Thousands satisfy sweet tooth at fest

Victoria Huffman peered over the heads of two tiny boys, bouncing on her heels as she waited in line for a taste of chocolate-covered popcorn. Squeezing her way to the front, the thirteen-year-old blonde grabbed a handful of the stuff and lit up with a smile.

"The chocolate-covered popcorn is awesome," she said.

Chocolate-covered popcorn was just one of the many sweet treats available at last weekend's Festival of Chocolate, hosted by the Orlando Science Center (OSC).

Last Saturday, March 6, and Sunday, March 7, an estimated 7,000 attendees explored four floors of chocolate tasting, shopping, education and interactive experiences, according to Jeff Stanford, OSC's VP of Communications.

Vendors from all over Florida brought out their very best for the festival. Six of the festival's vendors have stores in Winter Park or stands at the Winter Park Farmer's Market.

Donna Moore, founder of Chateau E.I.E.I.O, brought some of her famous Barkolate bars, which are made of dark chocolate and other natural ingredients. In addition to the Barkolate bars, the OSC had a special request.

"They asked me if I would do a gross booth, so I named it 'Double Dare Ya'," said Moore.

Moore's gross booth featured jalapenos dipped in chocolate that were decorated to look like mice, alligator jerky dipped in chocolate and other strange sweets.

Across the room from Moore's booth, Xocai's Betty Hendrick hawked antioxidant-filled chocolate at her health-food themed table.

Just feet away from Xocai, Peterbrooke Chocolatier owners Kevin and Jami Wray said they received great reactions to their unusual turn on the popped movie theater favorite.

"'Wow,' that's what we hear most often," said Jami Wray. "'Wow, this stuff is awesome' and 'Who would've thought of putting chocolate on popcorn?'"

Huffman was just one of the many that devoured a sample of the stuff.

Kids enjoyed much more than free samples at the festival. Avia Dow, 9, was one of the four who competed in the kids' cookie stacking competition.

Dow said she was confident and, although she didn't win, she wouldn't shy away from the other competitions going on that day.

Aaron and Michele Banks, owners of the Young Chef's Academy (YCA) in Winter Park, also brought kid-friendly activities. Michele demonstrated how to make candy sushi and Aaron manned the cake-pop station.

"We definitely got a lot of potential here," said Aaron Banks, who hopes he met some future YCA members at the festival.

Someone who doesn't need cooking lessons is Pam Kent, owner of Pam's Confections, who won an award for her red velvet cupcakes. Pam typically sells her sweets at the Winter Park Farmer's Market.

Sprinkles Custom Cakes, located off West Fairbanks Avenue, also received recognition at the festival, taking second place in the "best chocolate cake" competition with their famous "Oh My God" chocolate cake.

Darryl Tate may not have won anything, but he certainly received a lot of inquiries about his product. What Tate brought may not have been edible, but the dessert-inspired art looked sweet enough to eat.

Lauren Elkins, 20, said she couldn't wait to purchase one of his cupcake paintings.

"They were just really bright and colorful and I thought they were just adorable," said Elkins.

Marley Kunzler, 35, came to the festival with his family where he found plenty of activities for the kids and an enjoyable atmosphere overall.

"It was lots of fun," said Kunzler. "There was lots of chocolate and lots of good smells in the air."