Looking for a sweet treat for your Valentine? There are plenty of options in our area from cupcakes, macarons, chips and chocolate and even gluten-free selections.

French Pastries

Visit Le Macaron French Pastries, specializing in hand-made, gourmet pastries called macarons, now open in Melbourne Square Mall.

The macaron, perfected in France, has a long history dating back centuries in Europe. Macarons look like small, round shells and are created from fresh, ground almonds and soft meringue. Macarons fit in the palm of your hand. They are lightly crisp on the outside, smooth and creamy in the center, filled with ganache (chocolate), rich cream, home-made fruit jams or other quality ingredients.

Not to be confused with macaroons, the more familiar, American coconut cookie, macarons have gained a new level of interest in France and around the world.

Currently, Le Macaron French Pastries offers 17 flavors of macarons:  gingerbread, vanilla, raspberry, lemon, black currant, pistachio, caramel salted butter, walnut, rose, chocolate, white chocolate-basil, ginger-chocolate, passion fruit-chocolate, strawberry-lime, coconut, gianduja-hazelnut and coffee. Seasonally and monthly, new flavors are introduced to complement the collection. All macarons are made from scratch, with no preservatives nor artificial flavors, and gluten free. Le Macaron French Pastries, Facebook.com/LeMacaronFrenchPastriesMelbourne


A Healthier Cookie

If you’re looking for a healthier alternative then Soulfully Sweet’s gourmet approach to creating organic, gluten-free treats, you can enjoy healthier cookies that actually taste good. The cookies do not contain gluten, wheat, GMO’s, or anything artificial and virtually
no soy.

Deirdre Conway is the owner founder and baker. She created the recipes after being diagnosed with gluten intolerance. She uses ground, non-GMO navy beans, ground organic brown rice, and ground organic, gluten-free oats for the flour, leaving the benefits of whole grains (more fiber and nutrients) but without any gluten. The only soy found in some of the cookies is as an ingredient in the organic chocolate chips. After sending cookies to Bill O’Reilly when he announced he was gluten free, he gave her a plug on his show. Soulfully Sweet Treats, SoulfullySweetTreats.com

Handmade Chocolates

Locally owned in Brevard for 40 years, Grimaldi Candies has made handmade chocolates for countless residents and visitors. Phil and Jamie Holtje who have owned the business since 2009, moved the manufacturing and distribution center to U.S. 1 in Rockledge, while still maintaining a retail storefront on Waverly Place in downtown Melbourne. Custom creations like almond bark and chocolate covered citrus strips will satisfy any sweet tooth. But probably the most well-known treat is the chocolate and chips — wavy ridged potato chips covered in creamy milk chocolate or rich dark chocolate. The perfect combination of salty and sweet. Grimaldi Candies, locations in Rockledge and Melbourne, Grimaldicandies.com