Adult M&Ms: Sweet Cascades Dips WIld Stuff, But Subtle Bite-Sized Candies Go Rosemary, Cayenne

In a place known for wild stuff, the simplest sweet has caught my eye.

Sweet Cascades on Main Street in Ellicott City makes its own chocolates, and they'll dip almost anything in chocolate.  Cheese puffs.  Wine bottles.  Peanut-butter-and-marshmallow-stuffed pretzels.

Chocolate-covered fun

But look on the counter for the simplest chocolates -- small solid candies that they flavor and sell by the quarter pound.  These "savouries" are bite-sized dark chocolates with flavors like orange blossom, lemon zest, and rosemary.  Cayenne pepper had a low warmth.  Rosemary was a revelation -- perfectly measured so that subtle  flavor comes through, but doesn't overwhelm the chocolate.

Imagine adult M&Ms.  No candy shell, but Sweet Cascades' candies are about the same size.  They'd fill a pretty candy bowl if you had guests.  They'd please a candy lover at your home.  They'd even be cool in a Howard County food basket if you found a bag to dress them up.

Don't get me wrong -- Sweet Cascade's crazy stuff is fun too.  They dip salty snacks and breakfast cereal.  They do larger pieces of flavored candy like mini chocolate bars with lavender and salt & pepper.  They will even dip your wine bottle in chocolate -- letting you give a gift where someone can drink the wine, then break chocolate off the bottle for dessert.

Cayenne Pumpkin Seed Brittle At Sweet Cascades

Candy is hard.  You'd think that sugar and butter and nuts would always turn out something delicious, but Mrs. HowChow knows that you need skills (or a good cookbook).

The cayenne pumpkin seed brittle at Sweet Cascades makes the grade with our house's candy chef.  The brittle -- up on the counter at the candy store on Main Street in Ellicott City  -- comes crunchy and sweet.  That's crunch from the brittle, which makes all the difference because bad candy comes off sticky on the teeth.  Then extra crunchiness from the seeds.

Then comes a real punch from the hot pepper.  It's a good amount, but it's serious.  A spiciness that rises in the aftertaste, but doesn't come too strong.  That's adult candy -- or at least a candy meant for kids with serious taste.  Go crunch.  It's worth it.

Lunch Today: CHOCOLATE-COVERED Grilled Cheese and Bacon Sandwich At Sweet Cascades

Chocolate-covered grilled cheese and bacon sandwich

You read the headline right?  Imagine a cheese sandwich.  Add bacon.  Grill it.  Then dip it in chocolate.

That's your lunch today at the Sweet Cascades shop on Main Street in Ellicott City.

The folks who brought you Old Bay chocolates, chocolate-covered breakfast cereal, and some very cool chocolate-covered wine bottles have branched out to lunch.  They make grilled cheese sandwiches, then choco-dip them and artfully drizzled them with white chocolate to finish them off.

I have to admit that I don't know how they taste.   I snapped a photo because we had already eaten ice cream and then lunch on Saturday.  (You read that right too, kids: When you're an adult, you can eat ice cream before lunch.  No one stops you.)

Sweet Cascades takes the sandwich seriously.  They talked up the bread, the cheese (pepper jack?), and the bacon.  I'm sure there is a trick to making sure that it dips right in the chocolate.  I highly recommend the chocolate-dipped sandwich, and I'd love to know what you think if you try.

Wordbones -- Isn't there a child in your house who needs this kind of one-stop nutrition?


(Update: Adam actually tried the chocolate-covered sandwich.)

Old Bay Chocolates at Sweet Cascades

They're not joking around. The chocolate crabs at Sweet Cascades in Ellicott City really taste like Old Bay seasoning.

Imagine the sweet and savory sensation of chocolate-covered pretzels. Then the sharper pinch of pepper and paprika that you know well from a table of hard-shelled crabs.

Mrs. HowChow here. Actually, the chocolate crabs are not as good as Mr. HowChow is describing. Does anyone else think "chocolate crabs" just sounds disturbing in and of itself??

When I read about these on Tales of Two Cities, I assumed that the "Old Bay chocolate" was a gimmick -- that the Old Bay would either be barely noticeable or overpowering. But this was an inspired pairing done by someone with a talented hand. The first flavor was chocolate. Really smooth chocolate even in the dark chocolate crabs. Then, the Old Bay kicks in and builds while the chocolates melts on your tongue. Mrs. HowChow again. These remind me of Baltimore french fries. I couldn't finish one. He's from Northern Virginia. All I could think was fries with Old Bay. That's not a dessert in my book. We saved a little Three Philosophers beer to drink with our dessert, and the "crabs and beer" flavor really worked.

Along with the crabs, we bought some dark chocolate truffles and a piece of chocolate with bacon, which was also a novelty that turned out delicious enough to buy again. Loved the bacon. Weird, but strangely good. Loved the truffle. Gotta run....he's coming back! Sweet Cascades makes all its chocolates in the Main Street store, and they're the best that I have had recently. (And I say that after tasting several other chocolates and choosing not to blog about them.)

Consider a cooking workshop at Sweet Cascades. They'll schedule with you for groups from four to 12. You pay $25 per person, and Sweet Cascades teaches you to make chocolates and serves up chocolate to drink and eat. You can even bring your own wine.

If you want more looney ideas for Old Bay, check out the The Ice Dreamery blog's recipe for Old Bay ice cream. They make "ice cream sandwiches" with crab cakes. That's a step too far for me, but I might try to convince Mrs. HowChow to make Old Bay ice cream.

Sweet Cascades

8167 Main Street
Ellicott City, MD 21043
(410) 750-8422

NEAR: This is on Main Street in Ellicott City. It's in the lower section between the river and the light at Old Columbia Pike.