Geneva candy maker brings smiles to faces

Jeff Howard kept one eye on the gooey mix of glucose, sugar, butter, salt and half and half creamer and kept stirring it with a wooden paddle to make sure it didn't burn.

"It's all in the timing," Howard said. "The copper kettle keeps the heat evenly distributed. You have to stir it constantly, otherwise it will burn."

It's an important process that the 52-year-old franchise owner of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in the Geneva Commons lifestyle center knows well. Learning how to make the perfect caramel apple is essential for the candy maker.

Howard was making fresh caramel for the wide variety of caramel apples the store sells. The store wants to have plenty of caramel apples on hand for Easter. They are popular items in Easter baskets, Howard said.

As Howard kept stirring, his assistant, Wendy Fecko, was melting chocolate and getting the other toppings ready.

"The tartness from the apples is a perfect companion to the chocolate that comes on top of it," Howard said.

Read More