Established in 1932, Watson’s Candies has remained a Walpole staple for more than 90 years.
The small business carries confections made in-house, some particular candies brought in for customers and even serve ice cream at their location “Scoops” from late spring into early fall.
Thanks to the Walpole Council on Aging, seniors from the town had the chance to take a tour of the place and see how the sausage is made, or in this case, the chocolate.
Manager Michelle split the tour into two sections, mostly so people weren’t cramped against the walls and could participate in the candy making. This group started in the back room, where Donna and Zach stood among mixers of tempered chocolate and plastic molds. Donna took the group through tempering chocolate, starting with big bricks and breaking it up before they melt it down. The bowl is constantly mixing the chocolate to keep it at temperature.
Because it was so close to Valentine’s Day, everyone had the chance to fill a chocolate heart mold to take home! Donna showed how to tap out the air bubbles and put them all in the fridge to pick up after.
Zach showed the group how the classic nonpareils are made, leading to trays of sprinkles with chocolate dollops cooling. He also let everyone make their own chocolate-covered Oreos. The machine is a conveyor belt that carries each cookie through a waterfall of chocolate and through a cooling later, which is how they coat many of their products. Everyone had the chance to “sign” their Oreo with a little metal tool and some sprinkles before it was sent to cool.
Last, but certainly not least, they went to the kitchen. Michelle brought everyone into a room filled with copper pots and pans, cooling fudge, melting chocolate, and the original stove that Mr. Watson himself used. It is still where all their cooking happens to this day.
It is a simple gas-powered open stove, and that along with the handmade tools Mr. Watson created are part of what makes Watson’s Candies stand out. Among those tools are the mold boards, simple shapes that they press into starch trays to fill with the interior of their chocolates. Everyone got to take the board for their Ice Cream Drops, small cone-shapes, and dip that into the packed starch trays as if they were making the candy themselves. Michelle did bring out the finished product, both milk and dark chocolate, for them to enjoy.
With finished products tucked into their bags, and surely shopping for more after the tour was over, it was a wonderful behind-the-scenes look at the magic that goes into chocolate making. With Valentine’s Day upcoming, what better way to enjoy your time than with a little chocolate treat?
Pressing the mold shapes into starch trays creates the shapes of their candies, later filled with creams and more.
The original stove used by Mr. Watson is still used daily to make their candy.
Michelle talks through the process of individually coating their ice cream drops, they won’t hold up under the conveyor belt.
Coated Oreos move down the conveyor belt to get signed by their makers before cooling off.
Everyone gets the chance to make a chocolate heart out of tempered milk chocolate. Delicious!
