Diane Krulac is branching out with a sweet, new venture.
The founder of Brittle Bark in Mechanicsburg is opening Cocoa Creek Chocolates on Sept. 12 at 18 S. 18th St. in Camp Hill. The shop will showcase Krulac’s latest line of truffles, bars and caramels.
“We really hope and expect people will say, ‘Wow, I’ve never seen anything like this in central Pennsylvania,'” she said.
Krulac makes the chocolates in micro-batches and focuses on “curated collections, clean ingredients, and a stylish, playful visual appeal.”
A grand opening celebration will be held at the shop over several days starting 12:30 p.m. Sept. 14 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and sneak peek shopping event. The shop also will be open Sept. 12 for Camp Hill’s Harvest Hop.
Krulac ventured into the candy business by accident after making peanut brittle for a preschool bake sale. She invested $2,000 into the company (and more along the way) first selling wholesale from her home to local stores.
Her big break came when television host Rachael Ray made Poppin' Time, a mixture of popcorn, pretzels, peanut Brittle Bark and chocolate, the show’s snack of the day. Suddenly local people came knocking — literally — on the door of Brittle Bark’s kitchens in Mechanicsburg.
She opened the retail store in Mechanicsburg, where customers still shop for fudge, chocolate covered pretzels, packaged candies and the signature brittle bark.
A decade ago, she sold Brittle Bark’s wholesale operations to Fry Communications. Left with time and a desire to transition from bark to chocolate, she developed her latest pursuit, Cocoa Creek. It’s designed to showcase flavors from around the world.
“Like grapes, cacao beans take on the flavor and character of their source, and the cocoa that is made from those beans also tastes distinctively of the region where it was roasted, blended and produced,” Krulac said.
She sources chocolate from about 18 different countries, some from small craft bean-to-bar companies who have relationships with plantation owners in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and other countries.
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Among Cocoa Creek’s featured confections are truffles such as strawberry balsamic black pepper, coconut cream pie, passion fruit, raspberry and limoncello basil. Customers can choose custom boxes or pre-set collections such as a four-piece Black Beauty with 70% dark chocolate truffles from France, Italy, Belgium and the United States.
Cocoa Creek also will have monthly limited-edition truffle collections such as an upcoming Halloween theme in October.
The line extends to Luther’s Trek bars, named after Krulac’s Jack Russell Terrier in flavors like ginger-apricot, lemon-wild blueberry and Ultra Violet with dried raspberries, pistachios and sugared violets. The caramels sell in salted and spirited varieties such as almond sea salt, hazelnut caramel coffee, bourbon and spiced rum.
For Krulac, Cocoa Creek keeps her from boredom.
“I don’t have any big plans to retire, but I love what I’m doing. This has legs. It will have a life. It’s something fun," she said.
Coca Creek’s chocolates are available online. The shop’s hours for opening week are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday (Sept. 15), Wednesday (Sept. 16) and Friday (Sept. 18.), noon-6 p.m. Thursday (Sept. 17) and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday (Sept. 19).
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Cocoa Creek Chocolates to bring sweet inventory to new Camp Hill shop - pennlive.com
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