814-Lancaater Farming, Saturday, November 23, 1906
Woman Develops Chocolates With Pizazz
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Farming Staff
MARIETTA (Lancaster Co.) —
While five pounds of chocolate
warms, Lois Ann Littlehale con
fesses, “I’m not a big chocolate
lover, but when I eat it, I want it to
be good”
“Good” doesn’t sufficiently
describe Lois Ann’s raspberry
truffles and chocolates that melt in
your mouth.
Not satisfied with ordinary
factory-made chocolates, Lois
Ann spent several years research
ing and experimenting with fine
chocolates before she launched her
own business. Old Colebrook
Sweets and Treats.
“Chocolates that taste as good as
this arc hard to find,” she said as
she arranged an assortment of the
homemade chocolates in a box.
Although the trend has been
toward cutting fat in diets, Lois
Ann is convinced that there will
always be a market for fine
chocolates.
“People don’t want to eat empty
calories. They are becoming more
select about what they eat. A small
piece of my chocolate is more
satisfying than eating a whole can
dy bar,” she said.
She uses the finest combination
of cocoa chocolate that she buys
from a chocolate factory and then
tempers.
Tempering chocolate is
achieved by heating and cooling
chocolate to specific temperatures,
causing cocoa butter crystal for
mation so the the chocolate coating
will stay firm and glossy without
wax or refrigeration of the coated
candy.
Instead of tempering chocolate,
which is time consuming, many
cooks add shortening or paraffin
(which is not approved by the
USDA for human consumption).
But, adding shortening or wax
to chocolate results in a waxy taste
in the mouth. You can taste the dif
ferent If you take a bite from can
dies made with these different
methods, you will find the choco
late made by tempering melts in
your mouth with no waxy
aftertaste.
After studying recipes, Lois
Ann experimented with different
techniques such as using warming
trays and heating pads, but she
took the plunge and invested in a
$7OO machine to melt chocolate.
While that may seem like a lot of
money, Lois Ann believes it is well
'ytn»,.. >.s7oocho
colate warmer, the Inspection procodurM by the Pennsyl
vania Dept, of Agriculture, and ths marketing required to
start up a home-based business. “I know that someday this
will take off. My chocolates are the best,” she said.
“People are becoming more selective in what they eat.
They don’t want empty calories. A small piece of my choco
late is more satisfying than eating a whole candy bar,” Lois
Ann said.
worth it The machine keeps the
chocolate at the same temperature
all day.
After experimenting with many
recipes, Lois Ann started develop
ing her own. “I like to play with
recipes. I’m never satisfied, but
always like to play a bit more,” she
said.
Some of her specialties include
raspberry truffles made with dark
chocolate and sprinkled with gold
dust, chocolates in a cream base or
with nuts, or with chocolate cen
ters. Roachers, which are slivered
almonds, toasted coconut, and a
blend of chocolate, provide
another tasty option for chocolate
lovers.
“Certain coatings complement
each other. Others don’t do any
thing for it,” Lois Ann said of her
quest to develop the perfect
combinations.
Although Lois Ann was finicky
about taste, she also didn’t want to
settle for ordinary-looking choco
lates. She wanted something with
pizazz.
That’s how she came up with
truffles embossed in gold. One of
her items is chocolate liquor cups,
dusted inside with edible gold dust
that rises to the top when liquid is
poured into them. Another unique
idea is her white chocolate cups
made to fill with mousse or some
other special filling, the dessert
turns an ordinary dessert into a
gourmet one.
Since Lois Ann drives a Corvet
te, she was thrilled to have a mold
for a 1963 split window Corvette,
which she makes in white or dark
chocolate and is considering Ailing
with chocolate hearts.
Before Lois Ann started offer
ing her chocolates for sale, she
entered her chocolates in fairs to
see how they would do among
competition. All her entries took
first-place ribbons and at (me fair,
her truffles took best of show out
of 240 entries.
After Lois Ann had her candy
recipes perfected, the next prob
lem was to find suitable packag
ing. Lois Ann considers herself
lucky by finding a candy supplier
who was going out of business.
She purchased candy boxes and
gossamer paper to add an elegant
touch.
Lois Ann said that her perfec
tionistic tendencies were absorbed
from watching her parents, who,
she said, were exellent cooks but
never wanted to be bothered with
having kids help in the kitchen.
She spent endless hours watching
her parents make ethnic Slovak
dishes such as perogies a day
long chore.
When Lois Ann was on her own,
cooking became her forte.
*‘lf the family eats the stuff, I
know it’s good,” she said of her
husband Leon and four adult
children.
Lois Ann’s interest in selling
chocolates was piqued when she
and a friend set up a stand to sell
crafts at a show with other crafts
man. All day long, the stand that
was selling homemade candies
was busy.
“People can’t eat wreaths but
they go nuts with chocolate,” Lois
Ann remarked to her friends.
Now that Lois Ann knows how
Lois Ann Littlshale experimented with making choco-
to make good chocolates, she isn’t
taking them to craft shows.
“It’s too ‘iffy’ to demonstrate at
craft shows. If it’s high humidity,
chocolate doesn’t work well. To
make high quality chocolates,
temperatures cannot be flunctuat
ing. I’d rather retail,” Lois Ann
said.
Lois Ann’s chocolates have the
stamp of approval from the Pa.
Dept, of Ag. All ingredients have
beat analyzed and approved. In
addition, Lois Ann has taken out
an insurance policy as protection
from liability.
“I need to pay the same rate as
the big chocolate companies,” she
said.
Although Lois Ann has no
experience in marketing, she said,
contacting potential buyers such as
bed and breakfasts and upscale
Keep The Farm In The Family
HONESDALE (Wayne Co.)
Are you a farm operator who
wants to be sure your farm would
continue to operate if something
happened to you? Do you want to
transfer the farm to your children?
Will your fiunily have enough
money to keep the farm going?
Will you have enough money to
live <m the hum to retire? Have
you talked with other family
restaurants doesn’t faze her.
“I am confident that I have a
good product,” she said
The costs for liability, licensing,
and marketing does not deter Lois
Ann’s enthusiasm for operating an
in-home business.
“I know that someday this will
take off,” she said.
Her dream is to develop a self
supporting business, but even
more than that she wants to pro
duce quality chocolates that keep
people happy.
“I know my chocolates are the
best People just need to taste
them,” she said
To order homemade chocolates,
write or phone Old Colebrook
Sweets and Treats, 191 Old Cole
brook Rd., Marietta, PA 17547.
Phone (717) 426-2848.
members?
To get answers to questions like
these, plan to attend “Keeping the
-Farm in the Family,” on Tuesday.
November 26, from 1 p.m. to 4
p.m. at the Wayne County Exten
sion Office, Court House, Hones
dale. Reservations are required for
this estate planning workshop.
Call (717) 253-5970 ext 239.