STORY BY BENJAMIN LERNER
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY
BIRNN CHOCOLATES OF VERMONT
What makes a good chocolate truffle? If you ask fourthgeneration
candy maker and current co-owner of Birnn
Chocolates of Vermont, Julia Birnn, the difference lies in the
details.
The Taste of Tradition
“I would say the overall appearance…I want the truffles to look very nice,
to have a nice shine to them and nice decoration…We hand decorate all
of our truffles… Also, when you bite into them, you want a nice snap. A
profound snap. That means that the chocolate is in temper. If they’re chewy
that’s not what you’re going for. You want a nice snap and then the creamy
feel on the inside.”
Made with locally-sourced Vermont heavy cream from Monument Farms in
Weybridge, Vermont, and available in over 150 varieties, Birnn Chocolates
of Vermont’s truffles are made in a state-of-the-art factory that integrates
traditional Birnn family methods with modern candy-making technology.
Sold wholesale in shops around the country, and available in Vermont
stores such as Shelburne Country Store and Harrington’s of Vermont, the
chocolates are sure to satisfy the palate of any discerning chocolate
enthusiast. Owners Julia Birnn and husband Mel Fields work as a dynamic
husband and wife duo overseeing the South Burlington-based chocolate
truffle factory, continuing the Birnn family’s legacy of candy excellence,
which first started hundreds of miles away over 100 years ago.
When Charles “Pop” Birnn first got involved in the candy business in
1915, everything was made by hand. Charles was a craftsman of
confectionery who worked for years in the candy industry, honing his
skillset and perfecting his recipes. In 1934, he opened his own shop, Birnn
Candy, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He had all the sartorial trappings
of a 1930s candy maker and was known to spend hours in the candy
kitchen, meticulously hand piping chocolate into his candies in his tall
white chef hat. He was passionate about his line of work, and eventually
passed the torch of the family business to his son, Edward.
According to Julia Birnn, “Edward was a cellist, a professional musician…
But his dad needed him in the family business. So he pulled him from that
trajectory and said ‘I need you here at the candy shop’…he still played the
cello, but his primary focus shifted to the family business.”
Though Edward might not have originally chosen his path in the candy
business, he was a fast study and quickly found success. A natural
businessman, he grew the Birnn candy empire from his father’s single
original shop to 11 retail stores in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania. By
the time Edward’s sons Bill and Jeff Birnn started working in the family
business in the 1980s, the company had been reborn as Birnn Chocolates,
and it wasn’t long before Bill & Jeff took the candy-making operation in
new directions in terms of both location and business strategy.
10 VERMONT MAGAZINE