THE first time I heard of pastry chef Wendy Boys she was crafting otherworldly desserts for Lumiere Restaurant.
The last time I saw her was when I was swiping more than my share of her salted caramel and apple tarts at late summer's Feast of Fields in Langley.
"If I wanted to get more of these . . . say, on a regular basis . . . where would I find them?" I asked her, as I stealthily helped myself to tarts No. 3 and 4.
"You would have to make them yourself," she grinned.
"And it's really not hard."
That's because she sells the key ingredient - Burnt Caramel Sauce - in her own line of sweet sauces and confections, Cocolico by Wendy Boys. But even using that tone-perfect sauce - made with real cream, butter, organic cane sugar, and Tahitian vanilla beans - I doubt my tarts would taste quite that good. It's been two months, and I'm still thinking about them.
Still, I'm willing to try.
Boys has been making and marketing Cocolico treats since the holiday season of 2008. Also in the line: Vanilla Salt Caramels with Peanut Butter and Milk Chocolate Crunch (named by Vancouver Magazine as one of the "101 Things To Taste Before You Die"), Dark Chocolate Sponge Toffee, Raspberry Dark Chocolate Sauce, and Dark Chocolate Caramel Sauce.
When I spoke to her this week, she was in her temporary production kitchen in Deep Cove, making the caramel sauce that has been showing up in my dreams.
So how did she make the leap from pastry chef in one of the city's most awarded restaurants to owning her own wholesale specialty chocolate company?
"I come from a family of entrepreneurs," she says of her upbringing in Alberta.
"I've always wanted to be in business for myself."
In the summer of 2008, Lumiere closed for renovations, and while she was off work Boys broke her ankle "in a spectacular gardening accident." To pass the time, she started making her own chocolates and feeding them to her friends. Word spread, and soon she found there was a market for her confections.
And once she connected with distributor Allyson Nelson of Mad About Food, Boys realized there was enough of an appetite for her new products that she could focus on Cocolico full time.
"Working in a restaurant is pretty all consuming," she says. When she worked at Lumiere, she started at the same time as the cooks, and often finished later. Making products for wholesale allows her to be creative and still have a life outside of work.
She does continue to consult on dessert menus for restaurants, primarily for Cactus Club Cafe, where almost all of the sweets roster is hers, including the epic Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Bar.
Her three-year plan includes greater distribution, probably to the U.S., but it won't really take off until her new Vancouver factory is finished, sometime in the spring. She doesn't plan to go too big either, she says; she will be keeping a careful eye on quality.
"Not everything scales up easily. Caramel doesn't scale up easily - there are scientific and chemical reactions you have to be aware of."
Best she keep things small then - I don't want her making any changes to that sauce.
Cocolico products are available on the North Shore at Whole Foods and other retailers. Boys will also be operating a pop-up shop for the month of December in Lynn Steven boutique in Gastown. Get more information, including recipe ideas, at www.cocolico.ca.
