The Wonderful World of Chocolate: Katherine Wilbur of Woodland Confectionary
For 2019, I'm making a lot of changes to my business. For one, I started legitimately doing business. For another, I'm blogging! I'm sure you know this already, as there's a legion of fans waiting with bated breath for my next sporadically timed post (that's what I imagine, anyway. In reality, it's mostly my dogs waiting for me to close the laptop and fill their bowls. But I'll take it).
I'm trying to post Mondays and Fridays, and once a month I plan to do a feature post on a local female entrepreneur and her business. To kick off January and the first of such posts, I chose a business that is near and dear to my heart: mothertootin' chocolate.
Katherine Wilbur, a transplant originally from Illinois, has started a candy company called Woodland Confectionary, and IT. IS. AMAZING. This was meant to be a post about Katherine's process and not a review, but I would be horribly remiss if I didn't let everyone know that the candy at Woodland Confectionary is like nothing you've ever tasted. Katherine said candy making is somewhere between a science and an art; "a craft" is how she described it, and after tasting her artisan chocolates, I'm inclined to respectfully disagree.
It's magic.
Check out Woodland Confectionary's Facebook page here, and their Instagram page here, and get your Valentine's Day order in NOW!
Not only does Katherine run Woodland Confectionary, she and her family operate New Sun Farm, also of Rogers City. Sounds like a lot, I know, but Katherine is clearly a multitasking machine. Watching Katherine alternate between stations in the Three Heart Bakery with all the calm of a a grizzled kitchen veteran who fears no boiling pot gave me a little bit of anxiety--especially when she began telling me the many steps to making a good chocolate. Did you know about tempering? And the six kinds of crystals that form in chocolate? And about fat contents creating a swirl and how caramel has to be at an exact temperature and you can't scrape the bottom of the pan DID YOU KNOW?
It's okay if you don't, because Katherine knows. She's like Willy Wonka, if Willy had done the work himself without enslaving the Oompa Loompas. My point is, she's a professional candy maker who knows her craft. Not just the how, but the why. And you can taste that understanding and appreciation for quality ingredients in the final product. You know those fruit buttercream filled candies, the ones that you take half a bite out of then leave in the box? Those are actually delicious when they're made with real, natural ingredients! Yes, seriously!
I know, I was surprised, too. We've been getting screwed for years, and we didn't even know it. But no more!