By admin Monday, August 20, 2012

I love sweets. When I was a kid my parents quickly learned not to leave any sticky, gooey, or sugary goodness out or it would disappear and when they asked where it went I would quickly give the answer, “doggy”. I got away with it for a couple years and poor Sammy the lab would spend a lot of time in the literal doghouse.  I was finally caught on my 8^th birthday when I ate half of the birthday cake my mom had made me. I remember Sammy getting spoiled from there on out.

I eat the standard cake and candy bars but I needed something stronger and something that was actually homemade and tasted like real sugar. I searched online for somewhere to go, where I could have some amazing chocolate, fudge, candy, or ice cream and I came across Byward Market. Located in Downtown Ottawa it was close enough to feed my sugar needs but not too close to feel like I was just going to the store to buy candy.

Most people don’t understand my addiction to sweet things, except for my close friend and fellow chocoholic Richard. I wanted some company on my adventure to the Market so I gave him a call and before I could get the word “Market” out he was in.

Richard could barely contain his excitement as he walked into the stores.  I was right on his heels and when I got inside I was overwhelmed. The smell of sweet sugary goodness hung in the air and blocks of beautiful fudge surrounded us.  The fudge is made right there so it is as fresh as it can get.  We began to sample a few of the 50 varieties of fudge they have until we had decided on 2 each. I got Double Chocolate and Cookies and Cream.  Richard decided on Divinity Walnut and Chocolate Coconut Cream.

We were there about an hour tasting and trying to decide while we admired our surroundings. We left happy with our decisions and smelling like fudge. By the time we got home we had each finished half of our fudge and debated going back that day for more. We kept ourselves in check and stayed back in Ottawa but knew we would be returning to Penny’s Fudge Factory soon.

The Market has a ton of awards and has been featured in Adventures Magazine and on CHRO Television’s “A Sweet Success Story”. Most recently it was awarded the Ontario Tourism’s People’s Choice Award for “Most Delectable Fudge” in Ontario.  The Market also participates in a wide variety of events including charitable fundraisers like the Easter Fudge Bunny fundraiser for Canadian Cancer Research.

So if you are looking for something to do in Ottawa (or close to it), and you have a sweet tooth, check out Byward Market.  For more info you can visit  or  click to find out about other Artisanal foods, farms & stores.