Photo courtesy of Cream City Caramels & Confections
Cream City Caramels & Confections
Cream City Caramels & Confections
While growing up, Gregg Hutterer had always loved caramels from makers such as Fanny Farmer. As an adult, he started making them himself, but he never considered it a viable business, especially during the ‘80s, when few people sought out small batch, locally made products. But when the 2008 Great Recession brought his career in real estate to a halt, he considered turning those rich, creamy indulgences into a business.
In 2014, Hutterer, along with partner John Murges, took the business from the home kitchen to a licensed commercial kitchen, which they constructed in the basement of Hutterer’s mother’s home. Among the equipment is a refurbished wrapping machine originally built in 1953. “They don’t make wrapping machines for little businesses like ours anymore. Now, they’re room-sized,” Hutterer remarks.
Cream City Caramels & Confections offers the traditional vanilla caramels Hutterer has been making for decades, along with flavors like salted vanilla pecan; Irish whiskey; Mexican chocolate; Door County cherry; Kentucky bourbon; or cardamom, rose and pistachio, a variety inspired by flavors of Indian love cake.
Murges, a former club DJ, had always enjoyed cooking and regularly peruses recipes for interesting flavor combinations. “I look at trending flavors and see what the next big flavor will be,” he says. “We like to keep people coming.” Murges is of Greek descent, and he learned from his sister that they have ancestors who are candy makers in Greece.
Hutterer notes that they don’t have formal training in food science or baking, but they do consult food scientists when experimenting with new ingredients to help nail consistencies and textures. “Once you start changing ingredients around or adding something, it can change the end makeup of what your product is going to be,” Murges adds.
Their chocolate caramels initially turned out more fudge-like than caramel, and the recipe required tinkering to keep a caramel-like consistency. Hutterer and Murges belong to the American Association of Candy Technologists, where they have access to experts. Other successes include a honey caramel, made with raw honey from a Wisconsin beekeeper.
About one dozen caramel varieties are available at any given time. They make about 50 flavors overall that include seasonal varieties such as black licorice caramel, which they offer for Father’s Day. “The flavor is more subtle, and we find that people who usually don’t like black licorice do like the black licorice caramels,” Hutterer says.
The bay laurel caramel is made with fresh, not dried, bay leaves. Bay laurel is becoming a trendy addition in sweet treats on the West Coast. Cream City Caramels & Confections also has Highlander Grogg, made with Berres Brothers coffee, and a chai caramel made with Rishi tea. During the holidays, they import traditional European candies to offer alongside their handcrafted caramels.
Their dog, Dagger, a chihuahua mix, will soon have his own caramel, the Dagger Paw. “It’s like a Turtle, with chocolate, caramel and nuts,” Murges says. “Some candy companies are serious, but we like to have a little fun.”
For those who want to jazz up summer ice cream sundaes, Cream City Caramels & Confections will soon roll out a line of caramel topping. “It’s a thick sauce you have to spoon out of the jar, or microwave to pour,” Hutterer says. “You can dip apple slices in it or use it for baking.” The topping will be shelf-stable until opened; then it must be refrigerated.
Hutterer says they have grown a regular customer base and they even have “groupies” that follow them to events in search of favorite flavors and eager to try new ones. As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds, it’s still uncertain which farmers markets and events they will attend this summer; check their website or Facebook page for updates. Caramels can also be ordered online.
