Cafe Fleuri's Chocolate Bar at the Langham Hotel has long been a decadent dreamland of chocolate delights, but this year it's taking things to the next level for its 20th anniversary. Pastry chef Trena Costello showed off her skills in a preview tasting last week; Bostonist particularly enjoyed pretty much everything in cups: marshmallow cup, cappuccino cup, and especially the childhood-evoking peanut butter and (grape) jelly cup with sliced grapes on top. (Eating the grape allowed us to feel healthy as we chowed down on chocolate all evening.)
Charged with commemorating the Chocolate Bar's 20-year milestone with desserts focused on past, present, and future, Costello came up with some delicious classics and innovative new treatments. Other desserts not pictured include throwbacks whoopie pie, Boston cream pie, and cherry cordials; present-day chocolate risotto and dark chocolate marmalade cheesecake; and Costello jumps into the future with dark chocolate quinoa pudding, chocolate tres leche, and chocolate ginger angel food. Costello actually has celiac disease and can't eat wheat, so she enjoys innovating with different ingredients to come up with treats for herself (she also makes wheaty things, of course, for the non-celiacs). She seems to view the condition as a challenge, rather than a limitation, and has met it with style and taste.
In addition to the tasty treats detailed above, this year's Chocolate Bar will take its name literally by offering a "make-your-own" chocolate bar station, where you can select your own chocolate type and ingredients, get it all pressed together, and take home your own special bar. At $35 a pop, the bar is a little pricey, but it's perfect

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