Cheryl and Her Chocolate Factory
Yummy treats a big hit with customers
By: Brad Alexander, The Press-Tribune
Wednesday, November 29, 2006 9:56 AM PST
Cheryl Sandberg has loved the yummy treat of chocolate since she was a child and started making a success of her sweet tooth earlier this year. Sandberg’s home-based chocolate decoration supply business, An Occasional Chocolate, is heating up for the holidays.
The best compliment Sandberg said she has received about her delicious talents is customers, relatives and friends asking: “You made this?”
Everyone from moms to restaurateurs to professional chefs knock on Sandberg’s digital door, asking for chocolate-making supplies.
The business supplies wannabe candy makers with everything they need to do the job right.
Sandberg said the best part for her is being able to share her talents with interested amateurs moonlighting as gourmet dessert chefs.
In April, Sandberg started supplying friends and family with anything chocolate. If it’s used to make chocolate look more delicious she’s got it, from molds, baking chips, bars and flavorings, to edible decorations and elaborate chocolate fountains that warm even the coldest of hearts during this holiday season.
But everything she sells on her Web site is available year-round.
Sandberg takes an old fashioned approach to building her delish business by watching others do it and improving on it.
“She’s really good,” said friend and customer Kathryn Christensen. “People are impressed when I show them what I’ve made with my supplies from her.”
Years after taking a do-it-yourself class on how to make chocolate treats, Sandberg is reveling and biting her nails this holiday season.
“I’m very nervous and excited at the same time. I started stocking like crazy about a month ago because I could feel the rush coming and now it’s here,” Sandberg said.
In her previous careers, which were heavily based in customer service, Sandberg gained an education in Web and graphic design. She created a Web site (www.chocolate-candy-recipe.com) making her home-based business a call center for chocoholics.
Much of Sandberg’s influx of business came from popular search engines like Google. She sends dozens of boxes all across the country every week.
“I try to make the business and the Web page as approachable as possible,” Sandberg said. “I aim for beginners.”
Sandberg uses Guittard Chocolate Company as her supplier for the majority of her baking goods. She said they cover the full range of chocolate quality, from high-end French chocolate to low-end chocolate designed for beginners.
“She’s great,” said Karen Clark. “Her products are awesome and her customer service is wonderful. She has really become a top-notch provider. She loves teaching the regular mom on how to make things that look like they came out of a candy store.”
Clark is Sandberg’s cousin and is a second- and third-grade teacher for the Sebastopol School District.
“I love to get my students and my own children involved whenever I’m doing something with chocolate. They are usually half helping and half eating it,” Clark said.
- Brad Alexander
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake
CRUST
1 1/2 cups chocolate Graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup margarine, melted
FILLING
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup milk at room temperature
1/3 cup peanut butter at room temperature
1/2 cup Guittard semisweet chocolate chips, melted
PREPARATION: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil an 8-inch spring form pan. In a bowl or food processor, combine the crumbs with the margarine and mix well. Place the crumb mixture in the bottom of the prepared pan and press it against the bottom and sides.
In a large bowl, combine 1 package of cream cheese, 1/2 cup of the sugar, 1/4 cup of the milk and the peanut butter and beat until smooth. Pour into the prepared crust and set aside. In the same bowl, combine the remaining 1 package cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup milk and beat until smooth. Fold in the melted chocolate and mix until well-blended. Using a circular motion, pour the chocolate mixture into the peanut butter mixture. With a thin metal spatula or knife, swirl the different colored mixtures around to create a marbled pattern.
Bake until firm, about 45-50 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool completely at room temperature. Refrigerate for several hours before serving.
Makes 10 servings.
24 Oreo cookies
12-ounce package of Guittard chocolate baking chips
24 marshmallows
Guittard white chocolate colored with yellow candy coloring.
1. Set the cookies down on a wax paper covered tray, spacing them well apart.
2. Melt the chocolate chips in a microwave in 30 second intervals.
3. One at a time, stick a wooden toothpick into a marshmallow, dip the marshmallow into the melted chocolate, and promptly center it atop a cookie.
4. Using a second toothpick to lightly hold down the marshmallow, carefully pull out the first toothpick.
5. Chill the hats until the chocolate sets, then use a candy painting bottle to make yellow buckles on the front of each hat.
Recipe adapted from: http://sweetandsimplehome.blogspot.com/
