Honey Bunnies are back!

Dark Chocolate with honey centres, dipped in dark or milk chocolate with sweet orange essence! Available only at the farmers markets until April 4th!

Summer Market Dates Are Up!

For those of you feeling inspired by all this warm weather to do some summer planning ahead - summer market dates are up! All of the markets we will be at this summer are listed on the side here. We won't be at any markets in July due to the anticipated hot weather, but you can still order on the website. As always, Metro Vancouver orders over $50 have free delivery. Don't forget to bring a cooler to the market on hot days, so your chocolate will make it home safely....um, unless you are planning on gobbling it up on the spot, which is also perfectly acceptable!

We wish you a Merry Christmas...

Free delivery in Metro Vancouver (orders over $50) Dec 22-24th. We will be closed online noon Dec 24th-Jan 2nd. We return to Nat Bailey Farmers Market January 24th. We wish you a very Merry Christmas and many happy adventures in 2015!

Maple & Maple Pecan Bars - Alternate Sugar Bar Series #1

Occasionally, I get requests for chocolate sweetened with something other than the fair trade organic cane sugar that we typically use. This is the first in a series of bars I will be making available that do not contain cane sugar, but use an alternate sugar instead. In this case, the alternate sugar is pure maple, from our fellow farmers market vendor Maples Sugar Shack. I couldn't resist making a second bar with maple glazed pecans and maple candy. The Maple Bar has a subtle maple flavour, while the Maple Pecan bar is sweeter.

Maple Bar ingredients: Fair trade organic cocoa nibs, pure maple sugar, fair trade organic cocoa butter

Maple Pecan Bar ingredients: Fair trade organic cocoa nibs, pure maple sugar, fair trade organic cocoa butter, organic pecans, fleur de sel

A second alternate sugar bar will be released in early 2015....check back soon for details...

Free Summer Delivery and the Best Society in the World!

Tomorrow we are at the Kitsilano Farmers Market, but after that we will only be at the markets sporadically until late August. But, never fear! This summer we are offering free delivery in Burnaby and Vancouver for orders over $15 (so, you live in New West? Well...email and try to convince me). There will be a weekly delivery day listed on the blog and also on the "where to buy" section of the website www.takeafancy.ca, so you can still devour gooey pecans etc. to your hearts delight!

I'd like to thank everyone for their interest in the weekly featured chocolates that have been running for the past few months. It has been fun for everyone (myself included) and will continue. I'll be sure to repeat the popular ones like the Earl Grey Fancies Lavender and the Mojito Caramels more often! We are having so much fun with this, that I have decided to offer a Chocolate of the Week Society Membership. Fancy that! You can look on the website for more info, but basically you can buy a month or 3 months subscription, so you'll be sure to get all of the weekly features, or if your feeling generous you could buy it for a friend. OR you can tell me that you're buying it for a "friend", so you can look generous, even though we both know it's really for you...cheeky!

Happy Easter!

This week only- honey bunnies! Check out our featured chocolate for more details. Happy Easter! 

The "I" and "We" of Take A Fancy (special thanks to Chocolate Chad)

I get asked these questions all the time “Do you own the business? I mean, is it just you? That seems like a lot of work making chocolate from scratch, do you do it all yourself?”

The answer is yes, and thankfully, no.

I thought it best to formally address these questions for you, lest you find yourself confused at my constant switching from “I” to “We” at Take A Fancy all the time.  It’s not a multiple personality thing, honestly. It’s more of an acknowledgment of the loads of friends and family who have been helping me all along the way.  

So, indeed, I do own the business. The “I” is me, Becks D’Angelo – sole proprietor, slave to the chocolate (grin – a rather chocolaty grin). There are no employees at this stage - it’s a one woman show. But, it’s not really just me, because there is the “we”. Take a Fancy would not be, if not for all the friends and fam who help me out at the markets, lend their volunteer taste buds, and support and encourage every day. My heartfelt gratitude to all who make up the “us” at Take A Fancy.

Extra special thanks to my great and amazing friend Chad who has been absolutely instrumental in making this business a success. Not only is he very handy with broken machines and electrical know-how (not my area of expertise), he is also a chocolate genius! Many a recipe has been dreamt up through collaboration with my dear friend Chad. In spite of his constant prompting to add habañeros to almost everything (“a little heat would be nice”, I can hear him say), I do text him almost daily with chocolate of the week ideas and he is always obliging with suggestions and encouragement.  He assists me with the markets and even traveled with me to the Dominican Republic last year (as seen in the picture below) and helped me haul around those incredible cocoa beans for your chocolate enjoyment.  I really couldn’t do what I do without him. Thanks Chad!

So, you see, it’s not just me. Thanks for supporting “our” little bean to bar chocolate company. We delight in spreading the chocolate love to you!