I was so lucky to attend the Dallas Chocolate Festival last year. It was aces! Well, I attended this year’s festival and it was even better.

Dallas Chocolate Festival
at the F.I.G.
1807 Ross Ave.
Dallas, TX 75201
http://dallaschocolate.org/

The Greatest Chocolate on Earth…that was the theme of this year’s festival. Think of it as a chocolate circus! The festival was held at the F.I.G. in downtown Dallas. It was great to see the event in a bigger, more accommodating space. Not only did the space allow room for more vendors (sixty to be exact); it gave the chocolate-lovers more room as well. Bravo!

Here are just a few of my faves!

Wackym’s Kitchen
Paul Wackym always brings a smile to my face; whether it’s through his wonderful spirit or his yummy cookies. He makes a wide variety of sweet and savory bite-sized cookies. Some of my favorites include: Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip, Hatch Cheese Nibbles and Lemon.

Dallas Caramel Company
Rain McDermott makes a mean caramel! These aren’t the pull-your-cavity-out caramels you normally get. They are creamy, soft and milky. The Chocolate Caramels did not disappoint. Looking for sweet and salty? Try the Bacon Caramels. I picked up a canister of her wonderful Armadillos…a decadent morsel of chocolate, pecan and caramel.

Xocalla Chocolatier Artisan
Xocalla had a wonderful variety of both dark and milk chocolates. The single origin chocolates were divine. I had a difficult time choosing just one favorite. I finally chose Marañón Cacao from Peru and the Hispaniola Organic Milk Chocolate from Dominican Republic. I am regretting not buying one of the Matcha bars. I really appreciated the pairing cards handed out with the chocolates. Nice touch.

RoRo’s Baking Company
I love me some RoRo’s! The only thing that can make chocolate better is by adding it to some yummy baked goods! RoRo does it just right. This year, in addition to their Chocolate Chip Cinn*A* Rolls, they offered their limited edition Chocolate Swirl Cinn*A*Rolls. Yes, please!!! 

Fresco Artisan Chocolate
I headed over to Fresco to pick up a bar of their Madagascar Cacao. One of my all-time favorite bars. I was offered a sample of their limited edition Polochic Valley bars. A deep rich, dark roast bar. Put it on my tab!

Amano Artisan Chocolate
Another fave is Amano and, more specifically, their Cardamom Black Pepper Bar. The mixture of the exotic cardamom and the heat of the black pepper is epic. I also picked a Mango Chile Bar and a Morobe Bar from Papua New Guinea.

There is a saying, “Darling girl, when all else fails…join the circus.” In my case it was a chocolate circus! Do you think I have enough to last until next year? Not a chance.