The candy business has been heating up in Los Angeles as chocolatiers add a fiery kick to their treats. Now Dan Bernier, a real estate developer living in Chinatown, is entering the business with an Asian accent. His creation is called Kung Pao Chocolate Bars.

Bernier has spent three years making a chocolate bar that uses Asian chilies and peanuts to appeal to spicy-food addicts. That gave him the difficult task of balancing the chocolate flavor with the spiciness. Understandably, there were mixed results at first.

“It was a lot of trial and error,” he said. “Some of the bars were so hot you couldn’t eat very much. With some, you didn’t taste the chili part.”

Now the recipe is ready for market, and his first full batch of 10,000 bars, which he’s looking to finance by raising $11,000 through crowdfunding website Indiegogo, will be ready in April, he said.

“People who like spicy food love it. The thing about both spicy food and chocolate is that a little bit makes you want more,” he said.

Other L.A. candy companies have used hot flavors in their confections. John Kelly Chocolates sells fudge infused with habanero and jalapeno chilies at $9.75 for a 2-ounce bar. Bernier said he wanted to aim lower, pricing his bars at less than $2.

The spicy stuff isn’t the only variation on chocolates, however.

“Upscale additions to traditional chocolate bars pop up all the time,” said Susan Smith, a spokeswoman for the National Confectioners Association in Washington, D.C.

While she’s seen plenty of specialty chocolates incorporate Mexican and Southwest influences with flavors such as chipotle, she’s never seen a chocolate maker use Asian chilies.

“Anything like that, that tastes good, is going to generate interest,” Smith said.

– Ryan Faughnder