The AIDS Foundation of Chicago will hold its annual World of Chocolate on Thursday, Dec. 3, at Chicago's Great Union Station.
There will be lots of new items this year to entice attendees. The event will feature a "Roaring '20s" Great Gatsby theme, complete with a '20s holiday-themed photo booth. In addition, the VIP area will be more decadent than ever, with a specialty bar and seating arrangements. ( There will also be a Golden Ticket Luxury Vacation raffle, including trips to New York City, San Francisco and Las Vegas. )
In addition, there will be 27 chocolatiers—including nine new ones. One of the returnees is Uptown Brownie, which will be at the event for the fourth time.
Uptown Brownie owner Sally Kenyon told Windy City Times that the company officially launched at Howard Brown Health Center's "Garden of Eve" event in 2011. However, even earlier than that, "I kind of got started in a backdoor sort of way," she said. "I had been making holiday cookie boxes for people—but, basically, I stole my brother's brownie receipe," she added with a laugh. "I always got incredible feedback on the brownies, though. My then-partner, who's now my wife, said, 'When you bake, you're so relaxed and at ease with the world.' Then the light bulb kind of went off, and I started doing brownies full-time, more or less."
Uptown Brownie has a wide variety of flavors. "At last count, there were 21 different kinds," Kenyon said. "It started with the basic chocolate truffle brownie, and I've just started to spin it from there. I do a Caramel-Fleur de Sel; then I took that and spun it into the Snappy Turtle Brownie, but I put a spin on that with caramel pecans and a little black pepper. There's Peanut Butter Truffle and there's an Orange [Truffle], with orange and chocolate brownie; I then brulee the top layer and melt that sugar there. I have a Raspberry White Chocolate as well."
Then there's the Elvis Crunch Brownie—a combination of peanut-butter truffle, marshmallow, candied bacon, chocolate ganache and crushed banana chips. "That goes into the more premium decadent area of what I do," said Kenyon.
She was also kind enough to share what she's planning to show at World of Chocolate this year: "I'm doing the Fat Tuesday, which is a bourbon-bacon fat-caramel [brownie] with spiced pecans and bacon on it." She might want to consider entering that in next year's Baconfest.
As for ordering the items, Uptown Brownie offers free delivery in the Chicago area. ( "I'm honored that I now have people [such as delivery drivers] who work for me," she said. ) Uptown also ships, with Kenyon saying she's had her sweets shipped to as far away as Spain and Botswana. She added she hopes to have a brick-and-mortar establishment soon.
Kenyon added that her wife—but, more often, their 6-year-old daughter—taste-test the brownies all the time. I'm rarely envious of young kids, but this might mark one such occasion.
"World of Chocolate" will be at the Chicago Union Station's Great Hall on Thursday, Dec. 3, at 6-9 p.m. ( This year's theme is "Chocolate, Glitz & Glamour." ) See http://www.aidschicago.org/page/events/fundraising-events/world-of-chocolate-2015.
More info about Uptown Brownie is at UptownBrownie.com .
