1. Cannelles de Bordeaux (I think that's the full name) in the frozen dessert section. These are very unusual little cakes -- according to the label, they are baked in individual copper molds coated with beeswax. Somehow, the baking carmelizes the cake on the outside, forming a chewy crust, with softer sponge inside, filled with custard. Who thinks of these things to tempt us?

2. Passion Fruit Mousse -- in the refrigerator section. Pure cream and passion fruit puree. Luxurious!

3. Creme au chocolat -- heavy cream and rich, dark chocolate -- 420 calories!

Oooh! I just found an article with photo. The foreground shows the interior and in the background, the little fluted brown towers are the whole ones with their molds further behind them.

http://brandoesq.blogspot.com/2005/07/cane...it-cannele.html

Cannelles are the traditional cakes of the city of Bordeau in France. They sell them in all the bakeries over there. Very yummy!

Apparently, the "official" cake of the city, as recognized by a confrérie of pâtissiers in Bordeaux, is now called canelé de Bourdeaux, while cannelé bordelais is a generic name used elsewhere. The noted food writer Paula Wolfert describes it as "a cake with a rich custardy interior enclosed by a thin caramelized shell" that has been around for at least 300 years.

When warm, they are wonderfully custardy and smooth on the inside, while the outside has that delectable burnt sugar shell. When cold, they get a little spongy, but can be re-heated in the oven for a few minutes to refresh the texture.

Mmmmm. They have them at a couple of bakeries around here, but I'm excited to hear that Trader Joe has them. (Or would that be "Trader Jacques"?)

In the ice cream section, they had something new so I bought it -- regional chocolate ice cream. You know how they have different types of chocolate made from beans from different countries? They created four ice creams in four ounce tubs per box and you can really taste the difference between the kinds of beans.

A Trader Joe's is opening here soon. I can't wait!

Something else I just bought and ate very quickly -- pear tart with brown butter filling. I broke up a couple of pieces of TJ's dark chocolate over the top and microwaved it for 30 seconds.

A word of warning about their baked goods, though, especially moist things like pies and tarts. I brought the tart home and when I removed the plastic top, the tart was moldy. I hadn't seen it because it was hidden under the label in the center of the tart. Then I noticed the date said 6/2008 -- June! I took it back and exchanged it for one "8/2008" and brought two tarts from June that were still on sale to customer service.

Normally because things sell so quickly at TJs, this isn't a problem. Whoever was stacking the tarts and pies didn't put the new ones on the bottom.

Their Triple Ginger Snaps are sooooo good. It's hard to find a truly gingery ginger snap.

Phil stocks up on the Shepherds Pie every time we go.

Their 70% dark chocolate is To Die For. It comes in the giant red brick package, and in my store it's over one of the freezer cases. Cheap, too.

I just tried the dark chocolate covered chili spiced dried mango. Very unusual and tasty. Chocolate with "heat" and a bit of salt.

Just bought the frozen pecan tarts, two in a pack. Yummy!

Uh oh. I have to find those. Hope the local TJ's has them.

Pumpkin Butter is back in stock, so now I'm happy.

I also bought and ate a new TJ candy bar they call Lumpy Bumpy. It's peanuts, nougat and caramel covered with chocolate. I love nougat in any form.

This may not be new, but I just saw it today -- Harvest Grains Blend. It's a dry mix of orzo, baby garbanzo beans, red quinoa and Israeli couscous. I made a vegetable soup today to use up some vegetables and threw a little bit in. You could also use this blend for a pilaf.

I was disappointed that they didn't have Gouda with Walnuts in stock because that sounded really good. So I just bought some sheep's milk Gouda.

I also didn't see the mini jelly donuts in the frozen section. I knew I should have bought them last week.

I went beserk on jars of Tunesian Olives. Bought 10 of them. Olives and cheese are my weakness.