CABOTTO CHOCOLATES
Chocolate shop enjoying success in Cape Breton Highlands.
A Victoria County woman’s love of chocolate has spread from being just a hobby to a full-fledged business inside a business.
Penny Steele relaunched Cabotto Chocolates inside the Colouratura Fine Art Gallery in Indian Brook — both of which she owns — earlier this month alongside her sister and business partner, Deb Karn.
Steele has been baking for years and has offered handcrafted truffles and bars — made from premium Belgian chocolate brand Callebaut — on a table in her art gallery since 2015 as it was “my thing,” she said.
Karn decided to retire from her job in London, Ont., and moved to the Cape Breton Highlands to relaunch the chocolate shop with Steele over the winter.
They celebrated with a grand opening on June 2.
The Callebaut cocoa products can produce “intense” and “smooth” flavours depending on preference, Steele said.
“The sweetness is more controlled. … We sell chocolate shells but we also make truffles,” she noted.
“I have Irish whisky liqueur. I have a Cabot Trail maple walnut liqueur that is used in our truffles. And when you start out with a good chocolate to begin with then you are going to have a really good product.”
It was the demand for her chocolate that convinced Steele to make it a full-time labour
“They look like little works of art. Sometimes they look like I’ve channelled my inner Jackson Pollock.” Penny Steele, owner,
Cabotto Chocolates
of love alongside the artwork hung and sold in the gallery, a former Presbyterian church, that she’s operated for the past eight years.
All of the chocolate — milk, dark and white — is made from scratch in Steele’s kitchen each week.
The lack of preservatives means the chocolate truffles are only good for a few weeks to about a month. The chocolate bars can last for several months depending on what ingredients are included in them.
“They come with fresh cream and fresh butter so they have a short shelf life and are made weekly … and then they get sold real fast.”
There are pumpkin pie truffles, chubby hubby’s peanut butter and pretzel and Celtic Irish Mist with cardamom and lime sugar to name just a few.
Her artistic flair as a chocolatier can present itself in some creations with hand painting on chocolate moulds.
“I have a fish mould that I hand paint myself. I use cocoa butter coloured chocolate. One of them I have filled with gummy worms and the other one I have filled with peanut butter pretzel and marshmallow. They look like little works of art.
“Sometimes they look like I’ve channelled my inner Jackson Pollock.”
The businesswomen’s next big event will be held on July 7 — known to many as World Chocolate Day— when Steele plans on celebrating with chocolate demonstrations by Karn from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.