814-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, April 8, 1995 Les and Darlene Stauffer operate The Country Confectioner, which makes custom candy for any occasion. Sweet Surprises Found At The Country Confectioner LOU ANN GOOD Lancaster Fanning Staff MANHEIM (Lancaster Co.) What does an outhouse, a pacifier, and a deviled egg have in common? If you see those items at The Country Confectioner in Manheim they’re chocolate. These realistic items with hun dreds of other surprises are made at a unique little candy shop situated along a winding mountain road. According to proprietors Dar lene and Les Stauffer, they make custom candy for any and every occasion. While they offer a full line of traditional chocolate candy, it’s unusual pieces that catch most cus tomers’ eyes. Indeed, many of the items appear to be real toys rather than edible goodies. A boxed tool set that looks just like the toy tool sets and a toy cos metic kit with it’s hair brush and comb are completely edible. Many of the pieces appear too delightful to eat. But those who taste the candy become faithful customers of The Country Confectioner. The Stauffers have developed several unique combination can dies such as “avanlanche” in white or brown chocolate and “mint bark.” The Stauffers began their candy making business three years ago when Les was laid off from his job he held for 18 years as a painter and paperhanger. Darlene had previously taken a one-hour candy-making class and liked dabbling in candy making for fun. One day, Les watched her mak ing some candy and decided to help out. His reaction was “This is fun. Maybe we can sell this.” The couple started by taking orders from friends and acquaintances. For the first few months they cooked, stirred, and formed batch es of chocolate in the kitchen. “After that first Easter, I knew we must get out of the house,” Les said. The couple remodeled an attached summer kitchen and shed. The light airy rooms now offer plenty of space for making and dis playing the candy. The couple has about 2,000 molds but enjoy mixing and com- bining the molds to come up with unique designs. Some pieces such as the out house that is made in 13 different parts, must be pieced together. Les said that his previous job experience comes in handy when he paints chocolate. “I don’t really like to use the word ‘paint,’ because people think, what in the world do you do to the chocolate?” Les said. Basically what Les does is color white chocolate to imitate the col ors found in the original item. The couple has no set schedule other than for store hours. “We do whatever needs to be done at the time," Darlene said. Before Easter the Stauffers geared up intensely to build up stock by making candy 12 to IS hours a day. “I think it is easier hanging pap er than doing all that needs to be done to keep the business going,” Les said. “It’s a big challenge especially the paper work.” It’s also a challenge to figure out how much to make of each variety. Some items that the Stauffers expect to be good sellers are not, and some that they don’t expect take off. Sometimes it’s a matter of eye appeal. Occasionally a slow moving item will take off when the color is changed. In addition to the usual assort ment of chocolates, rabbits, cros ses, and eggs, items available are lollipops shaped in every imagin able form from flowers and clowns to fudgesicles and cows. Novelty chocolates are found molded into shapes such as tooth brushes, car rots. trucks, tractors, paint brushes, chickens, tic-tac-toe games.. .. An assortment of realistic fruit that the couple arranges into fruit baskets is available in candy form. The couple have two children, 7 and 8 years old. The children’s candy eating is closely supervised. Les said, “Sometimes I sneak them a piece of sugar-free candy and they are perfectly content.” Primarily, Darlene takes care of the selling. That’s her duty, she explained, “because customers seem to feel more comfortable buying candy from a woman, and besides I’m a people person.” Her husband does most of the packaging and labeling and “he’s great with laying out displays,” Darlene said. During candy holidays such as Valentine’s Day, Christmas, and Easter, the Stauffers also sell from a cart at Park City in Lancaster. Darlene does most of the candy making but her husband needs to take care of it when she works at the Park City location. Sometimes, candy-making becomes a bit sticky. Les, who is always looking for shortcuts, con fessed that one time he tried to make a double batch of their “fam ous peanut butter brickie.” but he did not calculate the proper mea surements. The peanut butter brickie never hardened and he had to discard 16 pounds of it. The Country Confectioner is open year-around at their home store located at 1972 Mountain Rd., Manheim. September through May store hours are Monday through Thursday from 9. a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and by appointment. Telephone number is (717) 664-4796. A cart filled with products from The Country Confectioner is located in the Sears Mall at Park City. The cart is manned during Park City’s hours but the Stauffers only have the cart opened for one month during the Easter, Christ mas, and Valentine seasons. A hobby turned into busi ness for Darlene who enjoys making chocolate In unique shapes such as cows, trac tors, outhouses, pacifiers, and tennis racquets. 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