Italian chocolates are a gourmet holiday treat.
Looking for the perfect gift for that friend, family member, or colleague who loves Italy and/or is a rabid chocoholic?
Impress them with a gift of high-quality Italian chocolates.
Even before the recipient tastes the mouth-watering sweets inside, they’ll likely appreciate the creative style and packaging of a gift produced in Italy.
While your first choice (and ours) might be to travel to the Bel Paese to taste and purchase these chocolates from their source, a number of online retailers feature authentic Italian products that can be delivered to your doorstep.
Venchi Holiday Bannecker Maxi Hamper
Venchi Holiday Bannecker Maxi Hamper
Italian chocolatier Venchi dates back more than 140 years. Their exquisite sweets were first made in Turin, one of Italy’s chocolate capitals. Now, they have become an international favorite sold at shops in Italy and chocolate boutiques in more than 70 countries, including the U.S.
This is the first time Venchi has collaborated with renowned American artist Andrew Bannecker to create a modern, fun, colorful, and detail-rich limited-edition holiday hamper. Priced at $179, the 62.5-ounce assortment of premium chocolates includes a variety of Venchi favorites from Chocoviar to the Italian Dessert Collection.
Sweet Truffles by Antica Torroneria Piemontese from Eataly
Sweet Truffles by Antica Torroneria Piemontes
Eataly, the global Italian superstore, imports products from the north to south of Italy and works with a wide range of producers of artisanal chocolates such as Venchi, Amedei and Baratti & Milano.
Priced at $14.31 and packaged in a fashionably-wrapped box, the box of Mixed Sweet Truffles from Antica Torroneria Piemontese includes an array of confections that reflect the authentic taste of Piedmont’s time-honored dolce tradition. Flavors include truffles with amaretti, pistachio, and more.
The venerable company was founded in 1885. Now in its fifth generation, Antica Torroneria Piemontese continues to produce Italian products of excellence inspired by PGI Piemontese hazelnuts.
Traditional Italian Holiday Sweets Gift from iGourmet
Italian Traditional Holiday Sweets Gift
If you aren’t sure if they will like chocolate—and want to hedge your bets, the Italian Traditional Holiday Sweets Gift from food importer iGourmet features delicious artisanal Amedei chocolate (crafted in the province of Pisa in Tuscany) and more.
Amedei chocolate is known for its smooth taste and full-bodied flavor. The company enhances the quality of its chocolates by making them from the most precious, single-source cocoa beans.
Also included in the assortment (priced at $59.99) are: Panforte Christmas Cake from Pasticcerie Sinatti in Siena; Frollini sweet, crispy biscuits from Puglia; and macaron-type Amaretti (made with almond and apricot kernels) from Saronno (Lombardy).
Perugina Baci from Colavita
Baci Amaretto Truffles
The 100-year-old recipe for these sweets is deliciously simple. Perugina Baci Kisses are a blend of fine cocoa and finely chopped hazelnuts in the soft gianduia center. Then the candies are covered with a whole hazelnut and a dark chocolate coating.
Made in a hilltop town just outside of Perugia, this novel creation was sparked by the love affair between the company’s founders, Luisa Spagnoli and Giovanni Buitoni. The couple passed romantic love notes between them, similar to the messages now tucked inside each Baci foil wrapping.
Always innovating, Perugina has introduced two new truffle boxes available for the holidays: Coffee truffles with a coffee filling and dark chocolate coating (priced at $19.99), and Amaretto truffles with amaretto aroma and almond grains with a dark chocolate coating (priced at $24.99).
Holly Jolly Gift Basket from Supermarket Italy
Holly Jolly Gift Basket
Supermarket Italy is an online gourmet food purveyor. Their curated selection of Italian chocolates and other sweets include famous brands like Lazzaroni (Saronno), Baci (Perugia), Strega Baba (Campania) and Ferrero Rocher (Piedmont), as well as Ferrara Torrone, the famous Italian nougat candy from Campania.
This gift basket arrangement will appeal to anyone with a sweet tooth and can be used to assemble a delightful holiday dessert platter.
Guido Gobino Assorted Cremino Chocolate Gift Box from Bar & Cocoa
Guido Gobino cremini from Bar & Cocoa
Bar & Cocoa is an online destination for luxury bean to bar craft chocolates from more than 50 chocolate makers from around the world
One of their makers, Guido Gobino, has been producing sustainable, artisanal chocolates in Turin since 1964. Using carefully selected raw ingredients, the processing of cocoa (from bean to bar) is managed entirely in-house—from roasting to refining.
The unique gift Guido Gobino box filled with assorted cremini is a perfect holiday hostess gift. Cremino is the name of the traditional squared-shape, three-layer chocolate of Turin. Priced at $87, the top and bottom layers of the cremini are made of Gianduja chocolate and the middle layers include classic, salt, dark and caramel chocolate.
Palazzo di Varignana Cocoa Cream
Palazzo di Varignana Cocoa Cream
This jar of Palazzo di Varignana cocoa “crema” from the Bolognese Apennines (Emilia Romagna) is pure chocolate decadence.
Created on an agricultural estate that is bringing an abandoned rural town back to life, the cream is a sumptuous blend of the finest chocolate, PGI-certified Piedmont Hazelnuts, and award-winning Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Palazzo Di Varignana. The EVOO is renowned for its complex flavor profile and aromatic harmony, achieved by milling the olives within 6 hours of harvest, resulting in exceptionally low acidity. This makes the oil a perfect complement to the rich chocolate.
The spread is ideal for elevating a morning toast or enhancing desserts like ice cream and fresh fruit with a luxurious twist.
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