Cocoa Tree Confectionery

04/28/2026

Mimosa in the Delta lounge.

It’s been a minute, Fam but I’m still alive and kicking. On my way to Co-lo-ra-do to shoot some guns and..well, shoot some guns. I don’t smoke the chacha, so that’s all I’ll be doing 🤷🏽‍♀️.

Anyhoo…I have some thoughts on doing some teaching at Sur la Table (that means ‘Things and the Stuff on the Counter in Turkish). They’re in need of a pastry chef last I heard, and I thought about applying. Not sure if they’d have me, though.

I have a lot of shooting matches this summer and training and stuff I wanna do, so I’m not sure I wanna commit to a JOB, ya know? It’s a lot of WORK and a RESPONSIBILITY and I’d actually have to answer to someone 🤮. What’s up with that?

Just kidding. I could totally let someone else take the reins for once. That’s the last of my worries 😂. Staying sober is the first.

On another less tangential note, I sold Lola to the good folks at Sweettrio and she’s happy as a clam. They’re doing some fine work over there. I had a hedgehog (dude, for real- you need a hedgehog) and yeah. So I’m gonna say that you need to head over there. Anette is working on some sweet-ass recipes right now and has some awesome stuff in stock. I feel confident saying that she’s your go-to for things and stuff. Is she the Dubai hook up? Not yet, but we’re working on it. I’m not gonna leave you hanging, I promise.

So that’s it for now.

Go with God.

I’ll think of a new tag line later. The bartender spiked my coffee with Bailey’s.

L’chaim.

04/01/2026

Not sure who’ll be moving in, but I hope they love the space as much as we did.

Thanks for 6 great years at the Tree. We’ll miss you all, but stay tuned for whatever may come next!

03/10/2026

Well, Tyrone may be gone, but the Big Boy is back.

That's right- once upon a time, the bar you might recall from way-back-when, before the Dubai Bar made everyone nuckin' futz, we had the Big Boy Bar.

12oz. of pure caramel goodness wrapped in dark chocolate yumminess. And sure, we used to make it with milk chocolate too, but that was when Tyrone was here and well, I don't feel like hand-tempering a ton of milk chocolate right now.

Some of you might even remember the Big Daddy bar, too. It was the Big Boy Bar, but with big 'ol nuts. Unfortunately I don't have big nuts anymore, but I do have little ones if anyone wants a Big Daddy with small nuts.

Ok, so that's enough of the double entendres for one day.

I still have a few orders that haven't been picked up. If you haven't made other arrangements with me already, please message me to do so or I'll be selling your Dubai bars to the highest bidder.

No refunds.

As far as buying Big Boy bars and the other items I still have laying around (turtles, mints, Oreos, bonbons, etc.), you can still come and shop tomorrow from 2pm-5pm.

Also, BUY ONE BOX OF 9 MACARONS, GET ONE BOX FREE while supplies last, because you can't get them once supplies are gone.

Hours THIS week are as follows (pay attention, it's confusing):

Wednesday: 2pm-5pm
Thursday: noon-5pm
Friday: noon- 4pm
Saturday: noon- 5pm
Sunday: Closed (I think. Not sure yet).

Hours NEXT week (16th-21st) are noon-5pm Monday- Saturday.

1330 West Mequon Road
Bring an extra bag in case you want to take some other crap home too.

03/09/2026

Said goodbye to Tyrone today…

For those of you who never met him, Tyrone is the milk chocolate tempering machine who served us well for 6 years, tolerating abuse from many a staff member.

Hundreds of gallons of chocolate passed through his pipes and we salute him a fond farewell as he makes his way to his new home in Naperville with Chef Jerome at à la Folie bakery.

I’m happy that he’ll be staying in the family. I know he’ll be well taken care of and we wish him all the best in his new journey.

Au revoir, old friend. And if you ever feel nervous about your new home, always remember:

You got this.

02/27/2026

Y’all ever see that episode of I Love Lucy where Lucy and Ethel are trying to deal with chocolate coming off a conveyor belt and they can’t keep up?

Yeah. That was me while I was enrobing 6lbs of orange peel. In fact, I’m eating it while I’m typing this. My phone is covered in chocolate.

Also, don’t laugh when you see what packaging I’m going to end up using because I don’t think I have enough of those cute brown bags…

Final pop-up goes live on March 1st. Fairy food quantities are limited, toffee is abundant. When you pick up, you will be able to build a box of bonbons with your choice of the following flavors:

Cherry and Coffee (limited quantities)
Salted Caramel
Key Lime
Mint Meltaway
Pure Milk
Tanzanie
Raspberry
Hazelnut caramel

Limited gluten-free Oreos will be available for purchase on the website as well.

If you’re holding out thinking ‘Well she’s gonna hafta get rid of everything for cheap before she closes’, think again. Whatever’s left is coming with me to Dallas when I leave on the 25th, so get it while the gettin’ is good.

As for pickup dates, I’ll be around moving stuff out so there’s plenty of flexibility there. Online sales will CLOSE on March 3rd so I know what inventory I have available to sell to walk-in customers.

Dammit. I ate about a pound of peels in the last 5 minutes.

It’s Pusher 101: Don’t dip into your own stash.

I knew I should have been a pimp.

02/21/2026

Well, that didn’t take long.

The edible printer has been consumed.

But hey, that worked so well that I might as well see if you guys know anybody who wants the display cases in the front room or any of the other junk I have for sale.

The choolate molds, the cute oreo molds… all of them are negotiable  I also have a couple thousand gelato cups and spoons, and two Gelato machines- those retail somewhere around $12,000 each. Tell your friends.

Small business owners, I have my Square POS systems up for grabs too.

And I recall a few people were asking me about the Star of David gift boxes- Those are up for grabs if you’re still interested, first come first served.

OK, I have to get back to making my last batch of caramel.

Later, weirdos.

02/17/2026

It's exhausting being me.

Ok, so now that we have that squared away...let's get down to brass tacks, shall we?

The price of chocolate has gone up once again.

Wait- here's my surprised face: 🖕🏽🖕🏽🖕🏽.

What does that mean for you? Well, it means that I need to know how serious you are about the Dubai Bars and fairy food and other stuff that you want for the Final Freakin Pop-Up Extravaganza™️. See, in keeping with the tradition of complete transparency, in order to make all this stuff I'm gonna need to raise some prices.

Yeah, I said it.

Dubai Bars will go from $20 to $22
Fairy Food $15 to $16.50
Toffee will stay at $18 (I can't justify raising that any higher)
Orange peel $15- $16.50
Pretzel 4 Packs $8.50 - $9.00
Oreo 4 packs $7.50 - $8.00
Solid Bars $12- $13.00
Crunch Bars $7.50- $8.50
BonBons will stay the same

As you can see, some of the items are staying the same because I can't in good conscience raise the price and expect that you'll pay it.

Fairy food, orange peel, and Dubai Bars, however, were already priced pretty low compared to most of my competition, especially considering that I use awesome chocolate and only the best pistachios and raw ingredients.

Anyhoo, before I make the investment (and we're talking thousands of $$), I need to know that y'all are good for it.

If I get enough interest, I'll open up orders and start cooking. If not, I'll make what I can with what I have laying around, add what I have left from the last pop-up, and we'll call it a day.

So...can I get an amen?

02/10/2026

Hola Peeps!

Our latest pop-up is alive and kicking, so you can still order items on the website and pick up until 5pm tomorrow.

Few things to keep in mind when picking up:

1. We do have items for sale in the shop, including some that were not on the website, such as popcorn and Bitty Bear boxes. I also have Valentine's Day-themed bonbon boxes that hold 4 chocolates- no upcharge when you buy a regular box of 4 since I need to get rid of my packaging.

2. I packaged turtles today, so you can grab those the you pick up your items, or order them on the site as well.

3. Having said all that, please note that I DO NOT HAVE A CASH DRAWER ON HAND, so you will either have to pay by card, or if you pay cash please bring exact change.

4. And this is the real kick in the pants, so hitch up your britches...

I have decided to buy out my lease. Ergo, (which as we all know means, 'duh' in Times New Roman), instead of hanging around doing pop-ups until October I will be vacating the shop as of March 31st.

"But what about the stuff you said you'd make after you get back from Atlanta next week?"

Check the calendar, Numb Nuts. Next week is nowhere near March 31st. Really Billy, sometimes I think you were dropped on your head at birth.

"But I'm a manifestation of your imagination."

I rest my case.

Anyhoo...What this means to YOU, Wise Readers, is that the next few weeks will be your last chance to stock up on your favorite goodies.

Will I be opening for retail business? No.

What I'd like to do is take your orders, make the stuff, and have one, giant pop-up around the beginning of March, since I'll need the remaining time to get moved out.

What stuff will I be making?

Well, that's up to you. I can tell you that once enrobed in chocolate, most items last a really long time. Dubai bars and bonbons can be frozen, crunch bars stay fresh for at least 6 months, same with turtles, and so on.

This would necessitate me buying more chocolate and probably more Dubai supplies, so I'll be taking orders in advance vs. making the items ahead of time and selling based on inventory.

Am I planning to make gelato?

No. Unfortunately I can't guarantee that it will all be sold and I refuse to get stuck with 25 pints of miscellaneous flavors. Plus, I need to sell the freezer and gelato machine when and if the opportunity arises.

Are your fixtures and s**t for sale?

Absolutely! Hell, you can have some of this stuff for free- just get it out of here tout de suite. Teachers, I have tissue paper. Shop owners, I have display stands. Crafty people, I have ribbon and other sundry creative junk. Seamstresses and people who do things and stuff with fabric, I have tons of lovely satin that I used for my display cases (some of it is brand, spanking new).

Need 6 bottles of peppermint extract? Look no further!
Unopened bags of unsweetened cocoa powder? I'm your girl!
Office supplies? Why not?
That cute cart that sat behind the gelato cases? Sure!
Those awesome shelves on the wall that you never noticed before? Hell, yes!
The gelato cases themselves? Make me an offer!

Much like your Mother-in-law during the holidays, it's gotta G**O before I toss it in the trash.

Industry folks: If we already discussed packaging, etc., don't worry-I still gotchu 😉.

Okay-that's it for now.

[Preps for the deluge of requests for Fairy Food...🥃]

02/08/2026

Here's the skinny:

Orders are open, BUT...

There are limited quantities of many items because I was on a time crunch (Thing #2 needed his Mama in Ohio and well, that's more important than you weirdos).

Having said that, I'm asking that if you don't absolutely NEED your stuff by V-day, please hold off on ordering until next week when I'm back from shooting things in Georgia and can properly stock things like Dubai Bars, crunch bars, and dare I say, Big Daddy Bars? Plus I'll have orange peel by then, too.

You can go ahead and order fairy food and toffee now if you're worried about running out- it's really only the bonbons and bars that I fell behind on- just let me know when you check out if you’ll be picking up ‘later’ (I’ll post again when additional items are available).

Pick up will be Tuesday and Wednesday, 12-5pm. If you need some special accommodations, let me know. I leave Thursday, so I'll help you out if I can. I'm a romantic at heart (no, I'm not).

Have at it folks. See ya when I see ya ✌🏽.

Gourmet bonbons and specialty chocolate concoctions. Special occasions and corporate gifts.

02/07/2026

My back is killing me. I hope you’re happy. 😁😂😉

02/03/2026

I know I've been MIA for a bit, but in my defense I was learning jiu jitsu with knives.

Seriously- that's where I was: at a class in Illinois learning how to grapple and do under-hooks and whizzers and wrist-ties and other moves so some s**theel meth-head (should that be hyphenated?) can't take my shiv away from me in the parking garage.

But now I'm back (sort of- I'm in Ohio with Thing #2 for a few days), but I'm feeling like a Boss and ready to talk choc.

Next week's Pop-Up will hopefully include (in order of priority):

Fairy Food
Caramel bonbons (both heart shaped and regular ones)
Dubai Bars
Pretzels and Oreos
Toffee
Popcorn

Now, the caveat to all that is that I only have about 10lbs of milk and 15lbs of dark chocolate left and I'm not planning to buy any more (I have to buy it by the case and we're talking $700-800 per case). So, the quantities of the aforementioned finished products will largely depend on what I can eke out of my current supply of raw materials.

"They don't care how the sausage is made, Boss".

Shaddup, Billy. They need to know WHY I might only have a dozen bags of stupid Fairy Food and why I might have to skip the toffee altogether. Deal with it.

Ordering will be open on Monday and Tuesday with pickup TUESDAY and WEDNESDAY...or something like that.

Cocoa Tree Confectionery
Complain. I dare you.

01/18/2026

Valentine’s Day.

Not as Hallmark-y as Sweetest Day, but somewhat bile-inducing, nonetheless (and I actually HAVE a Valentine, if that tells you my level of cynicism these days).

Anyhoo…a few of you suckers have asked about a popup for this holiday and I didn’t really commit to anything because I thought I had someone lined up to take over the space.

Well, that fell through. Sucks to be me, but ‘yay’ for you, I guess. 🤷🏽‍♀️

Not sure what you’re looking for…heart-shaped bonbons? More Dubai bars? Toffee? Are we ready for pretzels and Oreos?

Talk to me, Maverick- I’m your Goose…