Chocolate and bacon? The Try-it Girl taste tests some unusual treats

Hyde Park, Tampa, Fla - Chocolate. Just the word makes your eyes widen a little and before you know it, your mouth is watering. The options are endless, from chocolate bars to fudge to truffles. Now, in Tampa's Hyde Park, there's a place making chocolate like you've never seen it before.

Just minutes into my visit to City Street Sweets, I was ready to take on the first unlikely recipe: maple, vanilla, bacon fudge. So what does the sweet and swine combination taste like? It's a lot like when you serve up breakfast and the bacon accidentally crosses into pancake territory. It's a bite of traditional breakfast in candy form.

The fun doesn't stop there, you can up the ante by biting into dark chocolate covered bacon. Just a crispy (and a little salty) slice of bacon coated in silky, not-too-sweet chocolate. I was surprised how much I liked it.

The biggest sellers at City Street Sweets are the barks. There are more than a hundred varieties and each is a work of art. There's potato chip, all kinds of cereals, cranberry-blueberry-granola, banana pudding and even Chai tea.

Owner, Steven Ashworth is the mind behind most of these confections. He's been making candies and chocolates for 22 years. His combination of experience and passion lead to infinite possibilities.

Ashworth isn't just happy to make the candy himself, though. He wants to pass the wisdom on to others.

He opened Candy College to teach eager students as young as 3 years old the ins and outs of the best confections. At the end of the lesson, students get to make and eat their treats.

I learned how to dip chocolate, perfectly coating a trio of tempting marshmallows in thick, creamy chocolate.

The key to perfectly formed chocolate is temperature, which Ashworth says you can easily achieve in your own kitchen.

Another surprise is just how heavy that chocolate is, not like dipping fondue. This chocolate is much higher quality.

If you're up for a bigger challenge, check out the Candy Bar Creator or Chocolate Bar Therapy classes. In each, you'll learn a brief history of chocolate, but only with Chocolate Bar Therapy can you enjoy a full chocolate tasting including some ultra premium samples.

You could easily spend hours at City Street Sweets, browsing the wide range of fudge and bon-bons and don't think I forgot about those caramel apples.
What was the best sample of the trip you ask? I always gravitate to dark chocolate and now my interest was piqued by some spicy varieties.

There was jalapeno, a pepper blend called Great Bark of Fire and Chipotle Pepper Bark. That was the one for me. At first bite, the richness of the chocolate overpowers the punch of pepper. Then, little by little your mouth feels the heat.

I'm told one faithful customer buys the Chipotle Bark to add a little kick to her cappuccino.

I can't possibly list all the delicious surprises in store for you at City Street Sweets so you'll have to check it out for yourself. You can find more information about the store and the classes they offer at citystreetsweets.com .