Meet our Pecan - part fourteen

 Editor's Note: Introducing Meet Me Mondays - Candy Version!  I am Britta Malsch, the Purchasing Manager at Anderson's Candy Shop.  I also help the Andersons with social media duties.  As I enter my 10th year at the store, another one of my goals has been to help introduce each of our delicious candies to our wonderful customers, while also providing a tool for the general public to be able to identify our candy.  I hope you enjoy this series which will highlight all the Anderson's Candy that you love!   

Fourteenth in our series is Pecan.

Like our Almond bars, the nuts that go into our Pecan candies have been chosen specifically for their freshness and flavor "punch." The pecans are prepared specifically to order for us and the result is an unbeatable buttery, sweet flavor - distinct and robust!

We order what is referred to as junior mammoth pecans grown in either Georgia or Mexico and purchase them through locally owned NIDA Trading in Elk Grove Village, IL.

We then take those pecans and combine them with our delicious chocolate.

When searching in a box of chocolates for a dipped pecan, hunt for two pieces together side by side in one candy cup. Each piece will be a sort of wonky oblong shape with a letter "P" on top.

These pieces are never the exact same shape as each nuts is unique. But we do our best to make them look uniform. We need to be able to identify them in the packing room to be put away properly!

Exactly like dipping the Almond bars, when the Dipping Room Associates make our Pecan bars, they lay down a nice puddle of chocolate, lay nuts on top and then cover each nut in more chocolate on top.

These bars are made 10 at a time, by eye for shape and size. Once 10 bars have been dipped on to a tin, each tin is weighed to ensure that the bars on it are the right aggregate weight. The bars are left to dry and later put away by staff in another area. The Dippers are kind though and leave a "naked" guide nut out on the tray so that there is no question as to which nut is in the candy bar.

Fun Fact: This guide nut process is only the case for the nut bars, Orange Peel and Raisin Bars.  

All of our other pieces are bars have their own identifying marks on top that the packing room can "read".

Pecans are also GLUTEN FREE! 

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Meet our Almond - part thirteen

 Editor's Note: Introducing Meet Me Mondays - Candy Version!  I am Britta Malsch, the Purchasing Manager at Anderson's Candy Shop.  I also help the Andersons with social media duties.  As I enter my 10th year at the store, another one of my goals has been to help introduce each of our delicious candies to our wonderful customers, while also providing a tool for the general public to be able to identify our candy.  I hope you enjoy this series which will highlight all the Anderson's Candy that you love!   

Thirteenth in our series is Almond.

When selecting centers for our chocolates, we are picky. And we spend a LOT of time sampling and vetting our suppliers to make sure we have the best quality possible, while also keeping in mind folks still need to be able to afford our chocolates.

Over the years this challenge has required more and more time, as many of our former suppliers have either gone out of business or been gobbled up by consolidation with bigger companies which now require unrealistic order minimums for shops like ours. 

So much so that supplier vetting, and management has become a part-time position at our shop. One Leif Anderson used to handle and today, falls largely to me, with the guidance of Tracy and Kate Anderson.

Why do we care so much about our ingredients? Because what goes inside our chocolate is just as important as the chocolate itself. And we want you to know every time you unwrap one of our candy bars you will find consistent quality.

This is showcased well in our Nut Centers. The first in this blog series being the Almond Bar.

When it comes to the almonds in our Almond bar and pieces, we have chosen California nonpareil almonds that are roasted and packaged fresh to order for us right in nearby Elk Grove Village by NIDA Trading, a locally owned company.

When searching in a box of our candies for a chocolate covered almond, you will look for a candy cup that has two pieces of chocolate nestled inside and they will be tipped on their sides.

They will be sort of rounds pieces, each with a small "o" on top. (These pieces are not perfect circles because they are chocolate dipped nuts and not all nuts are uniform in shape and size.)

Each single round almond piece will actually have two nuts inside, next to each other. So that means...one candy cup of two pieces actually contains FOUR almonds!

When trying to identify our Almonds candy bars you will look for an oval puddle of chocolate with almond shaped lumps along the top!

.  I remember almost 10 years ago when I was first trained to package candy at the shop. I had to learn all of the different marks on the bars and pieces I remember being a little confused as to how to tell which nut bar was which.

All of our nut bars all look very similar, they are the same shape and size. And they all have lumps and bumps where the nuts lay in the chocolate, and only some of the nuts are recognizable through that chocolate. Thankfully, our dipping room staff leave "clues." When the candy bars come out of the production area, there is usually a naked "guide nut" somewhere laying on the board that the candy bars are dipped on to.

Way back 10 years ago, when I was being trained, I realized then that I didn’t know what different nuts (almonds, pecans, walnuts, Brazils...) actually looked like, besides a cashew!  Now that I have trained others, I realize this is a very common occurrence when training new staff. After learning what the different kinds of nuts look like, this became much, much easier of a task when packaging up our nut bars!

Some Fun Facts before you go! 

You can order a box of JUST Chocolate Covered Almonds by calling us at 888 214 7614 or using our Make a Special Request feature on our website! 

Almonds are also GLUTEN FREE!

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Meet our Cherrynut Cream - part twelve

 

Editor's Note: Introducing Meet Me Mondays - Candy Version!  I am Britta Malsch, the Purchasing Manager at Anderson's Candy Shop.  I also help the Andersons with social media duties.  As I enter my 10th year at the store, another one of my goals has been to help introduce each of our delicious candies to our wonderful customers, while also providing a tool for the general public to be able to identify our candy.  I hope you enjoy this series which will highlight all the Anderson's Candy that you love!   

Twelfth in our series is Cherrynut Cream.

Our Cherrynut Cream is for those who love flavor. 

Packed full of rich cherry flavor, this cream center rivals Peppermint Cream for the most potent in our line!  

Cherrynut cream is made and flavored much like the other fruit creams in our line. It starts out as a blank cream and is flavored with sweet cherry oil (yes, from real cherries). It is added just a few drops at a time until the flavor is just right. The cook is looking for an authentic and bold cherry flavor that will punch through a layer of chocolate to delight your pallet.

  The originators of our recipe a few generations ago decided to "upgrade" this cream by adding a sprinkling of chopped pecans into every batch -- hence the Nut in Cherrynut Cream. The earthy pecans with the tart bold cherry swirl with our sweet chocolate and delight your tastebuds! 

Much like other fruit creams we make, Cherrynut does not have a larger candy bar counterpart. But it does get to shine bright at Easter time!  

That’s right, our Cherrynut cream also is made into a Cream Egg for Easter, but with a twist!

We add chopped pineapple and cherries to the recipe and Waa Laa! The Fruit & Nut Cream Egg is born! 

When looking for a Cherrynut Cream piece in a box of our chocolates, remember to look for an oblong shape.  This particular piece will have a “rough” mark on top, just like before on our Buttercream pieces and Peppermint Cream Bars.  This mark has a scribbly or messy look to it. Messy, perfect and delicious.

Fun Fact: Cherrynut is also GLUTEN FREE! 

https://linktr.ee/andersonscandyshop

Meet our Sweet Heart Bark - part eleven

 Editor's Note: Introducing Meet Me Mondays - Candy Version!  I am Britta Malsch, the Purchasing Manager at Anderson's Candy Shop.  I also help the Andersons with social media duties.  As I enter my 10th year at the store, another one of my goals has been to help introduce each of our delicious candies to our wonderful customers, while also providing a tool for the general public to be able to identify our candy.  I hope you enjoy this series which will highlight all the Anderson's Candy that you love!   

Eleventh in our series is Sweet Heart Bark!

This one’s a real treat!  

We have taken the concept of our famous Peppermint Bark and put a sweet twist on it!  

We take our creamy white chocolate and garnish it with delicious heart-shaped jelly beans! The jelly beans are full of juicy flavor - strawberry, cherry and watermelon! 

One bite and you'll be smiling! Your pallet filled with a swirl of the sweetest white chocolate and bright fruity notes, too! 

By far this is one of my favorite batches to help make! Although I must admit, my duties for the candy shop have shifted me out of production in the Molding Room in recent years. My job is more administrative since having my first of three children about 7 years ago! 

It takes two people to make this version of bark. We pour liquid white chocolate into a large mixing bowl and carry it over to one of our prepared candy-making tables. We then, VERY QUICKLY, have one of the people uses a large spatula to spread the chocolate evenly all over the table. We are looking for about a half inch thickness.   

This process is done quickly as white chocolate hardens extremely fast. 

Meanwhile the second person follows close behind the spreader taking handfuls of the fruity jelly bean heart garnish and dropping them on to the wet bark. Sometimes a gentle pat is required to get the beans to sink deep enough in so that they stay when the bark is fully dried.

Once the chocolate has fully solidified, it is cracked into shards and packaged into 1/4# bags, sealed shut with an Anderson’s label and moved to the counter for you to purchase! 

Sweet Heart Bark is available for a very limited time each year from approximately Jan. 10 to Feb. 14!  One of our newer products, this bark is great for giving to for Valentines Day but it has also gained popularity as a good snack to set out to enjoy while you watch the Super Bowl!

Fun Facts: The maker of those jelly bean hearts bursting with fruity flavor is actually also the makers of Jolly Rancher! We have chosen them because they pair so nicely with our white chocolate!

Sweet Heart Bark is also GLUTEN FREE! 

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Meet our Peanut Butter Cream - part ten

 

Editor's Note: Introducing Meet Me Mondays - Candy Version!  I am Britta Malsch, the Purchasing Manager at Anderson's Candy Shop.  I also help the Andersons with social media duties.  As I enter my 10th year at the store, another one of my goals has been to help introduce each of our delicious candies to our wonderful customers, while also providing a tool for the general public to be able to identify our candy.  I hope you enjoy this series which will highlight all the Anderson's Candy that you love!   

Tenth in our series is Peanut Butter Cream!

                            

Before I had the pleasure of working for the Anderson family, I thought I loved Peanut Butter, just as most people would say.  The go to being Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups… Yum.  That was until I had that first bite of Anderson’s Peanut Butter Cream, WOW!   There hasn’t been a peanut butter candy created yet that is equal to our Peanut Butter Cream.  Seriously.  

Our Peanut Butter Cream bar was developed by third-generation candymaker and owner, the late Leif Anderson. He too was a peanut butter lover and adored the famous Reese's candy. One day he thought to himself, I make the best chocolates you can buy... I bet I can make a peanut butter cream that is even better! 

He quickly developed a special variation of our decadent brown sugar buttercream center and blended it with his favorite rich, smooth, creamy, salty-sweet peanut butter. The next bit was easy! The harmony between our chocolate and the finished peanut butter cream center was magic! It truly has to be tasted to be believed.

The perfect ration of this Peanut Butter Cream center to chocolate was in our two-patty candy bar form, rather than small individual pieces. And so, the Peanut Butter Cream Bar as you know it today was born! 

When you look at our Peanut Butter Cream bar you will see that it follows our usual format of being rolled into two halves - perfect for sharing! (If you’re able to eat only half, you deserve an award if you ask us!) The "mark" found on top will be a capital letter cursive “P” on one patty and a “B” on the other which stands for, you guessed it - Peanut Butter! 

FUN FACTS: If you are looking for a bite-size Peanut Butter candy don't worry. We do have other delicious Peanut Butter treats in our line for that including our refined Peanut Butter Truffle and our addicting flaky crunchy Peanut Butter Crunch (think Butterfinger but BETTER!)

Peanut Butter Cream is also GLUTEN FREE! 

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Meet our Lemon Cream - part nine

 Editor's Note: Introducing Meet Me Mondays - Candy Version!  I am Britta Malsch, the Purchasing Manager at Anderson's Candy Shop.  I also help the Andersons with social media duties.  As I enter my 10th year at the store, another one of my goals has been to help introduce each of our delicious candies to our wonderful customers, while also providing a tool for the general public to be able to identify our candy.  I hope you enjoy this series which will highlight all the Anderson's Candy that you love!   

Ninth in our series is Lemon Cream.

Fresh.  Sweet. Just tart enough.  A showstopper in our books! 

Our lemon cream is made and flavored much like the other fruit creams in our line.  Starting from a blank slate so to speak of sweet but unflavored cream center and then brought to life by our head cook and his assistants.  Getting the flavor just right is an art form.

We use pure lemon oil in our Lemon Cream centers spading each small batch by hand and tasting along the way. A few drops can take the center from a hint of lemon to make-your-mouth pucker quickly! Our goal is to add enough oil so that when covered in chocolate the cream is unmistakably lemon. A sweet citrus that fills your mouth roundly with flavor and blends perfectly complimenting the chocolate.

When looking for Lemon Cream in a box of Anderson's Candy, you will look for an oblong piece (remember all cream centers are either round or oblong).  

Look for the piece marked with a cursive “L” on top. And if you've been following along with us you know each L will look different depending on the chocolate handwriting of person who dipped it!

We do not make a larger candy bar counterpart for our Lemon Cream pieces, but if it is one of your favorites you can always order a 1/4#, 1/2# or 1# box of these delicious pieces by calling us at the shop 1-888-214-7614 or using our Make A Special Request feature online. 

Fun Fact: Lemon Cream is also GLUTEN FREE! 

https://linktr.ee/andersonscandyshop

Meet our Raspberry Cream - part eight

 

Editor's Note: Introducing Meet Me Mondays - Candy Version!  I am Britta Malsch, the Purchasing Manager at Anderson's Candy Shop.  I also help the Andersons with social media duties.  As I enter my 10th year at the store, another one of my goals has been to help introduce each of our delicious candies to our wonderful customers, while also providing a tool for the general public to be able to identify our candy.  I hope you enjoy this series which will highlight all the Anderson's Candy that you love!   

Eighth in our series is Raspberry Cream.

If you love the authentic taste of our “Fruit Cream” centers, Raspberry Cream will not disappoint.  From the flavors to the color, everything about this piece screams DELICIOUS! 

There are only a few of our cream center candies we make that come only as individual pieces. The flavor is potent, and we love the ratio of cream center to chocolate in the "piece" format so unless you place a special order you won't find a Raspberry Cream egg or candy bar.

The Raspberry Creams at our shop start out as a "blank" cream center. We use a very high grade beaten egg white in our recipe to ensure a fluffy, creamy consistency every time. We also hand spade this cream center and add in pure raspberry oil little by little until the cream center is super smooth and the flavor is just right! It has to be bold enough to come through the chocolate but not too strong or the effect will be "perfume" like.

When searching in a box of chocolate for the Raspberry Cream, whether it be in a Creams Assortment, an Everything But Nuts (EBN) Assortment or a Deluxe Assortment ... look for a small round piece with a beautiful capital "R" on top.

If you have not had the pleasure to taste this wonderful piece, next time you are in to our Richmond shop, ask for a sample, you won’t be disappointed! 

Fun Facts:  Sometimes this cream center piece is larger than other round cream centers in a box of Anderson's Candy. This is due to the consistency of the center which sometimes is "spreads" more as it is dipped in chocolate. This is due to the edition of the Raspberry oil. 

And, did you know that Raspberry lovers can find several chocolate creations in our line besides the Raspberry Cream? We also use Raspberry oil plus REAL whole raspberries in our Raspberry Jel which is part of the center of the Raspberry Mallow candy bar. And, we use real raspberry fruit in our ganache for the very popular Raspberry Truffle!

Raspberry Cream is also GLUTEN FREE!

https://linktr.ee/andersonscandyshop