Chicago’s Best Toffee: The Fudge Pot

Today, we're in Old Town at an old-school candy shop making old-fashioned candies that, ironically, will make you feel like a kid again. We're at the Fudge Club. I am ashamed to say that this is my first time in here. No, we're going to change that. Yeah! Although I have a feeling that it's going to be really hard for me to find a sweet treat in here. My father opened the store in 1963. He learned the business from his uncle, and he invented the Milky Way bar. Invented the Milky Way? We have a little chocolate tradition. You're a third-generation candy maker, and I'm a second-generation candy eater. I have a little bit of a sweet tooth, and I definitely get that from my father. Breakfast of champions. Yeah, exactly. Sweetness, that's it. When it comes to sweet treats, why is the Fudge Pot Chicago's Best? I don't mind telling you that people say that our chocolate toffee, it's the best they ever had. We heard on Facebook from Maria, Randall, Rena, Patty, Mary Lou, and Rolanda, that you've had the best as well. Okay, let's get in the kitchen. Sure. We are ready to start the process for the toffee. Six pounds of butter. Alright, just start stirring. We add sugar. How much sugar is this? That would be six pounds of sugar. Almonds. Smells delightful. And it's time to pour our toffee. Have you ever done drywall? Huh? No. The thickness of the nuts will tell you how far you can press. I'm going to mess this whole thing up. Here goes nothing. Thank you. Oh yeah. While David and crew finish up, I'm hitting Wells to see what people think of our toffee. Some toffee. Oh, it looks delicious. Mmm. It's really good. That's great. Excellent. This is great. It's really creamy and I like the nuts that are on top. It's really buttery. I like taste the creaminess of the chocolate. I didn't expect to have this much flavor and when I tasted it, it just kind of blasted in my mouth. It's delicious. I'm going to go in and get some. Thank you. Right this way. So, you are ready to taste the fruits of our labor? I am. Cheers. What do you think? It's not hard. It's soft. It's easy to get into. It's brittle. It doesn't stick to your teeth. Yeah. Then you have also the extra almonds in there. And the butter certainly comes through, doesn't it? Mm-hmm. Your father passed this recipe down to you. Now, you're passing it down to your son. That's really what our show is about. Well, you don't stay in business for 53 years by accident. It's absolutely delicious.