Most Expensive Box of

Chocolates
We’ve all heard the saying, “Life is like a box of chocolates.” If you’re
fabulously wealthy, though, then maybe your life is more like a steamer
trunk full of chocolates. In any case, MarieBelle New York’s Chocolate
Picnic Steamer Trunk may just be the most expensive box of chocolates in
theworld.
MarieBelle has a reputation for making some of the world’s finest
chocolates, which is quite extraordinary considering they only opened their
doors in 2000. A box of only four pieces of their chocolates costs $12.

Now consider the fact that the Chocolate Picnic Steamer Trunk contains
500 pieces of chocolate ganache, five pounds of chocolate bark and
croquettes, eighty ounces of Aztec hot chocolate in four tins, a twenty-ounce
tin of Aztec Iced Chocolate, eight Aztec Hot Chocolate Bars, a teapot and
infuser, two china teacups, a leather-bound journal and a small library of
books on chocolate.

That’s bound to be a bit pricey, isn’t it?

Well, it may come as something of a shock that the steamer trunk only costs
$15,000. Of course, you also have to purchase it in person from their New
York store. Surely that will make up for the incredibly low price of the
world’s most expensive box of chocolates
 Most Expensive Chocolate
Brownie
The world’s most expensive chocolate brownie is now on the menu at the
Brulee: The Dessert Experience in the Tropicana Resort and Casino in
Atlantic City, NJ. This item featured on the dessert restaurant’s Crystal
Menu features a dark chocolate brownie topped with Italian hazelnuts and
served with ice cream, as well as a St. Louis crystal atomizer filled with a
shot of expensive and rare port wine. The brownie is quite tame for such an
expensive dessert menu item; however the crystal atomizer and the port
wine served with it are extravagantly over-the-top.

The wine is a rare 1996 Quinta do Noval Nacional port wine produced from
a section of their Portuguese vineyards with ungrafted vines. The St. Louis
crystal atomizer normally used for dispensing perfume holds the shot of
port wine is meant to be used to spray a fine mist of the wine throughout
your mouth in between each bite you take. The atomizer is yours for the
taking, a $750 value, after you are finished eating the most expensive
chocolate brownie in the world.

The Brownie Extraordinaire with Saint Louis as it’s listed on the menu is
offered as part of a $15,000 Valentine’s Day marriage proposal package
from the Tropicana. The package includes a romantic dinner for two, hotel
accommodations, the Brownie Extraordinaire at Brulee, a dinner for six to
celebrate when she says “Yes!”, and a diamond engagement ring to present
to your soon to be fiancee when you pop the question. Brulee offers their
most expensive brownie as a dessert year round even if you aren’t interested
in the Tropicana’s Deluxe Proposal package - at the most expensive price tag
of $1,000!

Most Expensive Ice Cream

Sundae
The most expensive ice cream sundae in the world is called the “Grand
Opulence” Sundae and was created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of
Manhattan restaurant Serendipity 3. Serendipity 3 celebrated their 50th
anniversary in 2004 and decided to create the world’s most expensive ice
cream sundae as a publicity stunt. They were later recognized by the
Guinness Book of World Records as having accomplished their goal - at
$1,000 the most expensive item on their menu became the official recorder
holder as the most expensive ice cream sundae in the world!

Serendipity describes the Golden Opulence Sundae as follows: “5 scoops of

the richest Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream infused with Madagascar vanilla
and covered in 23K edible gold leaf, the sundae is drizzled with the world’s
most expensive chocolate, Amedei Porceleana, and covered with chunks of
rare Chuao chocolate, which is from cocoa beans harvested by the
Caribbean Sea on Venezuela’s coast. The masterpiece is suffused with exotic
candied fruits from Paris, gold dragets, truffles and Marzipan Cherries. It is
topped with a tiny glass bowl of Grand Passion Caviar, an exclusive dessert
caviar, made of salt-free American Golden caviar, known for its sparkling
golden color. It’s sweetened and infused with fresh passion fruit, orange and
Armagnac.
The sundae is served in a baccarat Harcourt crystal goblet with an 18K gold
spoon to partake in the indulgence, served with a petite mother of pearl
spoon and topped with a gilded sugar flower by Ron Ben-Israel. How many
customers have been willing to spend the $1,000 that this sundae costs?
The founders admit it’s an outrageous price tag, but they say it has “snob
appeal”. It has been popular enough since its introduction that they still
serve it today, and recently the 15th Golden Opulence Sundae sold was
ordered in advance for someone’s Sweet 16 birthday party. If you want to try
it yourself, be sure to call ahead, as it takes a few days to prepare!

Most Popular Ice Cream

Not surprisingly, vanilla ice cream is still the most widely consumed flavor. It’s
ability to remixed with any variety of toppings, and it’s generally complimentary
taste have one it 29% of the market share. But ice cream’s history is much longer
and outlandish then one might think. Tracing roots as an ice and fruit to Emperor
Nero in the first century, a similar concoction was whipped from ice and milk by a
King Tang in 7th century China. It’s seen a gradual development since then,
emerging here and there in the form of Italian sorbets and French ice-milk dishes.
The first parlor was opened in America in 1776, and it has been served as a luxury
item ever since.

Time and technology have allowed for cheaper and much more efficient
production. Modern refrigiration techniques dropped the price of ice cream
drastically, as you no longer needed large amounts of ice and salt to keep the cream
chilled. The continuous process refigerator was successfully introduced by Clarence
Vogt in the 1920s, and ice cream cones first gave people a chance to carry it around
and spill it on their pants at the World’s Fair in St. Louis in 1904. It’s been giving us
“Good Humor” since Harry Burt’s team of uniformed drivers started delivering it in
1920.

Today, ice cream is widely available in traditional flavors at any retail food
merchant, and in niche-market packages from parlors such as Ben and Jerry’s and
Baskin Robbin’s, or the more recent Coldstone Creamery. More healthy renditions
have become available in frozen yogurt and other fat free varieties, as some of us
have a waistline to watch. Make mine mint-chocolate chip any day.
Based on ice cream consumption figures, the top five individual flavors in terms of
share of segment in the United States are:

1. vanilla (26%),
2. chocolate (12.9%)
3. neapolitan (4.8%)
4. strawberry (4.3%)
5. cookies n’ cream (4.0%)

Source: The NPD Group’s National Eating Trends Services

In 2003, about 86% of packaged ice cream retail sales happened in supermarkets.
Convenience store sales were second at 11.4%, drug stores were third at nearly 2%,
with 0.6% occurring at other locations. Source: Mintel

Based on supermarket statistics in 2001*, ice cream volume sales by quality

segment were: superpremium (3.5%), premium (51.5%) and regular (45%). Source:
IRI

Nearly 80% of supermarket ice cream sales are packaged in half-gallon containers.
Source: IRI, 2001

Mexico is the single largest market for U.S. frozen dessert exports, with an
estimated value of almost $17 million. Canada was the number two destination for
U.S. frozen dessert exports, valued at $6.6 million. Japan ($3.6 million), United
Kingdom ($3.4 million), and Hong Kong ($3.1 million) are third, fourth and fifth
respectively. Source: USDA/International Ice Cream Association