Julien's Journal December 2016 (Volume 41, Number 12) | Page 43

DECEMBER 2016
to be set aside as it’s all-hands-on-deck to
assure there will be enough candy for the
expected holiday rush. To fill all the orders,
part-time employees are hired and retired
sisters from local congregations are called
upon to help out.
Monastery candy customers generally fall
into three main categories – retailers like
Hartig and Dubuque’s hospital gift shops,
direct customers who place orders by
phone or through the mail and internet,
and corporate customers who order candy
as Christmas gifts for their clients.
A divine aroma permeates the main room
of the candy factory. The brightly lit room
hums with quiet energy as the Sisters
perform their assigned tasks. Talking is
kept to a minimum, but smiles abound as
the crew works together like a well-oiled
machine, moving candy through the many
stages of the production process.
Sister Kathleen explained the various
candy making techniques. “Our mints
and meltaways are melted in a big melter
and then poured the next day into plastic
forms,” she said. “Our caramels – which
we sell the most of by far – are cooked in
copper kettles to 242 or 243 degrees. The
main ingredients are corn syrup, sugar,
heavy cream with 40% butterfat, butter,
and evaporated milk. Some of the cream
and milk is added later through a dropper
which causes an emulsion to happen.”
The cooked caramel mixture is then poured
onto steel cooling tables. When it’s partially
cooled, bars are inserted to separate the
candy into slabs. “The next day, we take the
slabs off the table and send them through a

machine to cut the candy into strips. Next
they go through the caramel wrapper, the
most complex machine we have,” said Sister
Kathleen. “Ours does 180 caramels a minute or three every second. We have a little
bit of a niche in the market. There just aren’t
that many good hand-crafted caramels being wrapped out there.”
While some of the caramels are handpacked into boxes or gold-stripped cellophane bags, some of the unwrapped
caramels are taken to another work station to be coated or “enrobed” in either
milk or dark, semi-sweet chocolate. Each
coated caramel is topped with a “squiggle”
or chocolate, diagonal stripe carefully
dripped from the gloved fingertip of a
talented worker. “We’ve been told by confectioners that a diagonal line indicates
caramel,” said Sister Kathleen.
What’s Sister Kathleen’s favorite candy? “I
like the hazelnut meltaways,” she said. “I
love hazelnuts, and the meltaways have a
little salt in them – along with the chocolate and the hazelnuts, I think they taste
fantastic.” She added, “My second favorite
is probably our Swiss Mints.”
Take it from the Sisters at the Abbey – if
you’re searching for the perfect Christmas
gift, look no further. Trappistine Monastery candy is sure to be well received by
even the most hard to please person on
your list. Stop by one of the candy retailers, call the Monastery at [phone],
or visit the Sisters’ website at MonasteryCandy.com to place your online order. As
Sister Kathleen would say, “God bless you”
and Merry Christmas! ❖

Sr. Louise Burnard; Maureen Foster (volunteer); Sr. Mary Therese
Hastie. Coating caramels: Sr. Louise places them on the belt; Maureen
adds the “squiggle,” Sr. Mary Therese takes off at the end of the cooling
tunnel and puts caramels in gift boxes.

Sr. Gail Fitzpatrick putting a strip of caramel into the
caramel wrapper.

Sr. Mary Therese Hastie takes the cooled chocolate-coated caramels
off the belt and puts them in gift boxes.
Julien’s Journal  ❖ 41