Brass Balls and Hot Chocolate: Q&A with Ellen Kinsey of Holy Cacao

We aren't the only ones in town to serve cake balls, but I think we're the only ones who put them on a stick and have fun with the fact that we're serving balls. A cake ball is made by breaking up a freshly baked cake into crumbs, mixing in frosting, rolling the mixture into a golf ball-sized ball, and dipping it in chocolate. The cake ball is a delicious and practical dessert; instead of making a flavor commitment like you would with one slice of cake, you can have a variety of 3 or 4 cake balls and still not feel painfully stuffed. In one trip to our trailer you can have Brass Balls (peanut butter), Velvet Balls (red velvet), and Rabbit Balls (carrot).

From hot chocolate and frozen hot chocolate to cake balls and cake shakes and even old-fashioned soda floats, I feel confident in our ability to satisfy any sweet tooth. My latest obsession is our roast your own s'mores feature. Our marshmallows are a pain to make, but you haven't had s'mores until you have melted these freshly made, fluffy marshmallows over a campfire. Every night at dusk we light the campfire at the South Austin Trailer Park & Eatery so our customers can have this experience.

What are the backgrounds of the shop owners? What did you guys do before launching this trailer idea?

As my mother likes to point out to customers at our trailer, I have an Ivy League masters degree and I was a real estate developer in New York before making my trailer debut. I was looking to move back to Austin last fall when developers were shutting doors and downsizing. I decided this was a good time to pursue the dream I had always had to start my own business.

While mom may still be at a loss, my boyfriend and business partner, John Spillyards (who thankfully has a day job) jumped wholeheartedly into the endeavor and helped me craft my vision. Through late night brainstorm sessions we came up with what we think is a clever name: Holy Cacao, cacao being the name of the tree that chocolate comes from. Our mascot, Holly the Holy Cacao Cow plays to the fact that cacao rhymes with cow. Holly is a blue, six-armed Ganesh-style cow who presides over Holy Cacao (brilliantly designed and hand painted by local artist Claire Hees) holding a cacao pod in one hand, a cake ball in another, a cup of hot chocolate in a third, and a cake shake in a fourth.

What's your advice for Austinites hoping to launch their own small business venture?

It is LOTS OF WORK and requires constant re-invention. We had a honeymoon phase with lots of business that we expected to last forever. Over the past months we have realized that we need to constantly find new ways to reach people. For example, we are starting the 12 DAYS OF CHOCOLATE the day after Thanksgiving to offer our interpretation of seasonal flavors and let the public know that Holy Cacao will consistently find new ways to delight their sweet tooth!