Candy Chocolate Making

Most people assume candy making originated in Germany, but it actually goes back in time to ancient Greece, Turkey, and Rome.  In ancient Greece, they started making candy with honey that was first mixed with a variety of fruits. The honey would be cooked down into a paste similar to what we know today as Turkish delights. This technique also became the origin of gumdrops.

The “center” for candy making shifted to Germany, Austria, and Hungary as European countries became more civilized. The Germans, in particular, became masters of making marzipan.  Traditionally, marzipan was created from a pistachio paste which ultimately gave the candy its green color.  Nowadays, pistachio paste is rarely utilized due to its scarcity.  In honor of the master confectioners who forged the path of candy making, The Sweet Spot makes every effort to keep their candy recipes close to the originals found in history.  One example of this effort is the care our master confectioner takes to maintain the original green color of marzipan candy. 

Our Master Confectioner, Leopold Schreiber, grew up in West New York, New Jersey and worked in a candy factory that was owned by a man whose father, Harry Nagel, came from Germany. He taught Leopold many old fashioned recipes. The Nagel Family was well connected in the candy business so Leopold also learned from other Master Confectioners who would come in on the weekends to pass on their knowledge and techniques.

Harry Nagel worked in a candy shop in Union City, NJ called “Von Sprechelsson’s”. There he met his future wife. They were married and went to Germany on their honeymoon. As a confectioner who was always looking for an edge, he was on the lookout for some tool or technique he could take back to the States with him. He noticed that most German Chocolatiers were using molds to create beautiful molded chocolates in all shapes and sizes. When he returned to America he brought with him many metal chocolate molds. He was the first to introduce molded chocolates to the eastern United States.

Through the teachings by his own family members and through his wife’s family, Harry quickly honed his skills as a confectioner. He was also the first to introduce chocolate covered candies and filled chocolates such as chocolate shells filled with praline paste, liquors, nut paste and truffles. After joining the New Jersey Confectioners Association, he quickly learned that he could sell the candies he was making to other confectioners to be sold in their shops. He realized he would need a larger factory, so he formed a co-operative candy factory with other members of the NJCA. Eventually Harry bought out the other members of the co-op and changed the name to Nagel’s Candy.

When people would come to Harry’s factory looking for molded chocolate rabbits at Easter, he would sell them out of the side door of the factory. By 1929 this “side door” business became so popular he could no longer run it out of the wholesale factory.  Consequently he converted an old grocery store into his first retail store. Harry had candies that were unique and of high quality and he maintained a wide variety of handcrafted chocolates.

By 1960 the Nagel’s had opened a store in Wayne, NJ near the highway. This store was so successful that they quickly outgrew the factory. In 1975 they opened a new factory in Randolph, NJ.  It was a 2-story factory and retail store that is still in operation today. In 1976 Leopold became head candy maker and general manager. He held this position until the summer of 1994 when he left to pursue his creative ability. He wanted to make his own specialties and creations.

Today Leopold Schreiber, The Sweet Spot's Master Confectioner, uses the skills and recipes he learned from Harry Nagel to make traditional chocolate candy. He takes great pride in using only the finest ingredients on the market and maintains high quality control in all his products. In addition he is passing on the skills he started learning as a child to another who is interested in the art of candy making, Tom Follert. Together they're a successful team proud of the traditional candy they produce.

Candy Making Historical Notes:

• The word "candy" is derived from the Arabic gandi, meaning a sugar confection.
• All peoples of antiquity made sweetmeats with honey.
• The Chinese, Indians, people of the Middle East, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans used honey to coat fruits, flowers, the seeds or stems of plants.
• Ancient Egyptians used honey to preserve nuts and fruits.
• By the Middle Ages, physicians used honey to mask the bad taste of medicines.
• In the 17th century, North American colonies discovered maple-syrup candy and southern colonies used benne-seed (sesame seed) confections.
• In New Amsterdam one enjoyed "marchpane" or "marzipan."
• Candy has been found in English history as early as the 15th century.
• Caramels were known in the early 18th century and lollipops by the 1780's.
• Hard candy made from lemon and peppermint flavors were popular in the early 19th century.
• In 1851, the Great Exhibition in London introduced "French-style" candies with rich cream centers.
• In 1875, milk chocolate was discovered in Switzerland and made the American candy bar a phenomenon in the late 19th century.