A Sweet Little Road Trip

The author of "Candyfreak" leads a tour in search of the strangest bars you’ve never heard of from regional, old-fashioned candy makers.

By Steve Almond for MSN City Guides

A few years ago, I embarked on the most self-serving cross-country jaunt in the history of, well, cross-country jaunts. As a confessed sugar addict, I wanted to visit as many independent confectioners as I could.

My ostensible purpose was to gather research for my book “Candyfreak.” The true purpose was to score as many free samples as possible. I was most interested in tasting the exotic delicacies produced by those scrappy companies that toil in the shadow of candy’s so-called Big Three (Mars, Hershey’s and Nestle).

What these regional outfits lacked in modern corporate amenities, they more than made up for in down-home sweetness. For the most part, the folks who ran the factories were a throwback to the days of candy’s golden age, between the world wars, when virtually every city had its own confectioner, and its own inimitable brands.

Here’s the best of what I found out on the chocolate trail…__________________________________________________________

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Annabelle Candy Company
Hayward, Calif.

Russian immigrant Sam Altshuler launched his confectionary business on the streets of San Francisco, selling his wares from a pushcart. In the ‘50s, he founded Annabelle, which today produces half a dozen candy bars, including the U-No, the Abba-Zaba, and the sublime Big Hunk, a slab of chewy vanilla nougat shot through with fried peanuts. The company’s most famous bar is the Rocky Road, a slender brick of marshmallow covered with chocolate and cashews.

Lake Champlain Chocolates
Burlington, Vt.

Dave Bolton, Lake Champlain’s chocolate engineer, has been known to spend more than a year perfecting a single recipe. You can taste his perfectionism in every bite. On the strength of their truffles and flat bars, the folks at Lake Champlain have earned a reputation as some of the finest gourmet chocolatiers in the country. They are best known for their distinctive Five Star Bars, which come in four flavors: Caramel, Hazelnut, Peanut, and Fruit & Nut. The Caramel version combines homemade caramel, smoked almonds, and dark chocolate chips in a Belgian milk chocolate shell. It’s enough to make you forget you ever loved the Snickers bar.