Dilettante Women’s Triathlon is coming! Join us June 15th at Five Mile Lake Park!

We are happy to announce the second annual Dilettante Women’s Triathlon! This great event, organized by our friends at BTO Mulitsports, takes place June 15th at Five Mile Lake Park in Auburn. This family-friendly triathlon welcomes any skill level – from the seasoned athlete, to those just starting out in the world of athletic events.

This year participants will have two course options. The Sprint Course includes shorter swim, bike, and run distances, while the newly-added Olympic Course is available to those looking to step it up. The Olympic Course features swim, bike, and run courses at Olympic-length distances.

For some novice athletes, the word “triathlon” could be quite intimidating or daunting. The Dilettante Women’s Triathlon has the perfect solution – the LUNA Chix Race Buddy Program. Athletes have the option of teaming up with a member of the Seattle LUNA Chix Triathlon Team. A LUNA Chix Team member will be by your side throughout the race to offer guidance and inspiration. Support from another female athlete may be just what you need to cross the finish line!

Did we mention that race prizes come in the form of chocolate? The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers of each category will receive delectable Dilettante Chocolates, along with an engraved wooden plaque. There will also be plenty of other chocolate goodies for all race participants to enjoy, including a chocolate fondue fountain!

We look forward to seeing everyone at the race!

For more information on the Dilettante Women’s Triathlon and to register, please visit www.dilettantewomenstri.com.

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Imperial Truffles – Luscious Chocolates Fit for a Queen

Mother’s Day gifts need not be something to stress about. When it really comes down to it, all Mom really wants is to know that she is loved and appreciated. When it comes to Mother’s Day ideas, sometimes the classic, simple gift of gourmet chocolate is just the ticket.

Make Mom Queen for the day with a gift of Imperial Chocolate Truffles from Dilettante. What better way to celebrate the majesty of Mom than showering her with a delicacy who’s recipe has been relished by European royalty? Read more about our rich history.

Our chocolate truffles come beautifully packaged and make a great Mother’s Day idea. Our Silver Gift Box Collection features five boxed assortments, each gift-wrapped in silver paper and topped with a hand tied bow. These exquisite assortments range from our dainty 4-piece box, to the impressive 64-Piece box that boasts two pounds of chocolate truffles in a variety of gourmet flavors.

This Mother’s Day, give Mom the Royal Treatment with a box of Imperial Truffles.

More Mother’s Day Ideas:

Milk & Dark Chocolate Truffles	Chocolate Heart Box with Truffles	Deluxe Chocolate Gift Basket

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Hop to It! Choose your favorite Chocolate Rabbit today!

When it comes to Chocolate Easter Bunnies, we like to think we know a thing or two. We’ve been hand-crafting these tasty rabbit confections for years, and as they say practice makes perfect.

Each of our Chocolate Easter Bunnies is handmade using premium chocolate. Our confectioners hand paint white chocolate details into each mold, then carefully fill out the rest of the bunny with milk and dark chocolate. Once the chocolate has set, each sweet bunny treat is packaged in a beautiful display box or wrapped in cellophane and topped with a colorful bow. But enough talk about that, let’s meet the Dilettante Chocolate Bunnies!

	Say hello to Scouter. He’s a kind-looking fellow just waiting to make your acquaintance. This adorable chocolate rabbit comes dressed to the nines in trousers, shirt sleeves, collar and tie. He’s all dressed up for Easter Sunday and ready to hop into the nearest Easter basket.
	Next in the lineup is Dude. This guy comes with all the attitude a seven-inch chocolate rabbit can hold. Arms crossed, ear flopped, white chocolate eyebrows raised, he’s just screaming “Come on, just you try and eat me!” But don’t worry, he’s never been known to bite back.
	The star of our Chocolate Rabbit Show has to be Topper. Standing at 13 inches tall, he is complete with a friendly bunny grin, large pointed ears, and when you turn him around you’ll find a white fluffy tail. Did we mention he’s also clutching his most prized possession? A giant, white chocolate carrot!

 (Also keep an eye out Dude’s smaller counterpart, Lopsy. This look-a-like may be slight of stature, but he still packs a great combo of sass and deliciousness.)

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A Box of Chocolates – The Classic Valentine’s Gift!

A box of chocolates for Valentine’s Day never ceases to please. Especially if that box is filled with high-quality, gourmet chocolate, like the kind we make at Dilettante.

Make your sweetheart weak at the knees with a romantic gift from Dilettante. We carry a variety of boxed chocolate assortments with something to please every loved one. We spend time to expertly craft each of our decadent chocolate products and are sure to use only the highest quality ingredients. So you can be sure that each bite of our pure, rich chocolate will be enjoyed.

Valentine’s Day is a great time to show your love for all the people in your life, from spouses and parents to the devoted teacher and even the mail carrier! Here are a few of our most popular Valentine’s Day gifts:

Milk & Dark Chocolate Truffles	Chocolate Heart Box with Truffles	1 LB Chocolate Truffle Assortment

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Christmas chocolates from Dilettante make delicious holiday stocking stuffers.

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care, but have you figured out what trinkets and treasures to fill them with? We are here to offer a few delicious stocking stuffer ideas, straight from our chocolate factory.

For a festively flavored stocking stuffer gift, our Candy Cane Chocolate Truffle Cremes are just the thing. These creamy peppermint chocolate morsels bring the delicious flavor of the holidays home. Even the Ebenezer Scrooge’s of the season can’t eat one without cracking a little smile. All natural candy cane and pure oil of peppermint pair up with smooth milk chocolate to make these holiday-inspired treats.

He’s making a list, and checking it twice! Christmas just isn’t complete without a Chocolate Santa Claus or two! Jolly Old Saint Nick comes to life in our hand-painted Chocolate Molded Santas. We use premium milk, dark and white chocolate to artfully create each of these holiday masterpieces. Choose from three sizes:

Little Nicky, 2.25 ounces – a cute little fellow, this chocolate guy measures four inches tall.
Kristopher, 4 ounces – Mr. Claus is looking fine at five inches tall with a snow-white beard and bag full of toys.
Kris Kringle , 40 ounces – Our largest Santa offering, an exquisite display standing 12 inches high.

Traditional foil-wrapped chocolates are always a fun treat, especially for the kids. Our Christmas Chocolates feature miniature Santas and Bells wrapped in colorful holiday-themed foils. Each bite-sized piece is made of creamy milk chocolate. The six-ounce gift bag  is just the right size for a holiday stocking, while our five-pound bulk bag makes it easy to add a little chocolate Christmas cheer to everyone’s stockings.

For more great stocking stuffer ideas, as well as delicious chocolate holiday gifts, visit our Holiday Gifts page!

Candy Cane TruffleCremes	Chocolate Santa Claus	Christmas Chocolates

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Our newest Mocha Cafe is located in Westfield Southcenter Mall.

We are pleased, and very excited, to announce that our Westfield Southcenter Mall location is open!

We’ve been working hard for many moons to get this new Mocha Cafe up and running, and from the looks of things our hard work has paid off with a beautiful kiosk serving up delicious mochas, hot chocolate, chocolate truffles, pastries, and more! It’s a coffee shop with an affinity for chocolate, what could be better?

Just in time for the cold weather, our newest Mocha Cafe in Southcenter is serving up piping hot mochas!

Just in time for the cold weather, our newest Mocha Cafe in Southcenter is serving up piping hot mochas! Our cozy space includes two coffee bar seating areas, along with a comfy booth-style bench and handy coffee table. This new location in Southcenter makes it convenient for all of our south-of-Seattle friends to get their hands on one of our rich chocolate mochas or other delicious items. Come visit us in Westfield Southcenter Mall on Level 2 near the food court and experience all that Dilettante has to offer!

For more information you can check out our Mocha Cafe webpage, or the Westfield Southcenter Mall business page.

If you do decide to pay us a visit, we welcome comments, suggestions, photos and whatever else you can dish out on our Facebook Page!

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At Dilettante we do two things especially well – hand crafting delicious chocolates and roasting our own special blend of premium coffee beans. So, what happens when we meld two of our delicious specialties into one? Our decadent chocolate-java morsels also known as Chocolate Espresso Beans burst into life!

Click here to buy Espresso Beans in Chocolate from Dilettante.

These bite-sized delicacies very well may be our most popular product. And for good reason. Each chocolate espresso bean is just that – a whole roasted coffee bean covered in a two generous layers of smooth chocolate. The resulting chocolate dragee is a wonderful marriage of textures. Soft, sweet chocolate paired with the satisfying crunch of the bold-flavored espresso bean. Move over chocolate covered nuts, espresso beans in chocolate are the new favorite in town!

Chocolate espresso beans from Dilettante come in a variety of chocolate flavors, too. Creamy white chocolate, rich milk chocolate and intense dark chocolate coatings are all available for our chocolate covered coffee beans. Or, choose our Cheetah Espresso Beans in Chocolate and experience all three chocolate flavors at once, beautifully blended into a marbled design.

Dilettante’s chocolate covered coffee beans aren’t just delicious, they also make a beautiful display. Our chocolate espresso beans are made in special revolving kettles that create smooth, even chocolate layers over each coffee bean. That’s why Dilettante espresso beans in chocolate are free of pitting and unsightly cracks in the chocolate layers.

Many of our customers purchase our Bulk Bags of Chocolate Espresso Beans to use in party favors or to keep candy dishes filled throughout the year. With a one year shelf life, you can’t go wrong!

More Decadent Chocolate-Coffee Combinations from Dilettante:

Dark Mocha Truffles	Coffee Trio Truffle Cremes	Mocha Meltaway Truffles

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With summer in full swing many of us across the U.S. are battling sweltering temperatures. One of our favorite ways to beat the summer heat is indulging in a cold ice cream treat. A rich chocolate or caramel milkshake makes cooling off a delightful experience. Or, choose a good old fashioned ice cream sundae with all the fixins.

Our gourmet dessert sauces are the perfect addition to make those ice cream dishes especially delicious. We have three gourmet flavors to choose from; Bittersweet Chocolate Sauce, Semisweet Chocolate Sauce and our ultra rich Caramel Sauce.

These decadent dessert toppings are all natural which means you don’t have to worry about additives, preservatives or artificial flavorings. We only use premium ingredients when making our chocolate sauce and caramel sauce so you get the best quality available.

	Ephemere Bittersweet Chocolate Sauce: Made from a variation of our signature Ephemere Chocolate Truffle recipe, this chocolate sauce is for serious dark chocolate lovers. An intense dark chocolate sauce with smooth notes of caramelized butter, sugar and cream. Try it out in a Dark Chocolate Milk Shake.
	Ephemere Semisweet Chocolate Sauce: Also made from a variation of our Ephemere Chocolate Truffle recipe, this chocolate ice cream topping is a perfect balance of sweet and bitter notes. Use it in place of milk chocolate sauce for a richer chocolate sundae experience.
	Caramel Sauce: A velvety variation of the French Caramel formula used in our decadent hand-dipped chocolates. Cooking our rich caramel sauce at high temperatures gives a delicate burnt sugar taste that is balanced by the smooth flavor notes of cream and butter. This caramel sauce makes an extraordinary Caramel Milkshake and is just as good drizzled over your favorite flavor of ice cream.

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Father’s Day is almost here, have you figured out a gift for Dad?

Don’t worry, there’s still time!

Dilettante has a variety of delicious gourmet gifts to show Dad how much you care. Plus you can save 15% on all online orders through June 11, 2012!

Here’s How: Shop online at www.Dilettante.com now through June, 11, 2012 and enter coupon code DAD2012 at checkout.

Father’s Day is a great time to remind all the special dads in your life how much they really mean to you. Shop now and save 15% on delicious gift ideas like our popular Chocolate Salmon. Twelve ounces of premium Dilettante chocolate handcrafted in a beautiful salmon design.

Our wide selection of gourmet delicacies has a tasty offering fit for each and every dad. Decadent chocolates, buttery biscotti and velvety dessert toppings are just a few of our luxurious indulgences. When you choose a high quality gourmet gift from Dilettante, he will know just how highly you think of him.

Celebrate Dad with a Gourmet Gift
Because he deserves the very best!

More Great Father’s Day Gift Ideas:

Chocolate Gift Boxes	Deluxe Butter Biscotti	Gourmet Dessert Toppings
Chocolate Assortments Just for Dad!	Perfect Pairing for His Morning Cup o’ Joe!	Make Dad the Ultimate Ice Cream Sundae!

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A couple months ago we highlighted our delish coffee beans in an email received by our chocolate-loving Dilettante fans. I thought perhaps our blog visitors would also enjoy learning more about this excellent product. Just answer me this one question first, “How do you take your coffee?”

Dilettante may be known for exquisite chocolates, but did you know that we also blend and roast our own coffee beans? Our Master Chocolatier, Dana Taylor Davenport is not only knowledgeable in fine chocolates, he has also mastered the craft of Coffee Roasting.

We are proud to offer three roast varieties specially blended to pair with the flavor profiles of our rich chocolates and decadent desserts. Our coffee offerings are made from a distinctive blend of beans sourced from specialty plantations around the globe. This blend includes beans from the four major flavor profiles; South African, South American, Central American and Indonesian.

The names of these fine artisan coffees were inspired by Dana’s rich family history. Each roast is available in Whole Bean as well as the always convenient, Ground Bean.

Hapsburg Blend – Viennese Medium Dark Roast: Our flagship roast, specially created for our signature Mocha Cafés. Named after Franz Joseph I, the last Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Dynasty and patron of our founding chocolatier, Julius Franzen. Enjoy the rich, complex and balanced flavor with your favorite Dilettante Truffle. This popular coffee also comes in a decaf variation.

Bohemian Blend – Hungarian Light Roast: Perfect for the first coffee of the day. This light roast, named for Dana’s Great Uncle Samuel Franzen, is complex, spicy, and energizing. Try it paired with your sweet morning pastry.

Romanov Blend – French Dark Roast: Intensely bold yet elegantly smooth, this is our most robust coffee offering. It’s bittersweet top notes blend perfectly with hot milk for an exquisite café au lait. This full-bodied coffee was named after Czar Nicholas II, the last great Russian Romanov.

If you have not yet tried these dark delights, we invite you to experience the rich, robust flavors of our Premium Roast Coffee for yourself.

What is your ultimate coffee beverage? Show us by uploading a photo of you enjoying your cup o’ joe to our Facebook page! (Bonus points if you’re drinking Dilettante Coffee, especially if you are at one of our Mocha Cafés!)

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Pronounced, “drah-jay,” these delicious bite-sized morsels are a point of pride at Dilettante. Pieces of dried fruit, nuts and espresso beans are generously coated in premium blends of milk, dark and white chocolate. The ingredients are key in making these delectable delicacies, but our method of chocolate panning is just as important.

Each variety of Dilettante Dragee begins its journey in our special revolving kettles that give the fruit, nut or espresso bean center two thick coats of our gourmet chocolate. For our colorful chocolates, such as our Fruit Medley Dragees featured here, the second chocolate layer consists of creamy white chocolate colored to a vibrant hue.

The precise calibration of these revolving drums, paired with the skilled application of each premium chocolate layer produces beautifully smooth dragees without pitting. Wouldn’t these little gems look gorgeous displayed in your home in a crystal candy dish?

Quality is very important to us here at Dilettante. That’s why we only use high-quality chocolate, free of fillers and compound coating when making our chocolate dragees. They are also preservative and additive free so rest assured that our chocolates dragees are high-caliber. Here is a selection of our best-selling dragees. Maybe you’ll discover your new favorite indulgence!

Fruit Medley Dragees	Chocolate Espresso Bean Blend	Chocolate Covered Blueberry Dragees	Chocolate Covered Bing Cherry Dragees

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Our special method of making our signature chocolate truffles is what sets Dilettante apart from the rest. Pronounced “eh-fem-eer” (it helps if you say it aloud) the name of our signature flavor experience is derived from the word, ephemeral meaning a brief, short-lived experience. Your Ephemere Chocolate Truffle supply may not last forever, but you’ll be sure to slow down and savor each rich, flavorful bite.

You know the sensation. Biting into a rich piece of truly delicious chocolate. It’s an experience in itself and one that often comes with a certain measure of indulgence and self-reward. Life is full of little pleasures – the happy face of a blooming daffodil, the bright sun and brisk air on a long-awaited spring day – let us not forget the simply joy of a good piece of chocolate. That’s what our Ephemere chocolate is all about – creating delicious moments of sweet chocolate bliss.

The signature Ephemere flavor is derived from our proprietary cooking method of caramelizing the butter, sugar, and cream early on in the cooking process.  This method leaves a hint of unique, full-bodied flavor throughout all of our Ephemere chocolate truffles.

Our one-of-a-kind Ephemere flavor can be found in a variety of our gourmet chocolate items. Below is a selection of some of our most popular offerings.

Ephemere Truffles	Ephemere Truffle Cremes	Ephemere Meltaways	Semisweet Ephemere Sauce

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Dana Taylor Davenport began the Dilettante Chocolate Company in 1976. The first Dilettante location resided in the vibrant Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington.

Patrons enjoyed the European-style chocolates made from family heirloom recipes, some dating back to Dana’s great uncle, Julius Franzen who began his work as a confectioner in Europe in the late 17th century.

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