There's no taking your clothes off after a trip to Naked Chocolate Cafe

While this chocolate blog was originally created to review bakeries and chocolate shops in NYC, we soon realized that other major cities had great chocolate options that needed to be made aware of as well.  Philly has proven to contain a very large amount of dessert places that need to be reviewed.  So far on the blog we've been to the Franklin Fountain and Flying Monkey Patisserie.  On our most recent trip to Philly, while running into a store to take a break from the racing winds, we stumbled upon the smell of baking chocolate, and a line of eager customers lined up out the door.  We knew this must be something worth checking out, so we joined the line to see what was in store.

Naked Chocolate Cafe, located at 1317 Walnut Street, makes absolutely beautiful chocolate creations.  At the front of the store were custom Philly chocolate treats, like a block of chocolate with Ben Franklin and the Liberty Bell, and chocolate pops with the LOVE sign.  There were also artistic creations like chocolate paint palettes and chocolate iPods!  As we walked down the line, there were an assortment of filled chocolate truffles and pieces; Venezuelan chocolate with ganache filling handpainted, chocolate butterflies filled with lavender honey - so many options.  These could be sold individually, by the pound, or in assorted  boxes, placed in an EDIBLE chocolate box - amazing!!

The dessert case was even more outstanding - lemon tarts, Oreo chocolate mousse, brownies - the options were endless.  But we wanted to try what Naked Chocolate Cafe was most known for - the reason people came out on this bittercold day and were lined up down the block.    Two words - drinking chocolate.  Available in frozen chocolate or regular, melted down chocolate, you could get a Petit, Indulgent or 'We'll Never Tell' glass of pure, naked chocolate; with added in spices and flavors to keep you coming back for more.

The choices were classic - a blend of milk and dark chocolates.  Bittersweet, with deep chocolate.  Aztec - full-bodied chocolate with nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves, or spicy - chocolate with spices.  They were made European or American style.  The American was served with the chocolate in a glass, and a heap of hipped cream and wafer on the side.  The European version was served in a taller glass, with the chocolate on bottom and whipped cream on top.  We opted for the American version, since we'd had our chocolate fill for the day and this trip to Naked Chocolate was purely for research!


The drinking chocolate was delicious.  It was like sipping some of the finest, thickest chocolate I'd ever tasted.  We had the Spicy version; the spices gave it just a little kick but didn't affect the flavor too much.  The Petit size was perfect for the two of us to share without being overwhelming, since it was heavy and decadent.

We watched as people ate the chocolate fondue, which for $8 was a reasonable price in comparison to what I've seen fondue charged in NY, and it came with rice krispie treats, marshmallows,and strawberries.  This is a must-try next time we come back here!  They were giving out samples of the lemon tart, and even though I'm strictly a chocolate girl, the tart was amazing - cakey and buttery, and the sample almost got me to buy a piece to bring back with me.

We can't wait to go back to Philly and check out the fondue, and maybe even the 'We'll Never Tell' chocolate drink!

We'd fly to Philly to go back to Flying Monkey Patisserie

While watching the Travel Channel recently, there was a feature on some of the country's best desserts.  Located in Reading Terminal market on 12th and Arch streets in Philly, this historic specialty Amish farmer's market since 1893 features some of Philly's most unique and mouth-watering merchants, ranging from Amish sweet shops to chocolatiers to Philly cheesesteaks.  On this particular episode of the Travel Channel dessert show, I watched as the Flying Monkey Patisserie baked the most interesting cake I've ever seen.

Called a Pumpple Cake, I watched as an apple pie was baked inside a vanilla cake.  Covered in a layer of buttercream, the cake was then placed on top of a SECOND cake - a pumpkin pie baked inside a chocolate cake.  The double-decker was then covered with a layer of buttercream, speckled with colorful spirnkle bits and pieces, and then ready to be sliced.  Not being a fan of pumpkin or apple pie, and discovering a single slice of the cake was estimated to be 1,800 calories, I wasn't going to try the cake, but I needed to see it up close. 

When we located Flying Monkey at the far end of Reading Terminal Market, there was a long line of people waiting to try the snacks.  Upon closer look, we saw that not just the Pumpple Cake looked amazing, but everything that was baked by scratch on the premises looked better than the next.  There were brownies with neverending chocolate chips, whoopie pies, cupcakes, smore bars...you name it, they had it.  The more unique desserts were the Arnold Palmer cake - a lemon and sweet tea vodka bundt cake with lemon/sweet tea vodka glaze, and the Elvis cake - a banana chocolate chip cake layered with peanut butter buttercream, adorned with mini chocolate chips.  There were also dozens of cupcakes, ranging from your traditional vanilla and chocolates, to the more interesting red velvet and spumoni.  There were also cake truffles (similar to what Momofoku now sells pre-packaged out of their midtown location) in chocolate covered dark chocolate cake and chocolate covered strawberry at only $1 a piece.

Since the Cjaps were determined to fit on the return bus back to NYC, we opted to try the brownie and the S'mores.  The brownie (priced at $3 a slice) was extremely fudgy, and filled with chocolate chips so that each bite was more chocolatey than the next.  The double chocolate brownie was made with two varieties of cocoa and dark chocolate, and each bite had enough sugar to ensure I was never going to sleep that night.  I placed this high in my brownie rankings.  Caryn liked it, but said it still didn't compare to Baked or Astor Bake Shop.  There were other brownies that looked like they would have been amazing as well; Cheesecake brownies with a cheesecake swirl throughout, white chocolate blondies, and Junk in the Trunk brownies - brownies with pretzels, white and dark chocolate, and oreos.
The Smores bar was good, but nothing in comparison to the brownie.  It was a homemade marshmallow, half covered in dark chocolate with a splash or Oreos on the side.  It was good for a lighter, less guiltful treat, but if you're going to Flying Monkey, I would stick with their cakes, brownies, cupcakes or whoopie pies.

Flying Monkey's website (http://www.flyingmonkeyphilly.com) has an online shop available to ship cookies and brownies only, however the site was down for now, so for the non-Philly chocolate fans, you're going to have to take the Bolt Bus for now.  But believe me, it's worth the trip!

Flying Monkey Patisserie

Reading Terminal Market
12th & Arch Streets
215-928-0340

Open Mon-Sat, 8-6; Sundays 9-5