Treat Yourself to Brooklyn’s Best Bespoke Halloween Candies

By Sarah Zorn

Sad but true: it’s socially unacceptable to panhandle candy from neighbors past a certain age. And engaging in thinly-veiled blackmail (threatening “tricks” in absence of “treats”) is especially unbecoming in the over 10-year-old set. So if you’re destined to shell out money for your sugar rush this Halloween, you might as well embrace being an adult, passing over Krackles, Tootsie Rolls and Skittles for the following, made-in-BK sweets.

Deliso Confections
Scope out this brilliant Bay Ridge candy man’s special Halloween creation, tucked amongst the raspberry bon bons, sea salt caramels and espresso cups—we’re talking delicate chocolate skulls with an eerie pallor of powdered sugar, injected with Michter’s Sour Mash.

278 87th St., Bay Ridge

Anya’s Licorice
Black licorice is a slog, and Twizzlers are a red 40-dyed delivery system for corn syrup. Thankfully, this former Smorg vendor turned wholesaler (get the goods at Sahadi’s, Urban Market, Whole Foods and R&D Foods) serves as happy medium, dispensing small batch sticks made with real fruit, such as cherry, strawberry, raspberry and mango.

anyaslicorice.com

La Newyorkina
Fany Gerson has long been an ambassador of Mexican sweets in Brooklyn, including coconut, cajeta and chile-infused paletas at La Newyorkina, and hubcap-sized hibiscus, horchata and dulce de leche donuts at Dough. And with the recent launch of her tiny tiendita in Red Hook, she’s turned her attention to exotic confections as well, many of them especially well suited for fall: think naranjitas (spicy candied orange peels), pepitas (sugar and spiced pumpkin seeds), palanquetas (pumpkin seed brittle) and alegrias—crunchy bundles of puffed amaranth and chocolate.

61 Commerce St., Red Hook

Cacao Prieto
Cacao Prieto’s single origin Dominican beans-to-bar chocolate—infused with complex flavors like orchid, mandarin-bergamot and even absinthe—is an utterly adult substitute for Hershey’s, especially when coupled with a flask of Widow Jane from the adjoining distillery.

218 Conover St., Red Hook

Handsome Dan’s
While best known for their bespoke cotton candy and sno cones, Handsome Dan’s also offers stylish mason jars stuffed with color-coordinated sweets: get into the spirit of the season with an all-black collection of licorice, taffy, blackberries and jelly beans.

218 Bedford Ave., Williamsburg

Nunu
In lieu of sickeningly saccharine lollipops, consider the stick-propped jack-o-lanterns and ghosties at Nunu, sculpted from milk, white, or 53% dark chocolate.

179 5^th Ave. in Park Slope or 529 Atlantic Ave. in Boerum Hill

Cacao Market
This Greenpoint offshoot of Manhattan’s posh Mariebelle is essentially a candy couturier, ornamented with apothecary jars brimming with chocolate pearls, gilded cabinets concealing malt balls, and beribboned boxes of caramels, silkscreened with iconic Brooklyn images.

67 Guernsey St., Greenpoint

Tumbador
Yes, you’ll find refined, seasonal confections like pumpkin pie caramels and cranberry-pumpkin seed rocher lining the shelves, but that doesn’t mean that Tumbador is above shtick. Witness the duo of limited edition eyeballs: 42% milk chocolate corneas pumped with chunky peanut butter and veined with raspberry jam.

www.tumbadorchocolate.com