KINGMAN – Jennifer McDonald and her husband Cisco Balvastro got their entrepreneurial feet wet running a food truck through Lake Havasu City in 2018 before establishing a bakery at the KAWS venue for startup small business ventures in Dec., 2022.
The couple has subsequently established a new headquarters in the heart of downtown Kingman where they operate their Carnival Cravings and Bakery.
“We offer a wonderful selection of made to order carnival style fare that ranges from both sweet and savory to fantastic and satisfying,” its website said. “Our bakery has a wide range of daily, fresh baked goodies like French macarons to pastries and custom cakes.”
McDonald said the company is negotiating and hoping to secure space on the Island for another store in Lake Havasu.
“We are super famous for our corn dogs. We make our own batter and we make our own recipes for funnel cakes, our lemonade and we do fresh fruit smoothies,” McDonald said. “All the cakes, pastries, fruit fillings-everything- I make from scratch. I don’t have anything shipped in.”
The mainstay menu can be viewed online (https://carnivalcravingsandbakery.com) but McDonald said her love for baking that evolved from early childhood keeps her constantly engaged in the creative culinary process.
?“We’ve recently added deep-fried Oreos and pretzels,” she said, noting other offerings are in the works. “Cotton candy is in the air. Kettle corn is in the air and big pickles. I have this crazy concoction I’m putting together for a sweet and salty gigantic pickle. It’s going to be amazing.”
The Kingman outlet at 432c Beale St. is open Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday (928-279-5100). Orders can be placed by phone.
“We welcome everybody to come in and try it out,” McDonald said. “We’re making all kinds of new stuff every day, so just come in, check it out and have some taste tests. There’s all kinds of things to enjoy.”
