HAVE YOU EVER TASTED A PIZZELLE? Maybe it’s the special ingredient, anise, that makes this pastry more complex than a traditional cookie, but this delicate Italian wafer cookie has a lot of depth—especially for only containing five ingredients. Sisters Michelle Novosel and Caitlin Lyon grew up eating these baked sweets, and they seem to have made a lasting impression on the sisters, as it is now the namesake for their chocolate shop at Lowe Mill Arts and Entertainment. Interesting flavor profiles, like the pizzelle, are what these sisters now do best—the traditional with a twist, the customary with the daring, and the ordinary with the extraordinary. Michelle and Caitlin have been passionate about food for as long as they can remember. Before Caitlin went back to school to get a technical writing degree, she worked in a local restaurant and learned the ins and outs of food production. At the same time, Michelle was in culinary school. It only made sense to eventually open a business together that combined their knowledge of food. While they bounced around ideas about how to create bakeries, restaurants, or cafés, the two realized there was a common thread throughout all their dreams: chocolate. From savory chocolate, to drinking chocolate, to handmade truffles, their true love for chocolate made it obvious what the next step should be. Planning for the chocolate shop began in 2008. The first step was to choose their tempering chocolate, which is the chocolate used as a base in all of their truffles. Tempered chocolate is very glossy with a firm finish and melts smoothly at body temperature. They rounded up all of their closest friends who (begrudgingly) agreed to help them go through what seemed like hundreds of different chocolates to find the best one, and they decided on Venezuelan El Rey chocolate. Chocolate aficionados in the area may recognize this high-quality, single bean chocolate. Other than this base chocolate, Pizzelle’s Confections uses locally grown and produced ingredients—everything from the Belle Chevre goat cheese in their “I Do Declare” truffle or the Blue Pants Brewery Beer in their “Depth Charge” truffle. “You can be assured the fruits and
Above: Caitlin and Michelle behind the counter of their Lowe Mill shop. Facing page: “South by Southeast” and Nut Job” truffles.
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