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Recipe for success

Chocolatiers find business sweet

NNSL Photo

Kim Ivany, left and Julie Evans whip up a batch of their Saucy Polar Bear chocolate sauce. - Thorunn Howatt/NNSL photo

Thorunn Howatt
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Feb 13/02) - Luscious, dark, creamy and sweet. Inspired by the romantic and seductive movie Chocolat, Kim Ivany and Julie Evans fantasized about becoming chocolatiers themselves.

So like the lead actress in last year's movie, the two women put on their aprons and dug out an old family recipe for chocolate sauce. That was just before Christmas. The idea evolved into The Saucy Polar Bear Chocolate Sauce.

"We just started playing around with some ideas and did some experimenting with the bottling but didn't actually start giving them out except to our husband and boyfriend," said Ivany.

The recipe was a success, and the pair decided to offer the fantasy concoction to co-workers, other flight attendants at the airline where the two work. The duo searched around until they found the perfect bottles and continued to work magic in the kitchen.

"We make them on order so it's nice and fresh as opposed to making a whole bunch and having a huge inventory. That way we keep our overhead really low," said Ivany.

The recipe is one that had been in Evans' family for generations.

"We're not sure how far to trace it back because her aunt made it and it was handed down to her from her great aunt. So it goes back," said Ivany, who wouldn't disclose the ingredients.

"It's kind of a secret."

Both women have restaurant experience; Evans cooked in commercial kitchens.

"She is a chef so she really brings culinary skills to the kitchen," Ivany said. So far they have about 20 orders for Valentine's Day but they are hoping to get some specialty business.

"For Valentine's we wanted to do something a little bit different and so the package itself is going to be filled with chocolate truffles and cookies in the shapes of hearts and decorated -- lots of little Valentine's treats in there," said Ivany.

The bundles cost $20 each and are delivered free.

The sauces regularly cost $3 for the small 1.5-ounce sampler size, $6 for the six-ounce size and $9 for the nine-ounce size.

Usually it takes about 48 hours for a large bulk order to be delivered.

Finding the perfect bottle was the greatest challenge of the whole process.

They come in three hexagonal-shaped sizes with gold lids.