Betty’s Speakeasy Fudge – review
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase.
For us, chocolate loving Philly girls, what was there not to like about Betty’s Speakeasy? A fudge and confection company (yum!) from Philly (yo!). It was kind of a given we were going to love them. Although we didn’t know quite how hard we would fall. And not just us, it seems. Philadelphia Magazine awarded them Best cupcakes in Philadelphia for 2009!
In addition to award winning cupcakes, they offer Cajeta; a Mexican slow-cooked caramel made with goat’s milk, Phluff; marshmallow cream unlike anything you’ll find in a grocery store, and of course, fudge. Their fudge “buttons” are made with almost twice as much chocolate than other brands, making them extra rich, extra delicious. Along with organic cane sugar, local sweet butter and fair trade vanilla extract, they also include herbs, spices and extracts, many you wouldn’t imagine being combined with chocolate. Some of the more inventive of their 30 varieties include such ingredients as basil, cayenne, balsamic vinegar and florals like Honeysuckle and Jasmine.
This is what makes Betty’s Speakeasy so unique. Modern mixtures meet old time charm. For a touch of nostalgia, local ingredients are used whenever possible and their recipe is taken from it’s namesake, owner Liz Begosh’s Grandma Betty. Even the packaging is a nod to the past with it’s sweet illustration and twine wrapped boxes topped with an actual button. But in the box? Progressive combinations like the Stinger (white chocolate, local honey, pasilla chile, and cacao nibs).
If you are not a local, their confections can be ordered through their Etsy shop. But if you are, stop by with your old buttons! They have a program that, ounce for ounce, you can exchange buttons for fudge. Or at the very least, stop by for a Black Velvet cupcake, getting it’s rosy hue not from artificial food coloring, but local blackberry puree.
We received an array of tasty treats to enjoy. Along with several fudge samplers we were given some of the yummiest sounding sauces we’ve ever seen; Cajeta caramel, Hot Lava fudge and Supreme fudge. I could hardly wait to make a Sundae!
Review team: how happy were you to be a we heart this tester when this particular package arrived?! Let us know your thoughts on this delicious bit of Philly.
YUM! I got to try the Cajeta, Mexican caramel made with goat’s milk. Wow, is it good. The goat’s milk gives it such a slight bit of tanginess and mixed with the sweetness of the sugar, the combo is just amazing. It is out of this world on vanilla ice cream. It would be the perfect kind of thing to serve guests, as it’s a bit more refined than just an average sauce. Not that I can speak of that, I have shared this with no one!
I also got to try a few different flavors of fudge buttons. Betty’s firecracker is a dark chocolate with cayenne. And Summer Basil, a white chocolate with basil. Two of their more adventurous varieties that I really enjoyed (I love chocolate that’s a bit different).
And they’re packaging is just too sweet. Love Betty’s!
.-= stef´s last blog ..Etsy 4 for Friday – Pa Dutch style =-.
How exciting to discover this new (to us) Philly sensation! I was the happy tester of some Betty’s Tasty Buttons – cute little boxed sampler sets of tasty, grown up fudge. I appreciated the differently shaped/cut pieces so that you could visually pick out the different flavors – smart. My favorites included the Balsamic fudge (again, sounds odd, but the tanginess makes the fudge taste even deeper) and the Goat’s Milk fudge with Rosemary – the slightly floral herbal taste is great with the chocolate.
The adorable packaging with vintage looking graphics and the teeny button and twine accent makes for a great gift – especially with the “hostess gift season” upon us!
Also, a big thumbs up to Betty’s Fudge for their green, think local attitude. I love that they made a name for themselves using local farms and ingredients and developed a huge following with stands at Philadelphia area Farmers Markets. They opened a pretty storefront in 2007, which has been added to my itinerary for my next visit to Philadelphia.
Fudge sauce testers – I read that you can add the fudge sauces to warm milk for a fancy hot chocolate – yum! If you haven’t devoured your jar already, give it a try.
.-= Tyna Werner´s last blog ..Scary Movie Series: Signs Your Child Might Be Evil =-.
I think Mama needs some!
I tried the fudge. Let me start with my telling you all about my relationship to chocolate.
I love chocolate. In fact, I love it so much that the only things I allow it to touch are peanuts (or butter), almonds, vanilla and more chocolate.
Normally, I don’t care much for fudge because it always tastes more like sugar to me than chocolate. Give me chocolate cake with chocolate ganache warm hot fudge and a scoop of vanilla ice cream and you keep your fudge and your taffy and your butterscotch candies and chewy caramels. For me, cake trumps candy any day of the week. Why waste calories on the small bite when you can splurge with a small bite of the serious stuff?
Also, I’m a purist by nature (insofar as desserts are concerned, I mean). I don’t like lavender in my creme brulee and I don’t like my chocolate cake to have berries. Having known this, I was pretty sure I was not going to love Betty’s nouveau fudge conconctions.
I wouldn’t say I LOVED the fudge, but I did like it a lot. A lot more than any other fudge I remember tasting. I wasn’t even put off by the rosemary in my chocolate–it reminded me of Christmas somehow. That’s not to say I’ll be baking any rosemary chocolate cakes anytime soon, but it WORKS.
And I should reiterate that the packaging is so simple and pretty. I would for sure gift this fudge if I wouldn’t buy it for myself. In fact, I’m going to put it on some foodie-lovin’ friends’ Christmas lists right now…
I got the Supreme Grand Marnier & Orange Zest Fudge Sauce to try. I have simple tastes in my chocolate, in that I simply love it. I am, however, not a fan of fruit with my chocolate, so this really wasn’t something I’d normally seek out. But I gave this fudge sauce the old college try and heated it up and poured it over some vanilla ice cream. Taste-wise, I could taste the chocolate, it wasn’t heavy on the orange, although it left an aftertaste. It wasn’t bad, just not my preference. The problem I had is that my fudge sauce was gritty. Like, there were large chunks of grit—not all of it orange zest or sugar, either. I removed one chunk from my mouth and I think it was unmelted chocolate maybe? Anyways, it wasn’t really a creamy texture and while fudge is typically gritty b/c of all of the sugar, the grit/chunkage (yes, I am making that a word) was a little more than I was expecting. I give stars for the cute packaging–a small jar with a sort of vintage-inspired label, the fact that it’s made fresh and uses fresh, high-quality ingredients, and that it has a good chocolate flavor, deductions for the grit and weird aftertaste. No deductions on the orange b/c that’s my personal preference and not a reflection of the product itself. I might need to stop by their shop sometime and peruse their other products because I’ve heard good things about their tasty buttons from other people and I adore cupcakes, but I probably won’t seek out more fudge sauce.
Krista shared the Supreme (Gran Marnier & orange zest) with me. As a certified (or is that certifiable) chocoholic, I was excited to try it, but had some trepidation with the gran marnier and orange zest.
The flavors mingled OK for me, but I’m not a fan of those two mixed with chocolate, so it was a bit lost on me. The texture had that homemade grittiness that many of the processed brands do not have.
A nice overall product, but not my particular cup of tea.
Holy Cow.. Test this fudge.. I couldn’t believe the request.. that’s like saying…”here take this 100 dollar bill, just take it”
I LOVE Fudge, all things chocolate find a home in my heart.
So when I tried the Brotherly Love (a super dark chocolate with cacao nibs (that’s the unprocessed chocolate bean) sprinkled throughout to give a nice crunch. We then pour a layer of our ultra vanilla fudge on top and sprinkle that with more cacao nibs) I was in instant L.O.V.E.
Anything with a dark chocolate majority, is going to get 5 stars in my world. And although I am not as in love with white chocolate as I am dark, this did not disappoint. The balance was really quite smooth. And the texture was spot on for fudge!
the taste was really heavy on the darker, the vanilla fudge just seemed to cut it enough to make it only mildly bitter.. bitter in a good way. I loves me some bitter dark chocolate, but I have to say this mix with the vanilla really had such a smooth balance.
I give it 5 stars plus….. and if I am ever anywhere near their shop..
I can’t wait to put myself in a chocolate sugar coma!! :)
& I’m dying to try the Phanatic Phluff..sounds divine!!