Christmas time is a nostalgic time for many. It is a time for traditions and treats.
One taste of Patsy’s peanut brittle will transport you back to grandma’s old oak table around the holidays.
The dichotomy of that silky, tactile texture yielding the perfect crunch is the only the beginning of the magic that is peanut brittle. The candy itself has a storied past. Perhaps the most believable version for how peanut brittle was created in America is an ingredient mix up in a southern kitchen one fateful afternoon in the 1890s. It turns out that although baking soda and cream of tartar look quite similar, they have very different jobs. As the story goes, rather than wasting good ingredients, the candy maker took a gamble to see what would come out of the pot. This nutty confection was the resulting happy accident.
The Science Behind the Brittle
Essentially, the “brittle” of peanut brittle is made by heating sugar to the hard crack stage (300 degrees Fahrenheit) and then adding baking soda to create tiny bubbles to the mixture, giving the brittle its airy, almost delicate, texture. Cooking candy is a precise business, so the team at Patsy’s insists on using copper pots for this process due to the excellent heat conductivity. Constant attention to the process ensures the sugar does not burn or crystalize. The arid climate also helps the process by eliminating the risk of humidity slowing the cooling process and making the candy sticky.
Si Niswonger, the resident peanut brittle expert, notes that he gives his team an audible when the candy is almost done. Production stops and about six people converge around the table in the factory to pull the hot brittle, solidifying its perfect texture. It’s 10 minutes of facetime with the team, stripping away all of the technological advances and getting back to the roots of candy making.
“No one can ever say they got shorted on the peanuts in our peanut brittle,” says Si, proudly explaining how, along with the highest quality ingredients and their precise brittle-making technique, the peanuts are the character to the treat and no bite should go without.
Top-Quality Chocolate + Popcorn
The team at Patsy’s is so passionate about the quality of their product that they sent away to Italy for the equipment to make their own chocolate in-house. Over the years, they started seeing artificial elements being added to the product they were sourcing for their confections. They found that it altered the consistency of what they were producing and that was just not the Pasty’s way. Mike Niswonger remembers when the representative from Italy came to inspect the installation of the new equipment and was able to taste Patsy’s chocolate.
“These are the guys who make the equipment and they were wowed by the quality,” Mike says, going on to explain how proud he was to be compared to European chocolates.
Christine Farrell points out all of the offerings Patsy’s has in the shop, which has been family-owned and operated for four generations. One thing that catches the eye is their molded chocolates. Don’t expect chocolate Santas or Easter bunnies; Patsy’s features trout, squirrels, golf bags, dark chocolate skiers and milk chocolate bear paws and boots. Colorado and the southwest are well represented in the shop and Christine notes there are many more molds rotated into the mix as the seasons change.
Patsy’s has popcorn covered, too, with lots of flavors and mixed bags.
Old fashioned peanut brittle, tri-flavored popcorn, or a new twist on a chocolate Santa–Patsy’s has nostalgia to spare and some of the most unique stocking stuffers around. Stop in and allow yourself a trip down memory lane, or an opportunity to create some new memories–there’s room for both.
Website: https://patsyscandies.com/
Instagram: @PatsysCandies