I’m sharing with you today my adventures in Chicago.

A hand-full of sugar artists were invited by Edible Artist Magazine to demo at their section inside the Fine Chocolate & Dessert Show. This was opportunity I could not pass up considering I had never been to Chicago and the fact that KRAFT Foods headquarters are here too.  You can read my recap of my visit to KRAFTown HERE.

I loved Chicago. Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to see too much but I do know that next time I come back I’ll make sure it’s when the weather is warmer hahaha.

The show was held inside the Navy Pier.

There were rows and rows of chocolate!!! Everybody’s dream come true, right?

This 6-or-so-foot tall chocolate statue was pretty cool. The amazing Alain Roby made it… he was even on site signing copies of his latest book.

It was cool seeing the French Pastry School students making things on site. It reminded me of when I was attending Johnson & Wales University and we would watch the culinary students compete.

Here are some of the amazing chocolate structures that were being displayed at the show:

 After I finished my demos and display, I escaped my booth to go walk the floor.

There were some serious chocolatiers there.  These companies had some of the most delicious chocolates I have ever had.

There were chocolate fudge bars made with moonshine. I bought a few for my husband.

There were chocolates made with chile, bacon, onions, coconut and the list goes on and on…..

And yes,  there were some chocolate-coated marshmallow pops too!

I loved the way this company displayed their products. That branch tree is such an eye catcher.

Trump Towers was onsite  serving hot chocolate with dry ice ice cream on top. It was so cool!

Choco-Pan was also onsite making a deer head display. I totally love their products.

I got to meet the talented and very sweet owner of New York’s Macaron  Cafe. Of course, I purchased her book and got it signed too 🙂

Meanwhile back in our section:

Sugar artist were busy demoing all kinds of techniques using all kinds of mediums.

Isomalt figurines made by Peggy Tucker using Simi Cakes products.

Here’s Rebecca Wortman sculpting buttercream. She’s got crazy skills!

This is ALL buttercream. No cake, no fondant, no dummies.

The fabulous Joshua Simpson.

Jennifer Cucci demoing her amazing Easy Roller.

Oh yes, and Mike Terry AKA the funniest man in the sugar art world. The show was just a few days before Halloween so naturally he had to scare me LOL

As the crowd walked the isles filled with chocolaty goodness all weekend long, I sat at my booth demoing pops.

Here are close ups of the pops I made:

And onto the fun stuff – what makes my heart beat – what I love the most about my art : Displays.

I started off by cutting out tons of circles which I would attach to my cake dummy. Can you guess what it will be?

If you guessed a tree, you either cheated by scrolling down or you have an awesome imagination haha.

I hand painted every circle with gel food colorings to resemble the tree leaves of an oak tree in the middle of Fall.

I know it’s more of an eclectic tree but I loved how it came out.

Top view:

Close ups:

 

View from below:

Mmmmm, Jet-Puffed‘s Pumkpin Spice Mallows!

Shortly after completing this piece I jumped on a flight and headed back to my home sweet home.

There’s nothing like industry shows, interacting with fans and meeting amazing people…. I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to do what I love for a living.

This was the last show of the year that I will be attending. Can’t wait to see what 2014 shows have in store for us 🙂