By Joan Slowey Dellett ~
Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. Who doesn’t love chocolate? What is it about chocolate that always makes us smile? Why is it that we forget about the possible weight gain and look for ways to indulge our cravings for this delectable treat?
The folks at Chocolate Carousel want to help you satisfy all your chocolate desires by offering as many mouth-watering possibilities as their creative team are inspired to create.
Owners Lisa and John Porada are committed to sharing their passion for chocolate and desserts. Both grew up working in a bakery and, although neither had plans to make baking a career, they never forgot the joy a well-made, scrumptious treat brought to customers.
Lisa and John began their careers in the corporate world but quickly realized they would be happier being their own bosses. When plans to purchase a bed and breakfast in Spring Lake fell through, they had the opportunity to purchase the existing Chocolate Carousel.
A perfect fit, given their past history.
Very quickly, Lisa and John’s commitment to service and quality not only made them leaders in their industry and earned them numerous awards, it helped Chocolate Carousel quickly outgrow their original location. In 2009, they moved next door into a larger space. Always looking to expand their tasty offerings to their customers, they expanded again in 2016 with the opening of their Design Studio. An immaculate, sparkling, state of the art, stainless steel kitchen, the space can’t help but inspire all kinds of innovative creativity.
In addition to serving as space for cake design and consultation appointments, the Chocolate Carousel uses the Design Studio for baking classes, team building, tasting events and bachelorette and private parties. Class offerings, such as St. Patrick’s Day Cupcake Pull Apart class or Coconut Easter Bunny Face Cake Decorating, are offered monthly and can be found on their website https://chocolatecarousel.com/ .
One event, held the third Saturday of the month is “Sweet Tooth Saturday”. Held from 4-6pm, imagine an all you can eat cake filling and frosting tasting for only $6. Besides an opportunity to enjoy dessert before dinner, this social event also entitles you a 10% discount on any bakery item. Perfect for treating yourself to some goodies but even better for a special event dessert.
The Design Studio also serves as a video studio for the “Lunch with Lisa” live broadcast. Seen on their Facebook page every Wednesday at noon, Lisa showcases new recipes, demonstrates new decorating techniques and cake designs, discusses the newest cake trends or provides helpful information on the art of baking & cake decorating. Refreshingly unrehearsed and sometimes incorporating a theme or guest co-host, Lisa encourages same time comments and offers free gift certificates to viewers who submit ideas for that day’s theme.
Paramount to the Chocolate Carousel’s mission is to provide a welcoming, customer service oriented environment, fully believing that excellent customer service and the highest quality products are what differentiate them from other chocolatiers. Also important is being an active member of the local community, all the while remembering that it is their regular customer base whose loyalty continues to help them flourish.
As expected, Valentine’s Day is a busy time for the Chocolate Carousel. In addition to their famous All Chocolate Heart Box (the box is chocolate too!) holding hand painted chocolates, they offer chocolate roses, a long stem rose boxes with 8 or 12 chocolate covered strawberries, hand dipped chocolate pretzels, brownies hearts, chocolate chip cookie hearts and cakes for two.
Future plans are to expand their high end upscale cake decorating business. If you can dream it, chances are Chocolate Carousel can make it a sweet, totally gratifying reality.
To get more information on Chocolate Carousel or to view examples of the creativeness of their cake designers, visit their website https://chocolatecarousel.com/ or call them at 732-280 0606.