Drum roll, please....
Chili's Texas Cheese Fries with Jalapeño Ranch pack a whopping 1,920 calories, 147 grams of fat and 3,580 milligrams of sodium. Well, we were warned, everything's bigger in Texas...

Want to see the rest of the list and where your favorite fries rank? Read America's Worst French Fries (and What You Should Eat Instead!)

Photo Credit: Courtesy of iStock

Pizza Cones!

Move over Chicago deep-dish and NYC pizza and make room for...Portuguese cone rolls? Leave it to the trendy Manhattanites to break-in this new food trend. After seeing the success of the pizza cone in Brazil, Portugal, and Italy, former Lisbon banker, Ingo Pinto decided to bring this venture to the ultimate grounds to test success: New York City. K! Pizzacone in Manhattan had it's grand opening this week and the verdict isn't out yet. How does it work? Well, here's the scoop: the cones are shipped in from a Connecticut bakery and are made to order. You've got your standard toppings to choose from like plain cheese and tomato, some not-so-standard ones like BBQ chicken and chili and even more nontraditional ingredients like scrambled egg and sweet toppings like chocolate and banana flambé make they're way onto the menu. Once you've settled on a topping, your cone is placed in the oven and it's ready to enjoy in five minutes flat.

What's your take? Are pizza cones the new pizza evolution or just a glitzy trend that's destined for failure?

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Gothamist

(Camel) Milk Chocolate

Get ready for some seriously innovative chocolate! Al Nassma, a Dubai-based premium chocolate company is preparing to make its camel milk chocolate available to U.S. consumers within the next few months. Al Nassma’s chocolates are the first in the world to be made of camel milk. This brand new company, founded last October, has a farm filled with 3,000 camels exclusively for milk production and GM Martin Van Almsick says the company aims to produce 100 tons of the premium chocolate a year. Al Nassma plans not only to expand to the U.S. but also Europe, Japan and Australia and there are plans for opening up an online store. Van Almsick told Reuters that Al Nassma aims “to be the Godiva of the Middle East” and apparently if they reach success in the global market a comparison may not be necessary. The chocolates contain no chemicals or preservatives and are laced with local spices, nuts and honey. Besides having five times the amount of vitamin C compared to cow milk, camel milk contains less fat and lactose and more insulin making it more appealing to diabetics and the lactose-intolerant. I’m anticipating trying this new chocolate—how about you?

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Al Nassma