It's no secret that Natalie Brockerhoff longs for Europe.
After spending almost 30 years in Germany honing her skills and mastering the art of German pastry, she's now made Sudbury her home, bringing a taste of Germany with her.
Brockerhoff owns Delicate Delights, a quaint and exquisite chocolate shop in New Sudbury.
Tucked behind the Hilton Hotel in a strip mall, she has a goal to enrich the pastry environment here in the North with her passion — as well as her truffles, cakes and really good callebaut chocolate.
“My goal isn’t to copy or compete with anyone already here,” she said. “I won’t have red velvet, white cake or cheesecake. I won’t make gluten-free cakes, either. I want to bring European passion and knowledge to Sudbury.”
Brockerhoff, who is originally from the Owen Sound area, started studying chocolate and pastries at the age of 31 in Cologne, Germany.
She specializes first and foremost in truffles. Delicate Delights offers 44 flavours of truffles in which to indulge, starting with ‘A’ for almonds and ‘W’ for watermelons at the other end of the alphabet.
She’s made specialty truffles at a certified kitchen for local food establishments and local events in the past.
Now in her own space, she’s creating cakes, crafting gourmet marshmallows, sculpting marzipan art, and rich, delicious hot chocolate.
Brockerhoff’s cakes are of European varieties like the traditional German Gentleman’s cake, Swiss meringue buttercream, baklava, as well as Egyptian honey cake and other African sweet treats.
She works with the traditional three types of chocolate — milk, dark and white — but also crafts tasty treats in ruby chocolate, which hit the market in 2017 and has a berry-like taste.
Delicate Delights opened at the end of June and seems to bring in a lot of keen customers.
“I start with a bit of education and then offer samples of truffles or marzipan so people understand the distinctive taste of European chocolate,” Brockerhoff said.
In the future, Brockerhoff has dreams of challenging the Canadian Red Seal system for pastry chefs, but also has her eyes set on adding a café and gelato.
She’s also working on a protein chocolate bar and medicinal chocolate infused with local chaga and Lion’s mane mushrooms.
Brockerhoff chokes up when she thinks about what she’s created in this cozy space, which is reminiscent of a British café, and wishes her friends and family in Germany could be closer to share the joy.
Visit DelicateDelights.ca or visit the store at 434 Westmount Avenue in Unit B. Delicate Delights is closed Mondays and Tuesdays for chocolate production
The shop is open to customers from 3-5:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays. It’s open later on Fridays from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. with longer hours Saturday and Sunday that begin at 10:30 a.m.
Anastasia Rioux is a writer in Greater Sudbury. Let’s Eat! is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.