We begin crafting this “sip” with a Darjeeling black tea caramel, topped with a cinnamon and cardamom infused ganache. Covered in glossy, crisp and sweet milk chocolate, this treat should fill your senses with the soothing sensations of a warm cup of Indian chai.

By the time Ami would fly to India for her summer holidays, the mango season (April, May and June) would be nearly over. However, as the monsoons started (June, July and August), her grandmother would keep a box of mangoes hidden in the pantry, covered with dark paper and sneak them to Ami when the other kids weren’t looking so she should get her share of the luscious fruit. The Monsoon Mango is inspired by this memory with the mango ganache paired with a ginger caramel and both covered in dark chocolate.

Served at the festival marking the commencement of the harvest season in India, Thandai is a milky drink infused with almonds, cashews, melon seeds, poppy seeds, saffron, cardamom, rose petals and black pepper. Never more than a mere taste was allowed to us as children for the frequency with which this drink was also brewed with Cannabis leaves (“bhang”). Our ode to that taste has a black pepper caramel topped with a saffron and cardamom ganache, coated in milk chocolate and topped with almonds. However, no “bhang” in our flavor profile!

India’s version of an after-dinner digestif, the “paan” is a bitter betel nut leaf folded around a filling of rose petal jam, fennel seeds, limestone powder, mint and so many other aromatics, dipped in a sweet rose syrup and coated in coconut. Our modern twist on this acquired taste is a bitter dark chocolate filled with a rose petal caramel and a fennel and coconut infused ganache.

A traditional Maharashtrian celebration dessert, a modak is a rice flour dumpling stuffed with poppy seeds, nutmeg and coconut. Our modern spin on this happy flavor memory is a poppy seed and nutmeg caramel, topped with a coconut ganache and coated in a smooth and thin layer of white chocolate.

Ami’s mother made her a cup of warm milk steeped with saffron, cardamom and crushed pistachios every morning through her childhood. With a saffron and cardamom infused ganache, coated in white chocolate and topped with a roasted, salted pistachio, the Masala Milk derives directly from those moments of sips of an orange-yellow hued cup of warmth and love. 

Southern India is known for consumption of very strong and rich, chicory blended coffee. The Madrasi Meltaway honors that tradition with chicory, coffee and cardamom scented ganache coated with a bitter dark chocolate. In experimenting with temperatures and composition, the ganache is such that it melts in the mouth leaving you with a lingering taste of Madras.

Childhood bake sales in Northern NJ were a challenge for Ami with her sweet mother sending her off with freshly made Nankatai biscuits to answering the kids clamoring for chocolate chip cookies. However, explaining the delights of this shortbread-like cookie, flavored with warming spices and topped with a musky Charoli nut is a challenge no longer! For letting us translate your love into a nutmeg ganache, saffron caramel and white chocolate coated bonbon, topped with a delicious Charoli nut, thanks mom!  

A savory street food in India with a fried shell stuffed with a spicy potato and sprout filling and topped with different chutneys, this dish inspired a Cacao Chaos treat for the sweet sauces that make Pani Puri sing! With a mint caramel topped with a tamarind infused ganache with a touch of salt and coated in white chocolate, this bonbon is an unexpected delight!

The quintessential dessert of our childhoods was the Coconut Burfi, a fudge-like bar made of coconut (of course!) and variations of jaggery, milk, simple syrup, condensed milk or cream. Our modern twist on this involves a coconut infused ganache and a cardamom caramel enrobed in bitter-sweet dark chocolate.