Village Candy
344 Beaver Street
Sewickley PA
412.741.1490
Tues - Sat 10-5
Wed til 8
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villagecandy.com 
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Greetings Fellow Candy Lover!
Good things arrive daily at Village Candy. You never know what's in store when you stop in. You might get to sample some new chocolate treat, or find out some piece of candy trivia you never knew. Whenever you're at a loss for what to get that someone special, take as a hostess gift, or fulfill you own sweet tooth, just bend our ear. Before it starts to hurt, we'll point you in the right direction. We've been at this for several years, and have learned what is appropriate for various occasions, or what treats are particularly trendy at any given time. We love to offer guidance! Try getting that at other stores' candy departments (more like orphaned areas these days). It's our passion! |
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Easter's In the Rear View Mirror
Next Stop - Mother's Day! Don't forget your sweetie/mom/sweetie's mom! Mother's Day is the second Sunday in May, and it'll be here before you know it. Don't get caught flat-footed and empty-handed (and doghouse-destined). Come in for a box of chocolates, and bag of caramels, or an assortment of oldies-but-goodies. Remember, flowers are great, but wither and die before you know it. Candy is ALWAYS a hit, lasts for longer, and you get to share in the joy! |
New For Toffee Lovers And Who Isn't? Village Candy is always on the hunt for the best new confections just coming to market, or tempting variations on candy standards. That's why we couldn't wait to introduce Terry's Toffee.
Toffee is a confection made by caramelizing sugar or molasses (creating inverted sugar) along with butter, and occasionally flour. The mixture is heated until its temperature reaches the hard crack stage of 300 to 310 °F. The process of making toffee involves boiling the ingredients until the mix is stiff enough to be pulled into a shape which holds and has a glossy surface. The resulting mixture is typically poured into a shallow tray and allowed to cool to form a sheet. Different mixes, processes, and (most importantly) temperatures of toffee making result in different textures and hardnesses, from soft and often sticky to a hard brittle material. The most common toffee in the US is the Heath Bar. Terry's Toffee comes from Chicago. Terry's Grandma's recipe became the basis for McCall's Classic. However, having traveled extensively, he was drawn to the tastes and textures of other cultures and inspired to infuse ingredients never before joined with toffee; flavors such as chai spices, French lavender, Madagascar vanilla, Australian ginger and crushed wasabi peas. Terry's Toffee has received countless honors and awards and is a special treat at the Academy Awards since 2005.® It comes in 15 varieties, and Village Candy has 4 of them. The one that started it all, McCall's Classic, is named in memory  of Terry's grandmother, and is a classic toffee that is blended with California slivered almonds, coated in milk chocolate and dusted with Georgia pecans. For dark chocolate lovers, there's McCall's Dark - their classic toffee enrobed in a luscious dark chocolate, and again dusted with Georgia pecans.  Chai-cago Spice is a windy city exclusive infusion of cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom and pepper, dipped in dark chocolate. Peanut Butter Chocolate is a tasty merging of peanut butter chips and toffee, coated in milk chocolate. They're available in 4 ounce bags, and once you've asked one of our team for a sample, we're sure you'll agree that this could be the best toffee of your life! |
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By-The-Pound Candy Corner
Chocolicorice Returns!
Village Candy has offered licorice since day one. Through the millennia we've expanded our selection, and moved our primary by-the-pound twists from the bins to behind the counter, storing it in special freshness preservation modules (a.k.a. ziplock bags). That's why you'll notice the "Licorice Lady" sign announcing that "Fresh" licorice IS available for the asking.
Chocolate "licorice" used to be in our repertoire, but we discontinued it some time ago. But we've bowed to customer pressure and brought it back. So just ask.
Licorice candy (as opposed to the root of the plant Glycyrrhiza glabra) is flavored with the extract of this very same root. A wide variety of licorice is produced around the world. In North America, true licorice is called black licorice to distinguish it from similar varieties not flavored with the extract, and commonly manufactured in the form of chewy ropes or tubes. Most popular in the UK are licorice allsorts (which Village Candy offers). Dutch and Nordic licorice (which Village Candy also offers) usually contains ammonium chloride instead of sodium chloride, especially in what's called Zout.
The essential ingredients of licorice are the extract, sugar and some sort of binder (not the 3 ring type). The binder is typically starch/flour, gum arabic, or gelatin, or some combination. Other ingredients include extra flavoring, beeswax for a shiny surface, ammonium chloride, and molasses to give it that familiar black color. Ammonium chloride is mainly used in salty licorice, with concentrations up to about 8 percent. Even regular licorice can contain up to 2 percent ammonium chloride, the taste of which is less pronounced due to its higher sugar concentration. Some licorice is flavored with anise oil instead of or in combination with licorice root extract. Licorice-root extract contains the natural sweetener glycyrrhizin, which is over 50 times sweeter than sucrose. This extract has various pharmaceutical properties: it acts as an expectorant (ahem), it mildly increases blood pressure, it's a mild laxative, and has several varied uses in herbal medicine. Alexander the Great even supplied his troops, while marching, with rations of licorice root, due to its thirst quenching qualities. In many countries (a.k.a - HERE) there is also a something called red licorice, which is extruded in a way to resemble licorice, but is made with strawberry, cherry, raspberry, or cinnamon flavorings rather than licorice. Similar products have more recently flooded the market in a variety of flavors including apple, mango, blackcurrant, and watermelon. Twizzlers (by Hersheys) and Red Vines are the most well known product brands of this type in the US. While the common name for this candy has now become "red licorice", or often simply "licorice", this candy has little connection to actual licorice root in flavor. The term "black licorice" would formerly have been redundant.
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Chiller Theater
A report on all things sodarific: what's new in the fridge, tastings and interesting tidbits from the world of bottled effervescence.
Hear Ye, Hear Ye, One Last Time Ye 4th Annual Root Beer Tasting coming soon, to a Village Candy near you. Another fun, free Village Candy event. The root beer lineup is in the final stages of its selection process, the glasses are being frosted (not), the bottles o' bubbly are being chilled, the (paper) napkins are being folded, the ballots are being readied, and the final guest list is being whittled down. Remember, Saturday, April 21, from 5:30 to 6:30, all the intense preparations will culminate in Sewickley's most exclusive event! Register now. |
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Village Candy is an old-time, new-fangled retail shop specializing in a unique selection of retro and current bulk and novelty candy, artisan chocolates, glass-bottled pop and candy-themed gifts. Oh, and remember customer service? It's back!
We are here Tuesday thru Saturday 10 am to 5 pm, but on Wednesday we stay late until 8! We are closed Sunday and Monday.
Sincerely,
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Doug Alpern, Proprietor
Village Candy
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