May the luck of the Irish be with you this month whether you're Irish or not. Costas has shamrock pops, a rainbow of truffles and "gold" for the leprechauns to leave behind for your kids.
March at Costas has been busy making bunnies, but since Easter is almost as late as it can be this year I'll focus on the Easter candy in April.
In the upcoming blogs I am going to let you know all about our different candies. This month I'm going to introduce you to our Buttercremes. As far as we can determine, the buttercremes are the original candy at Costas. A buttercreme is a very sweet candy - the inside is a sugary, creamy fondant (similar to a peppermint patty) and then it is coated in chocolate. We have heard so many stories over the years of people poking their fingers in the bottom of the cremes to see which flavor it is (the different flavors are different colors) because originally these candies were not wrapped. Imagine a whole box of cremes where you only get to have one and you're just hoping to get your favorite orange creme? In this situation there are 2 distinct groups: Those who will just try whatever they get or those who make their parents and grandparents mad by poking holes in the candies to find the flavor they want. So, at some point in the 90's colored tissue wrappers were bought & no one has to guess the flavors of cremes anymore. The original flavors of the buttercremes were maple and vanilla. We now have 11 flavors of cremes at Costas: Maple, Vanilla, Almond, Cherry, Raspberry, Peppermint, Lemon, Orange, Banana, Coconut & our newest flavor: Root Beer.
Here is a video of our ancient creme beater being used. This came used to Costas Candies (then called George's Candy Kitchen) in the 1920's. This large, loud beater was used until we remodeled in 2021. It is currently on display at our store after being used for over 100 years.
When we remolded, we replaced our creme beater, with a modern model that is smaller in size but makes the same amount of candy.
The buttercremes are the most labor-intensive candy we make. It starts with cooking ingredients in our big copper pot. After the mixture coming is boiling & at a specific temperature, it is poured into the creme beater, where it cools back down to a specific temp and then it is mixed. Below is a video of the mixture right after being poured into the creme beater.
After the mixture starts mixing it begins to start coming together into a fondant. This video is after the color is added to the fondant to make maple cremes.
Then as you can see in the video below, the mixture is now a firm banana flavored fondant. It is scraped out of the machine & placed on our candy table. Grant then spends the next 4-5 hours kneading it about once an hour.
In the morning the cremes are cut & rolled and then dipped. We have some "power rollers" who can roll 2 cremes at a time, so we always hope the schedule works that they can be at work on creme days. It takes 2 power rollers about 1.5 hours to roll the entire batch, with 1 person cutting for them. Then it takes 1 dipper about 6 hours to dip the entire batch.
After the cremes have sat for a day, they can be wrapped. The wrapping process also takes around 5-6 hours. So approximately 24 hours of labor to make 1 batch of cremes, which is about 2000 pieces.
24 hours of work time, over the course of 3 days to have the candy ready for customers. However, the buttercremes are still not quite ready to sell. Costas cremes are the 1 candy that needs to sit even longer before being enjoyed. When we roll the inside of the creme it is a fondant, the consistency of dough. After dipping the cremes they need to set for about a week before the sugars begin to break down and become the ooey, gooey, creamy center instead of a firm ball of cream.
And that is the story of the life of a Costas Buttercreme. Whether you like the original flavors, the fruity flavors, or our newest Root Beer flavor, the buttercremes are a favorite for many. Especially because they are a candy you cannot find at every candy store. So, let us know: which flavor is your favorite???
Until next month,
Julie
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