Kansas City is rich with award-winning chocolate shops and candy makers. Here's a taste

Whether in bar form or bonbon, Kansas City's chocolate game is strong. In the city of Russell Stover, Kansas City chocolatiers are winning international awards, competing on national TV shows and pushing forward the confectionary arts.
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Chocolate starts from the seeds of the Theobroma cacao tree. Native to the Amazon rainforest, the tree produces an oblong fruit about the size of a football. With a slight Chiefs-red tint, this fruit is cracked open, and the almond-sized seeds are extracted, fermented, and roasted.

From there, the magic really happens.

While the Mayans used cacao in religious and social events, it’s since been cultivated in many other regions of the planet — from Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana to Indonesia and Ecuador.

Kansas City has put its own stamp on chocolate, with chocolatiers who take it as seriously as a sommelier does wine.