Natick Chocolatier Offers Sweet Treats for the Holiday Season

A quick look into Brigitte Browney's professional kitchen tells the story. Mounds and mounds of chocolate, in various shapes and sizes, made from the finest ingredients from Europe and Brazil, waiting to be delivered to hungry customers.

The 10-year chocolatier can't help but smile while making one of her popular creations, a chocolate cornucopia filled with various confections. She knows it's going to someone that will put a smile on his or her face.

"It pleases people," she says from her Natick home where she creates all of her confections. "Everybody loves getting chocolate. It's like spreading love and joy on chocolate. I get the satisfaction from doing that, knowing that somebody's going to be happy with their gift."

As Browney explains some of her creations, the whirring of a mixer is overheard. This is her busiest time of year (along with Valentines Day) and there's no stopping now.

Customers can order online on her website, but she would rather choose a more personal approach.

"I prefer to talk to the people and see what their preferences are," she says. "to get to know what they really want. Then I put it together for them."

Her company, Cocoa Pod Chocolates, is known for mouth-watering holiday pieces, special occasion packages and corporate gifts.

"Chocolate makes people happy ... and it's good for you," she says. 

Her company was slow to grow in the beginning, but a break on the Food Network turned things around.

"I got on the Food Network with Ina Garten (in 2010, hostess of Barefoot Contessa)," she says. "That really sent things spiking. In her last cookbook she included one of my recipes and included me in there." 

Another Food Network star is also a fan of her chocolate creations. Giada De Laurentis was recently at the Natick Mall to sign copies of her latest cookbook, and made sure to take a few minutes to meet Browney.

"I made her a chocolate shoe," she says. "She loves shoes and she loves chocolate and she was just over the moon with it."

But her masterpiece is an oversized cupcake with a surprise filling.

"It's call a Smash Cake," she says. "It's filled with all the confections that I make. It comes with a mallet, (and) you smash it and it breaks open and everyone eats it. It's like a pinata. It's perfect for any occasion, so I decorate it according to the theme (weddings, Thanksgiving, birthdays, etc.)."

To make an order, customers can call 617-875-9306, or email brigitte@cocoapodchocolates.com. Browney can ship orders directly or customers can pick them up at 945 Concord St., in Framingham.

You can also find Cocoa Pod Chocolates on Facebook and Twitter.