Chocolate lovers flocked to the Embassy Suites Hot Springs -- Hotel & Spa to try the best sweet treats Hot Springs could offer Sunday afternoon.
The 13th annual Chocolate Festival featured 16 restaurants and vendors displaying their culinary skills with items they prepared specifically for the occasion. The festival benefited Cooperative Christian Ministries and Clinic, a local nonprofit that provides health care along with services and programs designed to lift individuals out of poverty.
CCMC's executive director and festival coordinator, Lynn Blankenship, said that this year's festival was a hit, both in terms of the vendors and the atmosphere surrounding the event.
"This has been a better year for us," Blankenship said. "It always seems like there's someone that doesn't show up, but that's not the case this year. There was a lot of excitement around it."
John Wayne Smith, founder of CCMC, said that 2017 also marks a significant anniversary for the clinic itself.
"We're celebrating our 20th anniversary of the clinic being open," Smith said. "That's what makes this year special."
Blankenship stressed the financial importance of the festival, pointing out that she and others at CCMC were looking to raise $50,000 from the event. As for tickets sales, she cited 600 advance purchases at $15 apiece, as well as the possibility of festival goers purchasing tickets at the door, at $20 apiece.
Blankenship said that the funds raised from the festival will account for at least 10 percent of CCMC's budget.
"It's a big fundraiser for us," Blankenship said. "Our private funding comes from outside sources, churches, businesses. We don't receive federal funding at all, so it is very instrumental that we do well with our fundraisers."
Chocolate aside, the festival goers could also participate in both silent and live auctions. CCMC added the live auction to this year's festival, which featured a puppy that was a mix between a beagle and a Boston terrier to bid on.
The lineup of chocolatiers at this year's festival featured names such as Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa, National Park College, Bleu Monkey Grill and Quarter's Cafe. Each chocolatier made a minimum of 800 items, giving the entire event a surplus of at least 12,800. Such items included delicacies such as cupcakes, fudge, truffles and cookies for the crowd's sampling.
The chocolatiers competed against each other in two different categories -- Best Presentation and Best Tasting -- which were determined by a panel of judges. The winners of each were announced about one hour into the festival.
Bliss Cupcakes won the first place award for Best Presentation, beating out Spa Botanica and National Park College. The truffles that Bliss made were presented with wedding cake platters and roses.
"We went with a 'shabby chic' look because we do a lot of wedding cakes, and that's kind of in this year," Elecesha Enloe of Bliss said. "We thought we would do well with that."
For Best Tasting, Fat Bottomed Girls Cupcakes topped Bliss and Bleu Monkey Grill with their Butter Pecan Chocolate Custard Cupcake. Owner Mackenzie Simon described the process of making her shop's winning item, mentioning icing and butter pecan cream as incorporated ingredients.
Smith expressed satisfaction with his organization's festival. He said that the Chocolate Festival has always been successful, given its subject matter.
"It's always been very popular," Smith said. "People like chocolate, so you can't go too wrong."
Local on 02/06/2017