Published: February 08, 2008 02:47 pm            

EATING: Making mouths happy

Chocolate-covered bacon may be hard to imagine, but some guy on the Internet — figuring everything tastes better with bacon — took a strip and covered it with the sweet stuff.

The jury is still out on the idea, but it’s certainly something to give a chocolate lover pause.

Further Internet roaming revealed that people are covering all kinds of things in chocolate, from sweet peppers to Bugles corn snacks.

While some people may take things a bit too far, local chocolatiers are being equally creative while trying to tap into the secret fantasies of their chocolate-loving clientele.

For Mary Ann Hess of Niagara’s Honeymoon Sweets in Niagara Falls, it’s a personal challenge. She’s not beyond taking a doughnut hole, stuffing it with cheesecake filling and than covering it in chocolate. Or dipping baklava into chocolate. Or even adding fresh basil to a strawberry enhanced with white chocolate. She’s put cherry pies and Italian cookies into her chocolates and has even dipped peanut brittle.

Hess is always looking for a new creation to coat in chocolate.

“We’re probably the littlest candy company, but we have the biggest bursts of flavor,” she said.

Over at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in Kenmore, owner Michael Mole said that when he and his partners first traveled to the chocolate factory that supplies some of their products, they were impressed by almost everything there — except the chocolate-covered potato chips. Then, some chips were sent to their store by mistake along with their opening order.

“I thought, ‘Well, I’ve got to try them.’ They are good. We sell a ton of them, and we keep on running out,” he said.

Rocky Mountain, which is a franchise from Colorado, gets the most attention for the unusual assortment of caramel apples the store carries. There are 20 different types, many covered in assortments of candies, nuts and marshmallows.

“Believe it or not, our best seller is an apple pie apple,” he said. “There’s something about the cinnamon, brown sugar and the bitterness of the Granny Smith apple.”

Taking something that’s perfectly pleasant on its own, like a caramel apple, and embellishing so that it is gooey-squared is a tactic also employed by All That Chocolate in Wilson. Apples get a sticky caramel coating, then a coating of chopped pecans, then a dip in chocolate and a sprinkle of more pecans.

What makes their apples stand out, according to co-owner Darlene Alvers, is their giant size.

“A local farmer goes through every bin and hand selects them for us, God bless him,” she said.

She and partner Christine DeLuca are also known for their “Heavenly Mix,” which features white chocolate-coated oat and rice cereal, walnuts and pretzels, and for their chocolate-coated DiCamillo’s biscotti.

Their most interesting chocolate effort, they said, was to coat a pair of pears in chocolate and decorate them in tuxedo and pearls for a wedding reception honoring “the perfect pair.”

DeLuca and Alvers, who have partnered for the past decade in their wholesale chocolate-making company, typically save their chocolate experiments for families and personal gifts.

“We’ve dipped dried mango, which everybody loved,” DeLuca said.

But when it comes to dipping things in chocolate, perhaps nobody can compete with the Hershey’s company in Hershey, Pa. They are dipping a whole month in chocolate.

“Chocolate-Covered February” will feature 300 events and activities, including chocolate tasting classes and cooking demonstrations. Those unable to travel can view an assortment of chocolate related videos online at hersheypa.com.

Contact reporter Michele DeLucaat 693-1000, ext. 157.

        

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