Carmen Portillo to appear on national baking show “Bake You Rich,” Sunday night on Food Network with Buddy Valastro. -Photo by Stephanie Jones
Carmen Portillo, the chocolatier of Cocoa Belle Chocolates in Bryant, Arkansas, has made it onto the national television show “Bake You Rich” starring Buddy Valastro, better known as the “Cake Boss.”
According to the Bake You Rich web page, “Four professional bakers compete for a chance to have one of their unique creations produced and sold online by the Cake Boss.”
She shared Food Network’s social media post on April 14th April 14th:
“I’ve been waiting to share this with everyone for a LONG time! YOUR FAVORITE CHOCOLATIER WILL BE ON FOOD NETWORK! BAKE YOU RICH is a brand new show that premieres TONIGHT at 10/9 CST. Watch and follow every Sunday night. #bakeyourich #dreamchaser #nevergiveup #lookmomimontv #foodnetwork #realitytv”
“I submitted for casting in October and found out in November. We filmed in January in Hoboken NJ at the Carlo’s Bakery factory,” stated Portillo.
On Sunday, April 28th, 2019, at 9:00 p.m. Arkansas time, watch the Food Network for this lady who a lot of people around Bryant know. I first wrote about Cocoa Belle and Portillo on MySaline in February 2017, when she opened a storefront for her chocolate business in Bryant on Marketplace Avenue. She used the Bryant storefront for these two years, but very recently has made it her production location only, and now sells out of Bella Vita Jewelry on 6th Street in downtown Little Rock.
Portillo is very excited about the competitions and aims high but says, “My goals for the competition are to have fun, create something unique from my point of view as a chocolatier.”
Portillo traveled abroad when she was young, and fell in love with fine chocolate there, and the maker process. Returning to the States, she couldn’t find the same quality of chocolates and so she went to college in Orlando to specialize and become a certified chocolatier.
In this first round of the show, the four competitors show who they are as bakers. In the second show, they’ll present the item they hope will be picked as the winning dessert. Two bakers will be eliminated and in the last show, Valastro and staff will put them through the mass production process at Carlo’s Bakery.
“If I won,” said Portillo, “I would want to expand my brand, and a partner like Buddy Valastro would be phenomenal.”
But then there is the other side – she says, “If I don’t win, this is just the beginning! Trust me there’s more to come for Cocoa Belle Chocolates and TV. “
Don’t forget to watch Sunday night at 9:00 p.m.
Bonus: I went to a chocolate bar workshop at Cocoa Belle in Bryant in October. Here are some yummy photos, then a couple of social media posts that talk about the new retail location for Cocoa Belle.