Goumas Confections...The Legend Continues

Question

2010-03-15T05:06:00.000-07:00

We invite you to answer............

If it was you last day on earth, what kind of chocolate would you request??

Easter Preparation!

2010-03-14T13:52:00.000-07:00

"Rhythm" is the word that comes to mind when I observe Soc and Greg working in their kitchen. As they quietly go about their work, their actions seem to be synchronized. At times, I am asked to come and help, and as I focus with all my might to do my little job, these chocolatiers create with a natural ease and flow....guess that is why they are the candymakers and I am the blogger!

Today is Sunday and as of right now, Soc has made close to 2000 molds of milk, white, and dark chocolate. These solid chocolate bunnies, ducks, lambs, and crosses come in many sizes. They have been labeled and carefully sealed in cellophane bags and are for sale in our shops or boxed for one of several fundraising projects.

Another product which our customers love is chocolate baskets. They are edible, of course, and come in a variety of sizes shapes and designs. Soc has plastic molds which he pours the chocolate into to form these. He has also created a bowl which he describes as "one-of-a-kind", and rightly so. I love these things! He uses balloons, dips them in chocolate and bursts the balloon when the chocolate dries. Many different shapes and sizes can be created. These can be drizzled with white chocolate or holiday sprinkles. A friend of ours ordered small ones, filled them with Whit's Frozen Custard and a brownie and served them as individual desserts at dinner party.......yummy!

Greg has been busy with eggs....creamy peanut butter, chocolate fudge (pecan or plain). These gems come in three sizes..quarter pound, half pound, and one pound. After the ingredients for the eggs are made in the copper kettle, each egg must be weighed, formed, coated with chocolate, and decorated with a candy flower.

Next, the guys will work on Fruit&Nut, Divinity, Coconut eggs in all three sizes.

The candy kitchen is not the only busy area at Goumas Confections! After the molds, eggs, and other specialty items are created, they must be prepared for display and sales.

All of our workers are excellent at multi-tasking! The work area is small, but everyone stays positive and busy while bagging, boxing, labeling, working on the mail orders, filling show cases, and last buy not least, assisting our valued customers!

We have a small retail shop in Granville, and we must work hard to keep it stocked, also. It is interesting to follow the requests of our customers at both of our locations.

Kay, our creator of unique "baskets" is entering her busiest time of year. She is able to be given an idea or theme and build it into a delightful sight. And, of course, it has some of our delicious candy in it. You can see some examples of these on our website. www.goumasconfections.com

We also welcome new fans on our Facebook page and invite you to follow us on Twitter.

Whew!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-02-15T08:19:00.000-08:00

Pounds upon pounds of chocolate creations, many happy customers, lots of tired and loyal employees.........our second Valentine's Day has come and gone. I will try to explain the feelings associated with our first year as Goumas Confections.

On February 2, 2009, my husband, Soc and his brother Greg opened their new business. This event was gratifiying on many levels, due to the fact that, 2 months earlier the guys were forced out of their former business, where they had been the candy makers since the death of their father in 1985. I won't go into all the details here, but the guys were 56 and 57 years old and started "from scratch". A huge piece of the success is due to their 12 employees (from their former business) who chose to follow them to Goumas Confections.

As of June, 2009, Goumas Confections has two locations! Our Granville, Ohio shop is located on Broadway, right next to the Huntington Bank. Granville is our village, and we are so fortunate to have the support of two communities, Newark and Granville!

For the past week, Soc and Greg have worked "round the clock" in their kitchen to create chocolates and other sweets for their customers. The old copper kettle really got a work-out, with batch after batch of caramel, English Toffee, and other favorites being cooked to perfection. Some of our employees have stayed until midnight or after to make sure the retail area was ready for the next day!

Yesterday, on Valentine's Day, Soc created a new Confections treat. I will describe it and you tell me what you think....better yet, stop in and sample the new item.
It has been christened "English Turtle" and this is why:

Greg makes incredible English Toffee and Soc's caramel can't be beat. So, Soc decided to combine the two favorites and create the English Turtle. As many of you know, a turtle is made with pecans, caramel and chocolate. English Turtles have no pecans, but toffee instead. They look like a turtle, but have a unique flavor with the toffee inside.

With all that said, we, at Goumas Confections are "flying high" with the support of our employees, friends/customers. With the support and prayers of many, we
threw outselves into our new venture and worked harder than we could have ever imagined.

Thanks for reading this and check out our online store at www.goumasconfections.com

2010-02-03T06:10:00.000-08:00

Close your eyes and try to get this picture in your mind..........

A long narrow kitchen containing a copper kettle, gas stove, enrobing machine, chocolate temperer (melts and holds chocolate at correct temp.), long-handled wooden spoons, thermometers, red aprons, and lots and lots of chocolate, not to mention all types of nuts, sugar, corn syrup, peanut butter, and a variety of tools, all used to help in the art of candy-making!

Even before you enter the retail portion of our store, delicious smells entice you. I know that some of those smells are from our friends at the Bake-n-Brew Restaurant next door, but the sweet, nutty, buttery smells are ours! And yours, too, if you care to visit.

Today we will feature, Greg Goumas, our expert hand-dipper of chocolate. Greg is busy making dark chocolate nut clusters today....all kinds of nuts which he has roasted will be gathered into his hands, then carefully dipped into a warm pool of dark chocolate. Each cluster is placed on a tray, cooled and boxed, all by hand, one piece at a time.

He uses almonds, peanuts, pecans, brazil nuts, hazelnuts, cashews. He also will be dipping raisins, coconut (haystacks) cranberries, dark chocolate sea salt caramels, potato chips, pretzels, English Toffee.

So, if the art of candy making interests you, or if you just want to look at/eat our candy, visit our online store at www.goumasconfections.com

Or come into our candy shop at 1287 Log pond Dr. in Newark, Ohio or 224 E. Broadway in Granville, Ohio. We would love to share our history and some of our quality products with you!

2010-02-02T06:19:00.000-08:00

Tuesdays at Goumas Confections...........

Sweet smells are wafting from the candy kitchen! Here's why

Soc and Greg are working on pouring chocolate into molds to make 500 "Thank-You's" for an area church. Each letter is made by pouring tempered chocolate into a mold. After they are dry, they are arranged to say "Thank-you" and placed into attractive boxes, which are clear on top to show the chocolate words.

Other products emerging from our kitchen today
* chocolate Valentine suckers in two sizes

*Valentine-decorated Oreos (dipped in chocolate, of course)

*Pretzel rods which have been dipped into our home-made caramel, then into chocolate and sprinkled with hearts

Many of the pretzel rods are going to our long-time customer, State Farm Insurance. They will be distibuted in the Newark and New Albany, Ohio offices.

We are also filling our weekly order for the Licking Memorial Hospital Twig gift shop.....more caramels!

Peanut butter, caramel, and fudge hearts, all dipped in chocolate are February favorites...ready today!

A new item that is catching on is our sea salt caramels. These are our home-made caramels, dipped in chocolate with a tiny sprinkle of sea salt on top........WOW!

2010-02-01T08:58:00.000-08:00

Today is caramel day at the shop. My husband, Soc and his brother, Greg use an old fashioned copper kettle to mix, then cook this treat to the exact temperature it takes to create a gooey, buttery treat that will melt in your mouth. After the mixture comes to the correct temp, the guys pour it onto the marble slab for cooling, cutting.

The caramel is cut and wrapped (all by hand), or used to make turtles, sea salt caramels, pecan logs, or other unbelievable confections.

Candy making is truly an art!

Welcome!

2010-01-31T12:10:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our blog! This is our very first post. As we learn more, we will customize and add pics, etc.

For those of you who don't know, we are a small homemade candy business. Soc and Greg Goumas are brothers who make their delicious confections in their candy kitchen in Newark, Ohio. They learned from their father, who learned the art of candymaking from his father-in-law! The business started almost 100 years ago!!!
We take the utmost pride in our product and customer service.
Visit us online at www.goumasconfections.com on Facebook and Twitter!

We welcome your visits and comments.