Sweet Table Chicago Hits the Sweets and Snacks Expo 2010

As many of you know, Sweet Table Chicago attended the Sweets and Snacks Expo last week in Chicago! We knew it was a good day when we hit a sugar high at 10:30 am. Unfortunately, we also had a rapid crash around 2:00! But, we did have a chance to meet some awesome new vendors and learn about really cool new products! Here are some of our faves:

1. The Cholive Company. They have developed the world’s first cocktail chocolates and they are delicious! Cholives are 55% dark chocolate truffles filled with Vermont whole cream ganache and they are the perfect pairing for martinis, cream-based drinks, margaritas, specialty coffees and many other cocktails.We are already planning to use them on an upcoming Sweet Table this summer (stay tuned)!

2. Chasing Cupcakes. One of the coolest trends we were excited to see was all the new organic/gluten free vendors and products available.  Chasing Cupcakes was founded by Chase Nugent, who after her son was diagnosed with a gluten/casein allergy, realized she could not find a gluten free cupcake that didn’t taste like “dry, tasteless softballs!” The best part is, she’ll ship them right to your front door!

3. Surf Sweets. Surf Sweets produces all sorts of gummy, jelly, fruity treats that are gluten-free, made with organic fruit juice, contain no corn syrup or GMO’s, and are made in a nut-free facility. We love having this option, especially when we’re designing a dessert table for a party where the little guest of honor has food allergies. AND (no surprise), they taste way better than the fake stuff!

Other favorites included MollyLovesCandy,  Hillside Candy, and The Cocoa Room.

And yes, that is Mona Lisa made completely out of Jelly Belly’s.