Candy Making Satisfies More Than A Sweet Tooth

Last Updated 11/1/2024 • Posted in Southern Holiday, Featured, Recipes, Food and Drink

As a little girl, one of the things I looked forward to at the holidays was the box of candy I always received from my Aunt Renee. Christmas, Valentines and Easter...I could count on her to deliver. It was before her daughter was born so she spoiled my older sister and I just a little bit.

However, Until last Christmas, I had never been part of the process or knew the origin story behind it.

Renee didn’t grow up making Christmas candy with her mom... in fact, her mom (my grandmother) passed away before Renee was even a teenager and by all accounts grandmother Jeannette was a talented florist and business owner... but candy maker... not so much. So when Renee was invited to a candy making night by a co-worker at her first job out of college, she thought...why not?

Bobbie lived in Bessemer and I had no idea how to get to her house,” Renee said. “But I didn’t have anything else to do that night and I just figured out how to get there.

”Call it the magic of Christmas or divine intervention, but Renee Caldwell Brewer’s life changed the night Bobbie Bynum welcomed her into her home.

That night solidified the friendship between the two women and so much more.

“We had so much fun making candy that night, we took little sample boxes to our work the next week,” Renee said. “Our co-workers flipped over them. And, pretty soon we were in business.

”Bobbie and Renee embarked on a candy making business well before “side hustles” were a thing. In the early 80s, the candy making duo would make about $2,000 a season and they would not limit candy sales to just Christmas.

“Valentine’s day was one of our best times to sell,” Renee said.

Back then, they would make all sorts of candies and spend countless hours in the kitchen together. Renee and Bobbie would not work together long but their friendship turned into more than either of them expected and Bobbie became family to Renee, so much so when her daughter Amber was born in1991, Bobbie stayed with Renee after coming home from the hospital.

“Absolutely she became a mother figure to me,” Renee said. “We had the strongest of bonds and our families became just as close."

As for Amber, Bobbie was only known as Baba to her and when she passed away in 2012, she joined her mom in the tradition of candy making after graduating college in 2013.

“As a child, I helped in limited roles. Banging the candy mold on the table to release the air bubbles in the chocolate or putting the candies in paper and boxing them up. But, when Baba died, I wanted to join my mom in making the candy as a way to honor my Baba,” Amber said.

In the height of the candy making 1980s side hustle, Bobbie and Renee would go through 50 pound boxes of chocolate. Today, the scale and variety of candy is much smaller but the heart and tradition continues.

“I wish Bobbie would have taken the time to write things down,” Renee said. “Every recipe she ever made was in her head. So these aren’t Bobbie’s recipes...But it’s because of her that I know how to do it.

”Candies made by the Brewers include peanut butter cups, peanut clusters and chocolate crisped rice candies. It’s an all day affair with an end result of dozens of candies for their family and friends to enjoy.

Fun fact... My aunt doesn’t care for sweets, so she doesn’t waste product on test tasting. As for me... the white chocolate peanut clusters are my favorite!

Peanut Butter Cup Recipe

Ingredients:

1 16 oz. jar of smooth peanut butter

1 2 lb. bag of melting chocolate (milk, dark or white)

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 T butter, softened

Cooking spray

mini cupcake liners

Directions:

Empty the peanut butter into a bowl and stir in the powdered sugar. Mix in the softened butter and set aside. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, stirring with a spatula. The chocolate should be smooth and velvety.

Arrange your cupcake papers onto a baking sheet and lightly mist with cooking spray. Spoon the melted chocolate into the cupcake papers, coating the bottoms and sides entirely. Set the extra chocolate aside. Once all cupcake papers are coated, place the tray in the refrigerator to cool for about five to ten minutes. Pipe or spoon the peanut butter mixture into the cooled chocolate cups, and then spoon the remaining melted chocolate over the top of the peanut butter and place the tray back in the refrigerator for another 30-minutes to set completely. Serve and enjoy!

Recipe adapted from radmegan.com

By: Kelly Caldwell