Madison, WIChocolatiers and Candy Shops

Gail Ambrosius Chocolatier is an Atwood Avenue chocolate shop built on truffles made from single-origin dark chocolate, most of it sourced from Central and South America, and dipped by hand, a process customers can watch through a small window. The case holds standards such as sea salt caramel beside flavors like strawberry balsamic, brandy Old-Fashioned and a shiitake mushroom truffle. Ambrosius founded the business in 2004, and her son Isaac May and his wife, Katharine Hillman, now run it. Order a box of the truffles.

CocoVaa is Syovata Edari's chocolate shop and factory in a renovated office building on Odana Court, where she handcrafts chocolates in small batches and sells truffle boxes and chocolate bark by the pound. The flavors change with the seasons and draw on global cuisine and culture, such as a chocolate made with saffron from Afghanistan. Edari, a James Beard Award semifinalist, has won 30 Academy of Chocolate awards. Order a truffle box or bark by the pound.

Infusion Chocolates on Monroe Street makes handmade truffles in a variety of flavors, along with chocolate bars, dark chocolate sea salt caramels, and chocolate-covered nuts and espresso beans. Order a selection of the truffles and the sea salt caramels.

Madison Chocolate Company opened in 2017 as an independent, woman-owned chocolate shop and cafe, and owner Meghan Hile's shops, this one on Glenway Street off Monroe Street and a second on Odana Road, serve caramels, chocolate truffles and gluten-free house bakes, along with drinking chocolate. Order a box of the truffles and the caramels.

The Chocolate Caper is a chocolate shop on Main Street in Oregon whose range runs from praline and truffle assortments to potato chip bark and chocolate-dipped Oreos. Its praline follows a European recipe that blends nut butters into white, milk and dark chocolates. Order a praline assortment or the potato chip bark.