Candy Dish Blog

As you have no doubt heard us say in a variety of ways, candy is little pleasure that can be included in a healthy lifestyle. Generally, when my friends who have kids ask me how incorporate candy, I tell them not to use food as a reward. BUT, I know people do it, and as long as they are encouraging their kids to make smart choices and balance their caloric intake with activity, it's probably OK from time to time. Take John's parents, for example, who let him pick out a treat for good behavior, but didn't let their five-year old go overboard.

Parents are always trying to incentivize their kids to do behave at school.  What better way is there to motivate than with candy? In kindergarten, we had a train track board; if you were good, your train stayed on the track. If you were bad, your train came off the track. Each day your train stayed on the track, you were given a cutout of a train. My parents decided that every time I brought home five trains, I should get to pick out something at the supermarket.

Being a good little boy, most weeks I hit my quota and proudly marched up to the checkout aisle knowing my reward was close. I wasn't allowed to choose king-size bars - only the candy on the top of the rack, usually smaller stuff (gum,York patties, Starbursts, Twizzlers, etc.). To this day, some people get perplexed when I say I prefer fruit-flavored candy to chocolate, but I guess I've just been hard-wired for those chewy, juicy candies. Give me the option and I'll go for a pack of Skittles anytime and recall how my parents went out of their way to indulge my sweet tooth.

John lives in a DC apartment with his two chocolate-loving roommates, so there's always plenty of Twizzlers left over for him.

I think John's parents hit the sweet spot - allowing him a small treat on occasion. What do you think?

Do you have a favorite candy memory? Read our contest rules and sent it my way.

Color Test by boutmuet

Here's another entry into the Candy Memory Contest. What I was suprised by the most in this post was not the fact that the fundraising activity that pushed Jenn over the top was selling candy, but that Jenn was a four-year member of her school's French Club. Parlez-vous encore français, Jenn?  I love learning new things about my co-workers and friends!

My favorite experience involving candy happened my senior year in high school. As a four-year member of the French club, I was invited on a two-week tour of France and Spain right after graduation. What a dream come true! The only bad news was that it came with a very expensive price tag. 

One of the ways the club members raised money for the trip was by selling candy.  By early spring my funds were low and most likely I was not going to get to go to Europe. I had one last chance before the trip deadline - selling Easter candy. I needed to raise about $600.  The thought "no way" never entered my mind; I had to be as positive and industrious as possible to reach the goal.  Plus, the candy we were selling was Sarris chocolate and it had one of the best and tastiest reputations in the area. 

Four weeks into the selling season, I was able to book my trip to Europe thanks to the money I made from selling Sarris candy.  I was not only ecstatic but also more confident in myself since I was able to overcome a near impossible challenge.  The sweetest part of my memory, however, came Easter morning when the $100+ worth of candy my parents generously bought from me was ready to be eaten by our family!

Jenn Ellek has lived in the Washington DC area for more than ten years and keeps busy going to the gym, taking adventure trips with her friends and chasing her two year old daughter around.

That Sarris candy sounds like it was your golden ticket, Jenn. I checked out their website and they have some really great items - especially for Steelers fans (which I happen to know describes Jenn!).

Did you try any French chocolates while you were exploring the country?

Okay, readers - it's your turn now. Submit YOUR favorite candy memory to me tout de suite! 

Truffles and chocolate Eiffel Tower by atduskgreg

People of the world, rejoice! It's National Toasted Marshmallow Day.

Naturally, I suggest making S'mores. Turns out, there are people in this world far more creative than I am. From the brilliant minds at Real Simple magazine, I give you toasted marshmallows as cupcake frosting. 

Here's another entry in the Candy Memory Contest. I have to admit, as an Ocean City, MD native (one with considerable knowledge of Candy Kitchen), this entry tugged at my heart strings.

Every year my cousins and I spend a week in Bethany Beach, DE. When we were younger, it was home to our heaven - Candy Kitchen. We always saved up our allowances to spend on cola bottle candy, Swedish fish, swizzle sticks and more.

When I was about 9 or 10, the most amazing thing happened. My cousin bought his annual package of red licorice rope and got a star on the back of his receipt which earned him a free pound of fudge! We basically felt like rockstars picking out four different types of fudge and devouring it on our way back to the house. Once we shared our good news (and whatever was left of the fudge), we decided to try our luck at another Candy Kitchen. Somehow we convinced the dads to drive us to every Candy Kitchen between Bethany and 11^th Street in Ocean City, buying red licorice rope and hoping for a star. [ed. note - That's a fairly significant number of stores as you can see on this map].

We didn't find another one that day, and haven't gotten one since, but that has never stopped us from buying red rope licorice on our first beach day every year and waiting for that star on our receipts.

Kiki Janssens lives in Washington, D.C. except for one week every year when she visits Bethany to relax, swim and hunt down the elusive free pound of fudge with her family.

Have you ever been to a Candy Kitchen or vacationed on the Delmarva Peninsula? If so, you probably know this catchy jingle. It's been in my head since Kiki submitted her entry on Tuesday.

Before I officially announced the Favorite Candy Memory contest on the blog earlier this week, I told my co-workers about it and asked them to help me populate the entries by writing their own submissions and telling their friends. My co-worker Ali was the first to step up to the plate with this sweet little story about the day she became engaged to her darling husband (maker of excellent margaritas and all-around great guy!).

My Favorite Candy Memory
by Alison B.

One winter day about 12 years ago I was skiing in California with my boyfriend at Heavenly. We were skiing Ridge Run, which has gorgeous views overlooking Lake Tahoe. My boyfriend stopped halfway down the run to take a rest and we trekked into the trees to sit on a rock and admire the view. He told me to close my eyes and hold out my hand to receive a special chocolate he'd brought. I willingly obliged. When I opened my eyes, instead of chocolate, an engagement ring was in my hand! My first thought was, "Where's my chocolate?"!  

That boyfriend is now my husband.

Alison Bodor lives in Arlington, VA with her husband and two children. The whole family enjoys skiing and Alison makes sure she always has a few chocolate bars in her ski coat to share and enjoy on the slopes!  

Now it's your turn to share a favorite candy memory. Refresh your recollection of what we're looking for and send it in right away.

Snowy Love Bugs by NutMeg66

 

Spangler Candy Company has been an institution in the small town of Bryan, Ohio, population, about 10,000, since 1908 when the first candy rolled off its production lines. As a little girl I can remember going into Bryan, Ohio, the county seat, and picking my favorite Dum-Dum from the Dum-Dum tree when my parents conducted business at  the Bryan Savings and Loan.  Butterscotch was my favorite then and now.  Bryan was the big town as I lived on a farm on US Highway 127, about 8 miles outside of Bryan and went to school in West Unity, population 1200.

The Spangler Candy Company and the Spangler family have long held a place in the heart of my sister-in-law and her family, too. Sue Six Snyder's grandmother worked for the Spangler family and her mother was employed at the Spangler factory helping to produce Dum-Dums.  Sue continued the family tradition working at Spangler as a teenager.  Spangler encouraged customers to collect Dum-Dum wrappers and send them to the company where they could be exchanged for coupons and prizes. Sue left Bryan when she married my brother and spent several years  raising a family in New York City and Dallas, Texas.  But when her husband, my brother, died she couldn't think of anyplace she'd rather be than Bryan.  Sue's life is now filled volunteering for worthy causes and entertaining a five-year old grandniece.  What do you think one of their favorite activities is?  That's right; riding the Spangler Candy Company "train" that takes you on a little tour of the factory.

For over 100 years Spangler has been a wonderful part of the experience of living in Bryan, Ohio.  And it's not unique.  There remain candy companies all over the United States that share similar histories within their communities.  I just happen to have a special knowledge with Spangler.  How about you?  What candy company speaks to your childhood memories?

Dum-Dums by lePhotography

We're having a contest. You won't get candy this time but you will get a shot at fame and glory on the Candy Dish Blog.

Here's how to enter:

1. Write a blog post of 100 - 200 words discussing your favorite candy or chocolate memory. Maybe you remember with fondness how your next door neighbor always kept a bowl of red jelly beans on the coffee table for you. Maybe you loved cotton candy at the summer fair. Maybe your husband proposed by spelling out "Marry Me?" in chocolate sauce on your dessert plate. Whatever it is, we want to hear it and we might even want to share it.
2. Send me your blog post along with your full name, city, state and e-mail address. We'll only publish your name, but I need the rest of that stuff for our records. Please let me know if you only want your first name and last initial published.
3. If you have some awesome online forum (your blog, your flickr account, your twitter feed, etc.) that you want us to hyperlink your name to, please send that to me as well. I can't promise that I'll be able to link to it because we'll have to make sure it has content appropriate for a wide variety of ages, but I'll at least consider it.
4. Finally, in your e-mail to me please include a one or two sentence, VERY SHORT, bio that ties into your post. For example, if I were entering this contest, I might write about the time our family schnauzer got her head stuck in my Halloween candy pumpkin. Then my bio would read:
   Susan and her husband, Don, live in Arlington, Va. If they ever have children of their own, they will encourage the use of pillowcases for collecting trick-or-treat candy over those dangerous plastic pumpkins.

That's it. Pretty simple. I'll send you an e-mail if we're going to use your blog post and let you know when it will run. We'll also tweet about it and do what we can to help you get your 15 minutes of candy fame.

Remember, I need all the items outlined in steps 1 - 4 above sent to me via e-mail. By sending me that e-mail you agree that I can use your story on our blog, edit it for length and grammar if necessary (not that you won't all have a perfect grasp of the language) and that we can use the post or excerpts from it in promotion. If you send me anything not relevant to candy, or anything that's promotional in a way we find unacceptable, you'll have no chance of seeing it published - so please save us both the time and keep those posts to yourself.

Now - start writing! The contest is on-going, but I'm excited about it ... so send in your entry right away please.

On August 13, 2004 the world lost a culinary master, Julia Child. Her death came just two days before what would have been her 92nd birthday. NCA had a special connection with Julia. You see, on her 85th birthday we made her birthday cake. We didn't actually make it ourselves, but we supplied the recipe and one of our members (Guittard Chocolate) donated the chocolate. The cake itself was prepared by Chef Marcel DeSaulniers, chef and part owner of Trellis Restaurantin Williamsburg, Va.

You've heard of the cookbook Death by Chocolate, right? Chef DeSaulniers wrote it. That's right, he literally wrote the book on chocolate. He was a good friend of Julia's and often appeared on her show. If you really want to torture yourself, check out the dessert menu at Trellis. I'll take TWO of the dark chocolate and caramel tortes, please.

Anyway, back to this cake. Julia turned 85 in 1997 - the year BEFORE I started working at NCA so I didn't get to sample the cake, attend her party or meet Julia. *sigh* But Susan S. was here then. Actually, she and Julia share the same birthday so Susan probably imagined that the whole event was planned for her. That's what I would have done anyway!

So this cake? Sounds unreal. It's called an Old Fashioned Chocolate Layer Cake. The recipe and some details about the preparation and Julia's reaction are on our website. But for your convenience, the recipe itself is printed below. Try it out and let us know what you think.

Old Fashioned Chocolate Layer Cake 

Speckled Chocolate Cake:

• ½ pound unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
• 8 egg yolks
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 6 egg whites
• 1 ½ cups cake flour, sifted
• 10 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely grated

Chocolate Icing:

• ½ pound unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/3 cup half-and-half
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

• Lightly coat insides of two 9 x 1 ½ inch cake pans with melted butter. Line each pan with parchment paper, then lightly coat parchment with more melted butter. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Heat 1 inch of water in the bottom half of a double boiler over medium heat. Place ½ pound of butter in top half of double boiler. Heat butter slowly, stirring continuously until it is melted but not separated. Remove from heat.
• Place egg yolks and 3/4 cup of granulated sugar in bowl of electric mixer fitted with balloon whip. Whisk on high until slightly thickened and lemon-colored, about 1 minute. Adjust mixer speed to low and continue to mix while whisking egg whites.
• Whisk egg whites in a large stainless bowl until soft peaks form, about 3 minutes. Add remaining ½ cup sugar and continue to whisk until stiff but not dry, about 2 to 3 minutes.
• Gradually add flour to egg yolks while mixing on low. Add melted butter and continue to mix on low for 10 seconds. Increase speed to medium and mix for 5 seconds. Remove bowl from mixer and use rubber spatula to thoroughly combine ingredients. Add a third of beaten egg whites and stir to incorporated, gently fold in remaining egg white and 8 ounces grated chocolate.
• Divide batter between prepared pans, spreading evenly, and bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove cakes and cool in pans for 20 minutes. Invert cakes onto cake circles; cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes. Remove parchment and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

To prepare icing:

Place ½ pound butter, cocoa, and salt in bowl of electric mixer fitted with a paddle. Cream mixture on low until thoroughly combined, about 3 minutes. Add confectioners' sugar, half-and-half, and vanilla. Combine on low for 10 seconds. Readjust speed to high and beat until icing is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Remove from mixer and keep at room temperature until needed.
To assemble cake

Slice each cake horizontally into 2 layers of equal size. Place one tablespoon icing in center of cake circle. Place a layer of cake onto dab of icing and gently press in place. Evenly spread 3/4 cup of icing over cake layer. Repeat steps for remaining three cake layers. After fourth (top) cake layer is placed, evenly spread remaining icing over top and sides of cake. Press reserved 2 ounces of grated chocolate into icing on sides of cakes, coating evenly.

Serves 12.   

Chocolate lovers and control freaks, rejoice.

If you've ever found yourself indulging in a chocolate bar, but thinking, "Man, this would be so much better with [fill in the blank]," well, Hershey has just the thing for you. Whether you are a sprinkles-on-top kind of person, or like your chocolate with a hint of fruit, or, my personal preference, wish that you could swirl some mint in with that dark chocolate - a new attraction at Hershey's Chocolate World is ready to make all your dreams come true.

It's cleverly called "Create Your Own Chocolate Bar," and it does just what the name suggests - allows you to play "candy-maker" for the day and whip up your own chocolate creation.

Hershey wants you to really feel like you are the manufacturer, so, you guessed it - be prepared to tie on an apron and throw on a hairnet. Once you enter the "factory" you get to choose up to three ingredients for each bar. Some of the goodies that are available for inclusion: graham cracker crumbs, chocolate cookie crisps, sprinkles, vanilla chips, fruit flavors, and more. Once you make your choice, you pull the lever and chocolate making commences. You even get to design the wrapper, and personalize it with your name and favorite colors.

Sounds like fun for all ages - but there could be one pretty major problem for me. Once I have one taste of that "Kate Shaw chocolate-peppermint bar with sprinkles and vanilla chips," I'll be hooked, and spoiled.  And taking trips to Hershey every time I crave one - well that could get expensive.

white chocolate mint with sprinkles by bunchofpants.

Susan Whiteside: Hi readers. Today I'm super excited to introduce you to Kate Shaw, the newest author for the Candy Dish Blog. That's her in the picture there. Kate has been with NCA about two weeks and we haven't managed to scare her off yet.

Kate Shaw: Wait, have you been trying to scare me off?

SW: Uh, no. Nope. Not at all.

KS: Hmm.

SW: Anyway, Kate was formerly with the Washington, DC NBC affiliate where she did a huge variety of things, including serving as the associate producer for the consumer unit (that's Liz Crenshaw for those of you who live in the DC-metro area). Some of her most recent assignments included having to figure out how to keep frozen yogurt frozen while transporting it to the baseball stadium for a taste test and getting people to rank their preference of honey baked hams for Easter. You know, working for the candy industry has some pretty unusual work assignments, too.  Do you think it will be at all similar Kate?

KW: Working at NBC was insane, mostly in a great way. Every day was an adventure - sometimes a fun and challenging one (like blogging live in the field on election night, or interviewing rap superstar Jay-Z), and sometimes it was a tough one (like interviewing a family who just suffered a loss, or trekking through more than two feet of snow to cover last winter's blizzards). I think NCA will be a similar environment - I expect to be thrown into different "adventures," some fun and some tough. I plan to put my creativity and judgment to use daily at NCA, just like I had to at NBC. And I look forward to the camaraderie and personal development that comes with new relationships with coworkers, from all different walks of life, just as I found at NBC.

SW: That's fair. We like to strive for a good balance of insanity and serenity. Just wait until candy for next year's Sweets & Snacks Expo starts arriving! What's different working here?

KS: It's not as loud as the newsroom. I don't go to bed with echoes of police scanners and phones ringing of the hook in my ears. It's a completely different physical set up - now I work in an office, not a gigantic room full of people yelling about breaking news and getting things "on the air." And, I'm not expected to report to work at 4am, as I often was asked to do at the news station.

SW: Oh - didn't we tell you about the office hours after Labor Day?

KS: Excuse me?

SW: Nevermind. Let's move on. What did your co-workers at NBC say when you told them you were going to work for the trade association that represents that the candy and chocolate industry?

KS: I definitely heard a few zingers from the NBC staff. "Geez, hope they have a good dental program," was one. Another favorite, "Well, remember, press releases are most effective when they include treats." That, by the way, is true. If you have never witnessed what happens when free food is brought into the newsroom, picture vultures and well, you get the picture. But my personal favorite was a comment that came from a friend, who wanted to know which "Candyland" character I was going to be, since my new office is clearly a world full of candy just like the board game. (Queen Frostine, obviously.)

SW: I always thought of myself as Princess Lolly.

KS: More like, Gramma Nutt, I'd say.

SW: Are you calling me old?

KS: No, I'm remarking on how kind you've been to me these first few weeks.

SW: Mmm-hhh. I'm just going to ignore that. So, do you have a favorite candy memory?

KS: My candy memory is a little sappy and sentimental. I'll only share if you promise not to groan.

SW: I'll make no such promises. Go on ...

KS: When I was a little girl ...

SW: All good sappy, sentimental stories start that way, don't they?

KS: So, when I was a little girl, my grandfather opened a restaurant - an English pub called the Rose & Crown. As the apple of my grandpa's eye, I had a lot of say in what kinds of things were going to be served in this restaurant and spent a lot of time there. Besides telling the customers their food would be just another minute and playing with the talking calculator, I made important dessert decisions. I ruled that there would always be chocolate-chocolate chip ice cream on the menu, for exmaple. My biggest request, though, was that we had to have chocolate mints for all our guests (especially the guest of honor - me!). So my grandfather stocked the restaurant with Andes chocolate mints, and always sent me home with more than my parents would ever let me have. Even though he has long since moved on from the Rose & Crown, he never forgets to bring some Andes mints along when he knows he is going to see me. And when he ventured into the restaurant business again, Andes mints were the first item on the order sheet.

SW: *groan* No, I'm just kidding. That's sweet.

KS: Thanks. My favorite candies to this day are anything that combines chocolate and mint.

SW: Anything else our readers should know about you?

KS: I am a proud, slightly loud, Philadelphia sports fan trapped in Washington, DC. Feel free to debate me, but please be creative with your Philly sports insults. If I had a dime for every time I've heard about the Santa Claus snowball incident, I'd be a rich young lady.

SW: Okay. Okay. I've got one. How many Eagles does it take to win a Superbowl?

KS: How many?

SW: The world may never know!

KS: I'll give you points for the Tootsie Roll candy connection, but it's not very funny.

SW: Yeah, well they can't all be winners. And, as a Philly fan, you should know that as well as anyone!

KS: Are you done now? 

SW: Yeah. Oh, one more question. Milk or dark?

KS: I am enthusiastic about all chocolate, but if I had to pick, I would go with dark.

SW: We're going to get along fine. Just fine.

Look for Kate's first blog post this week on the Candy Dish Blog!