Thousands indulge during Lititz’s sweetest Saturday

Lititz was bustling with chocolate fans Saturday. The annual Chocolate Walk featured 32 stops, each showcasing a unique sweet treat. Photo by Laura Knowles

A little drizzle wasn’t going to stop chocolate walkers from getting their chocolate.

At Saturday’s 15th annual Chocolate Walk, thousands of chocolate lovers made their way to 32 different stops throughout downtown Lititz.

What would drive so many people to come out into the rain, just for some chocolate?

It could be the cute little chocolate mice at Zum Anker Alley Shoppes. These adorable little treats were made by Pat Koenigsberg, the aunt of shop owner Alice Bracken. The little mice had bodies made with chocolate covered cherries, and each had a cherry stem tail. Wilbur Buds formed the mice heads, which had almond sliver ears.

They tasted just as good as they looked.

Perhaps it was the chocolate mousse cups at Lititz Framing and Fine Arts, made by Luther Acres chef Quinn Hacker, with dark chocolate and espresso Italian custard, salted caramel center, spiced whipped cream and espresso bean crunch.

At Lititz Framing, Dee Czapko had come all the way from Pittsburgh for the Chocolate Walk. She had already gathered about 10 chocolate treats, with 22 to go.

“I’m having a great time,” she said. “All this chocolate.”

She hadn’t yet gotten to Cherry Acres, where Scooter’s popular grilled chocolate sandwiches were served to a packed house. As Dawn Quinn of Scooter’s explained, one of the secrets to the rich chocolatey filling is a mix of Wilbur’s dark, milk and white chocolate melting chips. She and chef Tim Whitmyer used a firm sourdough bread that will not fall apart when it’s grilled and the bread is dipped in a French toast batter.

“These are wonderful,” commented three students at the Pennsylvania School of Culinary Arts, adding that checking out the chocolate treats was a class assignment.

Their homework was to sample the chocolate and ideas for culinary goodies they could make in class.

That included the homemade Oreo-style cookies that were made by Cake & Cup at Lititz Family Cupboard. They had dark chocolate cookies with vanilla cream, mint cream and peanut butter filling.

At JoBoy’s Brew Pub, the miniature chocolate drops featured dark chocolate and cream cheese in bite-sized morsels of goodness, called Dark Chocolate Addiction. There was chocolate BBQ chicken prepared by Bountiful Feast at Lititz Mutual Insurance Company. At Chilango’s Authentic Mexican Restaurante, fresh Mexican sweet bread was served with champurrado hot chocolate.

At Lititz House Bed and Breakfast, locally made Spence Candies were served to chocolate walkers. Zest! also featured a local candy maker, Evans Candies, which uses Wilbur Chocolate for its butter creams, caramels and other treats.

The new Wilbur Chocolate store was open just in time for Chocolate Walk, serving marshmallow candies made with orange concentrate and dark and milk chocolate, for an intriguing taste.

Renewal Kombucha had assorted flavors of French macaroons made by chef Frederic Loraschi, who was named as one of the “Top 10 Chocolatiers” in North America in 2011.

At Greco’s Italian Ices & Homemade Ice Cream, there was ice cream, of course. Chocolate walkers could pick any flavor they wanted, from chocolate chip to Triple Chocolate Madness.

Aaron’s Books had chocolate peanut butter popcorn, Morton Fine Furniture had Achenbach’s Pastries chocolate long johns, and Candy*ology had chocolate salt water taffy from Sweet’s Candy.

At Sugar Whipped Bakery, cupcakes were served from the popular cupcake wagon. Lititz Historical Foundation had chocolate treats made by Heart of Lancaster Regional Medical Center’s chefs. Appalachian Brewing Company of Lititz offered chocolate peanut butter scones from Zig’s Bakery & Cafe. Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery had pretzels topped with either peanut butter, caramel or marshmallow, then dipped in Wilbur milk or dark chocolate. Whiff Roasters had their Mocha Java Crunch Chocolate Bar, made for coffee and chocolate lovers.

At Moravian Home Antiques, there were Anstine’s Homemade Candy. At Café Chocolate, mini dark chocolate cupcakes with espresso frosting drizzled in dark chocolate. Not far away, they were lined up at the General Sutter Inn and Bulls Head Public House for Chef Byrnes’ raspberry candies coated in Wilbur’s Brandywine chocolate. Olio Olive Oils & Balsamics had chocolate balsamic from Modena, Italy, over cheesecake. Dosie Dough had triple chocolate brownies with a brownie bottom, a chocolate chip center and chocolate fudge topping. Spacht-Snyder Funeral Home had chocolate treats from the Brickerville House Restaurant.

In summary, there was a lot of chocolate. And a lot of chocolate attracts a big crowd.

The annual Chocolate Walk is sponsored by the Lititz Kiwanis Club. Charities that benefit from the funds raised include Schreiber Pediatric Center, the children’s collections at the Lititz and Manheim Township public libraries, and the Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic.

Laura Knowles is a local freelance feature writer and regular contributor to the Record Express. She welcomes feedback and story ideas at lknowles21@gmail.com.

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