Not every box of chocolates is the same. If you’re someone who appreciates good chocolate, you know that some are barely worth your time.
This is something Jennifer (Jen) Lynn from JL Cake and Chocolate in Swift Current knows well. Any piece of chocolate can satisfy your craving. The best chocolates, though… they aren’t just delicious, they’re works of art, too.
Want to see for yourself? To celebrate her first anniversary in business, JL Cake and Chocolate is setting up a Pop-up Shop today (April 9th) at the Swift Current Mall! She’ll be set up between Precious Jewels and Suzannes with a selection of cupcakes, confections, and chocolates that will not only please your taste buds but also inspire your creativity.
“I love art. I have this insatiable need to be creative,” said Jen. “So, I thought to challenge myself and combine this passion [for creativity] with making chocolates – high end bonbons – in addition to cakes, sugar flowers, and confections.”
After working as a graphic designer for 20 years, Jen started a small home bakery, The Silly Yak Baker, offering gluten-free cakes and confections inspired by her desire to share recipes that were safe for others (like her) dealing with celiac disease.
“I sorely missed that creative outlet [of graphic design],” she said. “As I learned more about cake decorating, I discovered an aptitude and just a sheer delight in it. From there, I stepped into luxury baking.”
Not only did luxury baking feel like the perfect fit for Jen, it also became evident that it filled in a missing gap among Swift Current businesses.
“At the 2024 Sip and Shop, I showcased 6 wedding cakes that I had designed. The response from the community was overwhelming, and I knew then that this is what I’m meant to do. So that’s when I started JL Cake, which recently transitioned to JL Cake and Chocolate.”
Moving into her second year in business, Jen is fully embracing her creative side, releasing seasonal chocolate collections inspired by Impressionist painter, Claude Monet.
“The spring collection is called Gold and Pastel, and it’s inspired by the picture everybody knows, The Water Lilies,” she said.
The Water Lilies collection will include three boxes: Nature’s Tiniest Wonders with couverture (solid) chocolates; Impressions in Pastel with bonbons (chocolate shells with filling); and Caramel Quartet, a collection of chocolate eggs with caramel fillings. She will also have a chocolate bar collection, called The Water Lily Muses, which will feature designs inspired by Monet hand-painted with cocoa butter.
“Nature’s Tiniest Wonders will be solid couverture chocolates, [shaped like] little garden critters like caterpillars and ladybugs. If you’re a chocoholic, these are the ones you’ll want,” said Jen.
“They're going to feature Callebaut (Belgian solid chocolate) lines of ruby and gold chocolate, as well as some of their other more standard chocolates.”
She continued, “Impressions in Pastel is a spring garden collection, so more flower shapes, and they’re going to have white chocolate shells with bright spring flavours, including lemon meringue, orange creamsicle, key lime, elderflower and honey, lavender, and pomegranate.”
“Then, because caramel is always a classic, we’ll have the Caramel Quartet. Of course they’re going to be little eggs, so you can even crack them open, and they’ll be runny inside. There will be four chocolates designed to look like robin eggs, each with a different caramel flavour.”
While Jen is thrilled to share her chocolate creations with the community, she’s also aware of the current world-wide cocoa shortage. This shortage has not only made it more difficult to access supplies like cocoa powder and cocoa butter but has also increased the price of chocolate.
“It is a little bit of a challenge,” said Jen, “so to be as efficient with my product as possible, we like to work on a pre-order basis so nothing goes to waste.” You can pre-order chocolates, cakes, and confections from JL Cake and Chocolate’s website, but if you’ve got a bigger sweet tooth, you can also sign up for subscription services.
Jen explained, “We offer monthly subscriptions. We have a corporate cupcake subscription, where you can order 6 dozen cupcakes for your workplace and have them split up into different deliveries. We also offer personal cupcake subscriptions where you get a cupcake delivery every month. My personal favourite is the confection subscription, which you also get monthly, because it inspires me to create new flavours and treats.”
The chocolate subscription will be available soon, which will offer a luxury box of bonbons once a month.
If you’re ready to get your hands on JL Cake and Chocolate’s delicious art, head to the Swift Current Mall – today only! – to try them out, or head to the website and place your order! You can also find JL Cake and Chocolate on Facebook and Instagram.