And this one is for under the Christmas tree: where to buy sweet presents in Moscow
Beloved childhood candy, royal chests, and cakes
We will tell you where to go for delicious gifts for children and adults: candy, chocolate, cakes, gingerbread houses, and everything else it is impossible to imagine the New Year’s table without.
The capital’s iconic chain of Alyonka stores is truly a magical kingdom, where you can find gifts for every taste and budget, from small boxes filled with sweets to textile toys and handbags with the symbol of the year and more than a kilogram of sweets inside. Speaking of painted boxes and chests, such sets first appeared at the end of the 19th century. They were first made at the Abrikosov Factory (now Kontsern Babayevskiy), and then the initiative was taken by Einem (Krasny Oktyabr) and the Lenovs (Rot Front). These sets were very expensive and most often sent as a gift from the manufacturer to the royal family. Today, modern versions of these same chests can delight an entire school class or a family with many children.
Alyonka also has chocolate sets for adults, with sweets from factories like Krasny Oktyabr, Rot Front, and Kontsern Babayevskiy, which were sweet symbols of our country back in Soviet times. The candy in beautiful tin boxes is a great nostalgic gift for those who have long since grown up, but who still remember the magical feeling of unwrapping the silver foil wrapper.
This is Gastronome No. 1, one of Muscovites’ favorite destinations. It is very similar to the legendary GUM Gastronome, whose marble counters and showcases overlooking Red Square were a symbol of Soviet commerce. It was once common to buy groceries for family celebrations, and the tradition is now being revived. You can come here for Tambov ham, farmer’s salo, and special cheeses. But the best department is the confectionery. It has a special counter with all the most beloved candies – Mishka Kosolapy, Stratosfera, Kara-Kum, Krasnaya Shapochka, Ogni Moskvy, Belochka, Rakovaya Sheyka – and you can buy a little of everything. And do not ignore the gift boxes of chocolates from the leading factories of the capital.
And the shelves of Gastronome already carry special gift baskets with various delicacies and the freshest food, which are festively decorated for the New Year. For example, you can order the Purple basket, which includes Moskva candy, salami with truffles, olives with pits, beluga sturgeon in tomato sauce, caviar, several kinds of cheese, duck with pear and lemon, salmon caviar, and a bottle of sparkling wine. The Red gift basket contains GUM’s signature chocolate and sweet set, tea and coffee, a music box with praline, honey and marmalade, and the essential sparkling wine.
In the confectionery of this noble cuisine restaurant, you can buy some of the most extraordinary and beautiful sweet treats. You can find everything in the showcases, from pleasant little things like original nougat, cherry truffles, or signature dark chocolate bars to iconic gateaux and cakes decorated with gold leaf. And to celebrate the upcoming New Year, they have prepared a special holiday collection of treats. There is, for example, a gingerbread house made of fragrant honey dough and covered with snow-white icing: it is the house the children in Charles Perrault’s fairy tale find in the dense forest. Or there is a delicate pistachio Christmas tree. Or a surprise cake – the huge red hat of Father Frost hiding an airy biscuit drenched in punch, vanilla cream, and chocolate ganache.
You should visit here to meet your wants and needs: learn all about chocolate and cocoa, see how sweets are created, and return home with a sweet present. Both children and adults are welcome: on the counter, there are iron boxes with candy, edible sweet postcards, traditional Father Frost figurines, and many other beautiful things that you will want to eat immediately.
Cover photo: GUM
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