The collection: JACEK Chocolate Couture Pie Collection (Spring 2018)

So: it’s over.

I left my partner last Sunday. By dinnertime Tuesday, I had moved all of my things out of our apartment.

I have never had to leave my home before. The breakup was hard, but I’ve felt it coming for a while. The moving, though – the moving was rough. Our home was a mix of our belongings, but it was mine: I unpacked every box alone in the apartment while he was at work. I hung every painting; selected every dish. I brought our cat into our lives, and hand-picked his food every month. (Chicken’s current favourite). I folded our socks on the weekends.

I have a ritual, when it’s time for a breakup. I’ll take three days: three perfect days to wallow pathetically at home; to ugly-cry while naked in bed, hair unwashed. For three days, I get to talk out every detail of my relationship, skip class, and exist on tissues and cake.

I woke up on Wednesday feeling tired but recovered – and with an intense craving for JACEK.

I picked up a small tray of JACEK’s Pie Collection from their 104th Street location as a surprise for my partner in February. They were so mouthwateringly good that I went back two weeks later and bought the 24-piece collection, plus another six for my family.

About JACEK

JACEK is a local brand, with locations in Edmonton, Sherwood Park, and Canmore. They offer only ethically-sourced chocolate, have a bunch of vegan options, and ship across Canada. I love the brand for a lot of reasons, but one of them is their founder: JACEK is the brainchild of Jacqueline Jacek, a small business owner who creates “applies the principles of haute couture in the creation of artisan chocolates.”

Jacqueline started the company out of her basement in 2009 on her own dime, and has grown the business since then with the help of a wonderful support system. This interview from YEG People is a great place to start if you want to learn more about her – it’s a well-written piece with some excellent questions.

JACEK Razzleberry Pie

The Pie Collection

The JACEK Pie Collection is the brand’s Spring 2018 collection, and it really is worth eating 30 pieces of. (Especially if you’re sad: I can justify almost any food expense just after a breakup. My wine bill has doubled since last Sunday.)

For me, the highlight of the collection is Razzleberry Pie: a colour-flecked dark chocolate dome filled with blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry ganache. The creation is just a little bit tart, and the attention to detail is something that only JACEK could manage – the filling is the most gorgeous, saturated berry colour.

My second favourite is Sugar Pie, a dark chocolate truffle. It’s filled with gorgeously velvety sucre à la crème, and tastes like biting into the sugar-butter mixture that you (or, rather, I) always steal out of the mixing bowl when I’m making chocolate chip cookies. It fills all of my cookie dough-eating needs, and saves me from getting salmonella.

(I always refer to my chocolate chip cookie recipe as “Boyfriend Cookies,” because I stole it from my partner when we started dating. They’re the best cookies I’ve ever eaten in my life.)

(Also, how much would it suck to end a three year relationship, suddenly have to move back in with your mom, and then get salmonella??)

Next comes JACEK’s Pecan Pie – “toasted candied pecans dressed in dark chocolate,” and the rest. My ex loved their Coconut Cream Pie and Peanut Butter Pie, which I was less enthused about. Both are excellent, but more well-executed than earth-shattering; the perfect chocolates for oatmeal eaters and picky kids.

That colour! 

I spent three years of my life trying to get someone to love me who was never going to love me the way I needed them to. He said his love: he repeatedly affirmed how much he loved me, and did his best to improve his life so mine would be easier. And he did really, fully love me.

But I show my love, and I need someone to show it back. I talk about my relationships until five in the morning; I leave little notes around the house and send silly texts in the middle of the day. Getting dressed and taking a walk to buy my partner JACEK just because is how I know it’s real – little gifts and acts of service. I need someone whose work I enjoy; who enjoys my work.

I need someone who comes home early on days that we’re supposed to play Overcooked in our pyjamas, not someone who works late unless they have plans to go out with someone else.

The JACEK Key Lime Pie chocolates are white chocolate lime ganache, a bit of crunch, and a milk chocolate shell. They’re a bit like this: a bite of tartness; a step unto the breach.