A homegrown candy business in the area is celebrating Pride month with a new line of treats that honor the traditions of the LGBT community while raising money for its future.
Angel Heart Sweets is the brainchild of Angela Cassetta, a self-taught confectionery chef from Langhorne who parlayed her love of sweets into a philanthropic venture last December.
Cassetta and several friends who assist with the business take no salary from the company, instead donating the net profits from their sales to charities such as Autism Speaks, in honor of Cassetta’s son, who is autistic, as well as the Susan G. Komen Society, the Humane Society and the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
The organization’s newest venture is a collection of LGBT-themed products, proceeds from which will be donated to the Trevor Project, a national agency that seeks to stem the tide of LGBT youth suicide.
Cassetta said the idea for the initiative was sparked after a longtime friend came out to her and she began to learn more about the struggles LGBT individuals face.
“I started to see just how much gay men and women have to go through psychologically and just how hard and painful that process is,” she said. “And I wanted to do whatever I could to help people who are going through this, but I didn’t really know how to do that. So I figured, how about we work to raise money for people who are already doing this work.”
Cassetta said the donation usually works out to be about 20 percent of each sale, with the rest of the money going toward the purchase of the ingredients and shipping.
Angel Heart currently operates out of commercial kitchen space donated by friends and from her own kitchen when making treats to give as gifts.
The business originally started as a hobby and was fueled by word of mouth, as Cassetta started making treats for parties and events.
She makes all of her products without the help of machinery and after each individual order is placed.
“I make everything by hand, and no two products are alike,” she said. “So I make mistakes all the time, but that’s fine. I don’t make anything perfect, but that’s what makes it unique. It all tastes good, and it makes people happy.”
The company’s product line is diverse — with everything from chocolate-covered organic trail mix to chocolate gummy bears to homemade peanut-butter cups wrapped in white chocolate — and Cassetta said she’s always open to trying her hand at new suggestions from customers.
Angel Hearts specializes in “swirly chocolates,” a vibrant combination of colored chocolates crafted into bars and shapes and hand-decorated.
The colored chocolates have been a good addition to the new Pride line, Cassetta said.
Among the LGBT-themed offerings are such treats as a rainbow-flag chocolate bar, marshmallows dipped in chocolate representing all the colors of the rainbow, biscotti frosted in rainbow chocolate, lambda chocolates and bride-bride or groom-groom favors.
When researching the product line and searching for molds for possible LGBT-themed products, Cassetta said she was surprised that such treats were hard to find.
“I saw nothing like this out there, and I really expected to,” she said. “And I don’t think that’s right. For kids with autism, there are a lot of products out there that you can get to show support, but for the gay community I couldn’t find anything, so we’re happy to try and fill that gap.”
As the company develops, each charity to which money is donated will get its own page on the business’ website.
Cassetta said that, while she’s looking forward to the growth of the company, the fundraising component is tantamount.
“If one day we ever get large enough where we don’t have to work regular jobs and can just focus on this, that’d be great, but right now whatever money we make goes to help our causes. That’s more important than anything.”
For more information, visit www.angelheartsweets.com.
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].