Feb 01

NAGEL’S CANDY BARN

When you walk into Nagel’s Candy Barn in Wayne, New Jersey the overwhelming aroma makes you feel as if you have died and gone to chocolate heaven. Then you walk through the second set of doors and know you have.

This is one of the largest home made chocolate shops in New Jersey, both by volume of specialty chocolate and square footage. There is not one inch of the store that has wasted space with the 1,000’s of assorted chocolates. At any time you can find a huge selection of truffles, peanut butter bark, caramel stick covered chocolate, and chocolate covered pretzels and all home made in the back kitchen. I highly recommend the chocolate covered peanut butter cups. They are worth every penny with the smoothest chocolate you can find covering an even smoother creamy peanut butter. You want to eat it as slowly as you can to savor the taste.

Holidays are a special place at Nagel’s whether it is Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, or Christmas. You can see all of the work that goes into lovingly making these specialty chocolates and their displays.

My most recent visit was for Valentine’s Day. There is a range of enormous to small heart containers that you can fill yourself. The seasonal chocolates include solid hearts, flowers, love notes, and chocolate covered strawberries. The store is decorated with such care with ribbons, hearts, and bows for Valentine’s Day. One can see all the hours of labor and love put into Nagel’s.

Nagel’s is truly a landmark of North Jersey. They have been doing business for over 40 decades. Those that have moved out of state and come back often make a special trip to Nagel’s. In their 70’s, Mrs. Nagel runs the Wayne location and Mr. Nagel runs the Randolph location. They have no website, take cash only, and are closed July and most of August. If you love chocolate and home made foods this is a place to visit.

Locations: 1512 Rt 23, Wayne NJ 07470, 973-694-4657
358 Rt 10, Randolph, NJ 07869, 973-361-1688

Jan 25

Jersey Devil Chocolates

The Jersey Devil Chocolate is a dark chocolate bar with chipotle spice and cranberries.  It was named after the Jersey Devil who has been part of New Jersey folklore for over 250 years and some say still lurks in the New Jersey Pine Barrens.

When coming up with the idea of Jersey Devil Chocolates the Waksman Family could not have done a better job, dark chocolates, super fruits, and spice. This specialty chocolate bar combines them all nicely.  New Jersey is the third largest producer of cranberries and combing that with the spicy devil is a great tribute to the state.

When you open the wrapper you see a beautiful dark chocolate bar.  When you break off a piece you can see pink and red cranberries popping out at you. Don’t let the devil and flames on the packaging fool you.  The spice is not overpowering or burning.  When you first taste the chocolate it is the sweetness of the cranberries that sits on your tongue.  A moment later you say “OH!  There’s the devil spice!”  The combination with the smooth dark chocolate is very unique.

This specialty chocolate bar is a find for North Jersey Foodies.  Another thing we love is that it is a truly a North Jersey family business.  The Waksman family came up with the idea together over dinner, blended and sampled together, and their fourteen year old son drew the picture of the devil for the packaging.

 

You can check out more on their website www.JerseyDevilChocolates.com, Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/JerseyDevilChocolates, Amazon Jersey Devil Chocolates – Dark Chocolate, Chili and Cranberries – Chocolate Bar Chocolate.com, Find the Perfect Valentine’s Day Gift at Chocolate.com

If you have any other great North Jersey Foodie finds please post a reply for all of us to discover!

Visit Jersey Devil Website