Orlando’s Candy Land: A Tasty Game of Sweet Spots
First published in 1949 by Milton Bradley, Candy Land continues to be among the classic board games played in American households with preschool-age children. The game’s bright colored winding path takes players on a magical journey through sugary sites, like Candy Cane Forest and Gum Drop Mountain, to find King Kandy, the lost king of Candy Land. Well, it turns out that King Kandy has sweet relatives all over Orlando! Local confectionary geniuses have turned Central Florida into a real-life Candy Land filled with yummy treats just like the cherished game, including chocolate, cupcakes, lollipops, and more! No need to use the gingerbread pawn players…instead, your family can roll the dice (aka hop in the car) and bite into Orlando’s many sweet treasures!
Abracadabra Ice Cream Factory
Founder John Gramley and business partner Ryan Smith, former restaurateurs, along with their ice cream lovin’ families, are serving up a magical experience with liquid nitrogen ice cream. But the customer is the wizard concocting the recipe! The process starts with a vanilla liquid which can be transformed using syrups and fruit bases into any desired flavor. Next, an array of 35 toppings ─ candy, coconut, nuts, chopped fruit, etc. ─ are added. After a quick stir and twist of the tank dial, the magical spell is cast, “Abracadabra, alakazam, make that ice cream as best as you can!” With temperatures reaching 328 degrees below 0, “magic clouds” of liquid nitrogen flash-freeze the ice cream right before one’s eyes.
“Aside from the unique experience, the taste is like no other,” John explains. “Flavor is infused throughout the base and because the creation is fresh and instantly frozen, the ice cream doesn’t develop ice crystals, so you get a cold and creamy consistency with every bite.” The texture is similar to that of hard ice cream, rather than soft serve. Ryan adds, “We use only premium ingredients, such as Ghirardelli Chocolate, Reese Cups, and New York Cheesecake.” Fan favorites include Midnight Cravings (Nutella, Oreos, and cookie dough) and Party Time (birthday cake, rainbow sprinkles, and marshmallow fluff).
Located in Clermont and Kissimmee, Abracadabra serves up ice cream (regular, sugar-free, and lactose-free), slushes, floats, and 21 flavors of gourmet cupcakes, in a fun atmosphere filled with classic arcade games and bounce houses; pizza is available at the Kissimmee location only. Open daily, Abracadabra is great for parties, private catering, and a free birthday treat!
Ms. Bee’s Gourmet Popcorn & Candy Shoppe
Belinda and Wallace Wilson knew they wanted to do “something fun and unique” after retiring from the medical field. Within just three months of deciding on a concept for their downtown Winter Garden corner store, ‘Ms. Bee’ opened her historic doors on 11/11/11 at 11 am and the ‘buzz’ quickly spread throughout the foodie community. Ms. Bee’s serves over 50 different flavors of popcorn ─ both salty and sweet. “Our product is fresh. We use local corn distributors, melt the Cadillac of cheeses, and use pure vanilla and seasonings,” Belinda describes. Customers love the Loaded Baked Potato, Tangy Dill Pickle, and Chocolate Drizzle Caramel.
Sweet lovers of all ages appreciate the shoppe’s assortment of nearly 100 hard-to-find vintage candies and delicious homemade fudge! “Classic fudge flavors, like Chocolate Peanut Butter, Raspberry Chocolate Swirl, and Chocolate Vanilla Caramel are always available. Plus, we rotate in seasonal favorites, like Pumpkin and Peppermint Stick,” says Belinda. “I hope that we can create lasting memories for kids and families that love coming to their neighborhood candy store ─ memories that other generations, like mine, cherished.”
Open Tuesday through Sunday, Ms. Bee’s also creates customized gift baskets and tins with local and national shipping options.
The Crêpe Company
After falling in love with cultural cuisine while traveling abroad, Lisa Martek traded in her finance career to buy a European-style food cart. While some thought she was crazy, Lisa simply said, “Let them eat crêpe” and her French-inspired, mobile crêpe company became a craze! Thanks to a high demand from farmers markets, including Lake Eola, Maitland, and Winter Garden, The Crêpe Company added a food truck, now serving sweet and savory selections.
“The thin batter of eggs, flour, and milk cooks on the hot griddle in less than a minute; so crêpes are made fresh to order. The crêpe itself is just 100 calories ─ an option for any meal,” Lisa says. “Our crêpe is folded over like a sandwich, rather 
than rolled, so it’s easy to hold and enjoy.” Though The Crêpe Company offers 3 breakfast and 12 lunch or dinner crêpes, the 10 ‘sweet’ crêpes are most popular ─ even earning ‘best confectionary’ at Orlando’s Festival of Chocolate. Fan favorites include the Smores Crêpe (Nutella, mini-marshmallows, graham cracker, and chocolate sauce), Éclair Crêpe (vanilla Bavarian crème and chocolate chips), and Strawberry-Short Crêpe (pound cake, sliced Florida strawberries, and whipped cream).
The Crêpe Company also participates in weekly food truck bazaars including Apopka, Kissimmee, Maitland, and Ocoee; and is available for corporate events and private catering, such as “sweet” sixteen parties.
Zeno’s Saltwater Taft
Since 1948, three generations of John Louizes’ family have made the “World’s Most Famous Saltwater Taffy” on the boardwalk of the world’s most famous beach in Daytona Beach. “My uncle Thomas migrated from Greece to Coney Island and started making candy. He eventually opened our Florida shop, passed it onto my father, Zeno, and I began working behind the counter as a kid,” John explains. “One day, my children, Zeno and CJ, may become our next generation of candy makers!”
Zeno’s uses a special whipping technique to give every colorful piece of taffy a soft, less chewy consistency, paired with a 
delicious, ‘melt in your mouth’ taste. “This unique aerating method enhances flavor and increases the candies’ shelf life,” said John. While still made locally, Zeno’s growth forced candy production to be moved to a larger, offsite kitchen factory, functioning with both traditional pull machinery and expert taffy personnel ─ an operation which produces 450 taffy pieces per minute or 280 pounds per hour! Zeno’s offers 100 taffy flavors, such as classic banana, chocolate, and vanilla; as well as customer favorites including fruit punch, cotton candy, and birthday cake.
The ‘Taffy of the Month Club’ is the perfect option for any taffy lover, especially those not located in the Daytona area, as members receive free shipping on one mouth-watering pound of taffy each month. Or nibble on Zeno’s other homemade sweets, such as 30 fudge flavors, 36 ice cream flavors, peanut brittle, or caterpillars (3 marshmallows dipped in homemade caramel)!
Chocolate Kingdom
Move over Willie Wonka…Edgar Schaked, a third generation chocolatier, is the king of chocolate! Chocolate lovers first came to love Schaked’s gourmet treats at Schakolad (pronounced shaq-oh-LAD) retail stores, a combination of ‘Schaked’ and ‘chocolate.’ Now up to 25 stores nationwide, headquartered in Kissimmee, Schakolad uses natural ingredients, including cacao beans, sugar, vanilla, cocoa butter, and powered milk, with chocolates made fresh at each location, rather than packaged and shipped.
Earlier this year, Edgar opened Chocolate Kingdom: Factory Tour Adventure, to offer chocolate lovers a fun journey surrounding the process of chocolate making, from the international bean selection through candy bar creations. “Many people don’t realize that the treat they enjoy so much first came from a tree. Our chocolate ambassadors lead an interactive tour with the use of visuals, games, and our chocolate cartoon. The Prince wants to gift a chocolate shoe to Princess Chocolina, but the dragon melts the shoe,” Edgar said of the animated characters inspired by his son (the prince), daughter (the princess), and dog (the dragon). By seeing the prince learn to remake the chocolate shoe, guests explore the origin of chocolate, see the Mystical River of Chocolate (filled with 60 gallons of flowing chocolate), marvel at the chocolate castle (built with 30-pounds of chocolate), challenge the dragon with a marshmallow toss, and see old world machinery in action by taking a ‘micro batch’ of beans through the complete process of chocolate making ─ bean to bar. After sampling dark, milk, or white 
chocolate, participants can customize a chocolate bar with 16 different toppings like bacon, nuts, or pretzels.
Still craving more? Chocoholics can stock up on over 50 chocolate products, such as assorted truffles, chocolate-dipped potato chips, chocolate soda, and chocolate wine. Your family can continue the chocolate consumption at the annual Festival of Chocolate, an all-chocolate event held in the spring, featuring demonstrations, live competitions, tastings, and more!
Photos: images of Abracadabra, Chocolate Kingdom, and Ms. Bees by Nancy DeVault; images of Crepe Company provided by Lisa Martek; Zeno’s courtesy of John Louizes.
