Northshore Magazine

January/February 2012

Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.

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OVEDIA cious lumps and bumps in her hefty, hand-split pieces. 12 Inn St., Newburyport, 978-462-3226, simplysweet.com. WHAT TO TRY: Dark Chocolate, Coconut, and Cranberry The chocolate reigns, but the extras give this its perky personality. Cranberry and Pistachio with Milk Chocolate Pistachio and cranberry? Seems an unlikely marriage—until your first bite. Cheers to this happy couple! Oreo Bark Our favorite. A great buttery cookie surprise with yet more deep, rich chocolate. Nichols Candies Walter and Margaret Nichols opened up shop back in 1932 and had a few downtown Gloucester locations before building here, right off of Route 128 just before the bridge, on a beautiful oceanfront spot with water views. It was an inspired move, one that would take advantage of newly mobile America taking Sunday drives on what was a state-of-the-art highway back in the 1950s. To- day, Nichols remains a family- owned operation, and the big red house by the bay that is so familiar to locals continues to catch those heading to and from the beach. 1 Crafts Road, Rte. 128, Gloucester, 978-283- 9850, nicholscandies.com. WHAT TO TRY: First, a note: Although we were told their turtles are pretty popular, we wanted to try more unusual offerings. Here's what we discovered: Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Sticks Great classic combo with a generous coat of chocolate over crunchy peanut butter candies. Molasses-And-Coconut Clusters Toasted coconut with molasses cream, wrapped in chocolate— an unexpected but heavenly combination. Snowflakes It's the classic candied coconut dipped in top-quality chocolate, well balanced with interesting textures. Ye Old Pepper Company Ye Olde Pepper Company is billed as the oldest candy com- pany in the country. In fact, its roots go back to a woman who ended up in Salem, desperate and destitute, after she was shipwrecked offshore in 1806. With no money and a son to raise, neighbors heard she knew how to make candy and brought her a barrel of sugar. With that, she created the Salem Gibraltar, the first candy (according to their history) made and sold commercially and which sea captains and sailors were said to take with them on their travels. Early on, she sold her candy on the steps of the First Church, and then later bought a horse and buggy to sell the chocolates all over the North Shore. Sold in the late 1800s to the Birkinshaws, it is now in its fourth genera- tion of this family's ownership. It's a small, quaint shop—right out of a storybook—across the street from the House of Seven Gables, and it's filled to the brim with chocolates. 122 Derby Street, Salem, 978-745-2744, peppercandy.net. WHAT TO TRY: White Chocolate Cherries These are so pretty you feel bad biting into them. But, once you do, you'll feel a lot better. The cream, the chocolate, and the cherry are brought together with what is obviously a passion and deep understanding of what distinguishes this classic. Orange Mousse This is a new one for their collection and is the invention of manager Amanda. These have a big, fresh orange taste swimming in a flavorful cream, all wrapped in a creamy, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate shell. Pomegranate Jelly Who would have thought this combo would bring a smile to a chocolate lover's face? Here we have a brilliant, perky fruit-flavored jelly (with a nice squish in the bite!) dipped in a generous coating of choco- late. Maple Cream This is the quintessential New England classic, with deep maple flavor infused in a buttery cream and finished in a thin chocolate shell. Harbor Sweets As the story goes, it was back in 1973 when local Ben Stroheck- er's declared his goal to create the "best piece of candy in the world," regardless of cost. His home kitchen experimentation brought the world what we now know as Sweet Sloops. This chocolate, which resembles a sailboat, is made of almond 105

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