Sweet Avenue Bake Shop – Rutherford
201-935-2253

The hot chocolate is Vegan & Dairy Free made with soy milk. They also make a hot chocolate cupcakes. Mmmm.


Holsten’s Brookdale Confectionery – Bloomfield
973-338-7091

This is the place for whipped cream lovers! The delicious, not-too-sweet whipped cream they serve with their hot chocolate is what sets it apart.

Le Petit Parisien – Montclair
973-746-0288

Le Petit searched far and wide for the best hot chocolate until they found it—
by master chocolatier  Jaques Torres.  The hot chocolate here is made from real chocolate (not watery powdery stuff—ick.)


Raymond's – Montclair
973-744-9263

An adorable café and a staple in Montclair, Raymond's makes its hot chocolate  with a special Belgian chocolate. They also serve a Mexican hot chocolate with cayenne pepper. Spicy!

The Bent Spoon – Princeton
(609) 924-2368 

The hot chocolate here is super thick and rich! They use a 61% chocolate and it's served with fresh whipped vanilla bean cream and hand-cut marshies (spoon-made marshmallow). Rotating flavors include classic, soy, habenero (with special heirloom pepper powder they make!), lavender (with local organic lavender) & hazelnut. Hmmm…is mouth-watering a flavor?

Small World Coffee – Princeton
(609) 924-4377
Small World’s chocolate syrup is made in both cafes every day, throughout the day.  It's a combination of dutch cocoa powder, brown sugar, white sugar, vanilla extract and whole milk. “We actually changed our recipe about a year ago (after using the same recipe for 18 years!),” says owner Jessica Durrie. “My 14 year old daughter told me one day that she thought our hot chocolate could be richer. So, we played around with the recipe and did several taste test until we decided upon our most recent version—which can be traditional or topped with whipped cream.” They make a vegan version, too. “Soon we will be offering our own homemade marshmallows with it,” says Derrie. Well, we can’t wait!

photo credit: pjf@cpan via photopin cc