We Tried Britney Spears' Decadent Hot Chocolate At NYC's Glace, And It's For A Good Cause

Love is in the air this week, as is the smell of rich hot chocolate and toasted marshmallows. In collaboration with pop icon Britney Spears, Glace by Noglu, the viral New York dessert shop serving French ice cream and creative hot chocolates, has created the Britney Brûlée, available from Valentine's Day until February 18. The creation is a special twist on Glace's social media sensation, the S'mores Hot Chocolate. This rendition, made for Spears, takes inspiration from one of her favorite hot beverages, a mocha.

The Britney Brûlée isn't just a gift to New Yorkers with a sweet tooth; it also supports those living with mental health issues. A portion of each sale of the sweet creation will benefit The Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ+ youth.

Glace's new drink blends rich hot cocoa (made with 56% dark chocolate) and freshly brewed espresso. The cup is then piped with Glace's signature toasted marshmallow fluff rim, topped with a scoop of house-made chantilly cream, and garnished with a caramelized sugar dish monogrammed with a B (for Britney) in mocha dust. If you've spent enough time scrolling through food TikTok or Instagram, you've probably seen a few of Glace's hot chocolate creations before, so we're here to let you know if this newest collaboration is worth the wait — and the price tag.

Known for its S'mores Hot Chocolate, which went viral on TikTok and Instagram this winter, Glace, located at 1266 Madison Avenue on the Upper East Side, is the brainchild of Sasha Zabar, son of famed New York gourmand Eli Zabar. Its menu seasonally rotates through homemade hot and sweet frozen treats using artisanal ingredients and toppings, from Meyer lemon sorbet made from lemons grown on Eli Zabar's NYC rooftop greenhouse to freshly baked, gluten-free goods from Noglu, the bakery just a couple doors down.

In true French fashion (Glace is French for ice cream, after all), the sweet treats are handcrafted and made fresh each day, resulting in stunning creations that remain chic even in paper cups. In addition to its famed hot chocolate creations, the shop also offers ice cream sandwiches made with large French macarons for $10 each, as well as sundaes for $12.

The focus on ingredients rather than unnecessary flash sets Glace's hot chocolates apart. No giant slice of cake sits atop the cup, and there are no massive chalices of frozen chocolate with cloyingly sweet whipped cream. Each hot cocoa, made with luxurious French chocolate, is served in a paper cup and accompanied by only a few simple toppings. It's chic and sophisticated, in true French fashion.

Glace's hot chocolate collaboration with a pop sensation is noteworthy, but its collaboration with The Trevor Project is equally significant. Twenty percent of each Britney Brûlée sale will benefit The Trevor Project, which will help its robust research, advocacy, education, and peer support programs.

"She wanted to add a charitable component," Sasha Zabar told us about the limited-time collaboration with Spears. "It was an opportunity for Valentine's Day to raise some money for The Trevor Project, which she feels very close with."

Spears has a history of charitable work, especially with young people and LGBTQ+ groups. She created The Britney Spears Foundation in 2000, which was designed to help children in need and to support children's interest in music and the performing arts. In 2002, Spears and her foundation gave a $1 million grant to the Twin Towers Fund to support the children of uniformed service heroes affected by the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. In 2023, over 18 years after Spears launched her signature fragrance Fantasy, she partnered with Switchboard, a U.K. charity supporting the LGBTQ+ community, to launch an exclusive PRIDE edition of the fragrance. Additionally, Britney Spears Fragrances U.K. donated £5,000 to Switchboard and sponsored the 2023 British LGBT Awards.

Just in time for Valentine's Day (and the inevitable belated Valentine's Day dinners that will take place over the following week), the Britney Brûlée will be available at Glace from February 14 through February 18, between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. On par with the delectable mac'wiches and sundaes on Glace's menu, the Britney Brûlée's price point is costly but not surprising at $14. For those who want to treat themselves or their loved ones to a big-budget sweet creation this week, be prepared to shell out more than you may be accustomed to for a cup of hot cocoa.

While the Britney Brûlée will only be available until Sunday, Zabar thinks this is just the beginning for unique collaborations. "I think we'll start with this for now, and then hopefully we can work on other ideas in the future," he said of future celebrity-inspired creations. "I have a couple of thoughts, but nothing official."

Even before the Britney Brûlée graced the Upper East Side, Glace was known for long lines to get its elaborate confections. Despite winter's chilly temperatures, people are willing to wait an hour to get their hands on one of the viral hot cocoas. Within a matter of hours, Glace's Instagram post promoting the Britney Brûlée hot chocolate received over 1,600 likes and 138 comments, with most commenters planning their pilgrimage to the sacred hot chocolate parlor over the next week and preparing for a long wait. Additionally, according to Accuweather, NYC's forecast for the week is sunny but chilly with some high winds, so if you do make the trek, bundle up.

For a place that's already typically packed, Zabar says he's expecting large crowds throughout the week, especially after Spears posts about the collaboration on her own Instagram page. "I'm nervous," Zabar told us as he made the final preparations before opening the doors to the small but growing line of customers at precisely 11 a.m. "We're generally very busy, but I hope everyone will come out and get a chance to try it."

Hot chocolate, in our opinion, has a fairly high floor and equally high ceiling — even powdered hot chocolate from the grocery store is hot and chocolatey and can satisfy a cocoa craving in a pinch. The Britney Brûlée, however, is far more than just a hot chocolate. The added shot of espresso tamps down on the drink's sweetness, making it a more balanced sip with a little bit of kick. The piped, pillowy marshmallow fluff around the edge of the cup isn't nearly as sweet as the marshmallows that go on campfire s'mores, and when it's paired with the vanilla-spiked chantilly cream, it makes for a bite that's light as air.

The best way to enjoy this drink is to get both the marshmallow fluff and chantilly cream into the hot chocolate for one flavorful sip. The crème brûlée disc on top is a lovely garnish, and as long as you're not committed to the integrity of the mocha-dusted B on top, it's ideal for breaking into little pieces and mixing in with the drink. It's certainly sweet and not for the faint of heart, so if you're not interested in drinking your dessert this Valentine's Day, maybe skip this one and opt for a scoop of ice cream instead.

A $14 hot chocolate can be hard to justify as a "worth it" purchase, even for those who pine for something sweet any time of day. That said, we like the attention to detail in and around the cup, the handcrafted ingredients, and most importantly, the charitable aspect of it all. After you prepare a romantic Valentine's Day breakfast or a downright bewitching ravioli recipe for your loved one, treat them to the Britney Brûlée this week and feel good about giving to a cause that so richly deserves it.

If you take our advice and wait in line for this decadent hot chocolate, we think you'll find it a worthwhile sweet treat, even given the price tag. Despite seeming a little over-the-top for a hot beverage, it is a little something nice to give you and your Valentine a luxurious and delicious boost this week. It's a treat you can feel good about philanthropically, which can be a hard thing to come by. At the end of the day, it all comes down to one simple fact: It's Britney, B.