Houston and Dallas chocolatiers took home several honors at the recent International Chocolate Awards. From a pool of over 400 nationwide entries, three Texas confection companies were selected to move on to the American finals of the International Chocolate Awards, which takes place in September. The semifinalists were chosen by a panel of nearly 100 judges, made up of chocolate experts, food writers, and pastry chefs.
Those who are selected as American finalists will move on to compete in the worldwide competition, which takes place in October.
Dallas’ Dude, Sweet Chocolate was honored in the dark spreads category for their hazelnut-chocolate spread, and Houston’s Tejas Chocolate and Araya Chocolate were honored separately in the dark spreads, dark chocolate single-origin bars, milk chocolate single-origin bars, and dark, filled chocolate categories.
At the nearby Summer Fancy Food Show, Austin’s Sticky Toffee Pudding Company also earned recognition for a new chocolate they’re unveiling this summer. The toffee company won the Outstanding Confection award for their new chocolate tiffin dessert bar. Tiffin is a chocolate bar made with English biscuits, almonds, raisins, and cherries.
This is the fourth time in seven years Sticky Toffee Pudding Company has been honored at the competition. In previous years, the company also won for Outstanding Food Service Item, Outstanding Baked Good, and the 2007 Gold Award for Outstanding Baked Good.
To find out more about these two dessert competitions, visit the International Chocolate Awards and Summer Fancy Food Show’s websites.
