Watch CBS News

Made In Chicago: Vintage Confections

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Tucked away inside a small store front in Clarendon Hills is a place Willy Wonka could be proud of.

"We produce all our own hard candy lollipops. We make all kind of custom, unique, different hard candy pieces. Our most notable items are our edible image lollipops which have pictures inside of them in anyway," said Cheryl Carr, co-owner of Vintage Confections.

The business originally started in her sister Heather Kelly's home.

"She originally started with fortune cookies, truffles and just kind of experimenting with a whole wide variety of sweet treats. It then became an art, it became about how do I customize every request? So she started making custom molds," Carr said.

Now a commercial kitchen and retail space on South Prospect, it produces some 10,000 to 15,000 pieces a week.

"Our brand is pretty well known. We are actually more well-known internationally than domestically," she said.

Podcast

The art of candy making is a multiple step process. From the molding to the mixing, to imaging to polishing, it takes about an hour to make a slab of lollipops.

Jean Malone is in charge of boiling the candy mix and pouring the molding. Today, she's creating a special Halloween line.

"These are the serial killer, Halloween 3-D images," said Malone.

In just a short 6 years, Vintage Confections ships custom lollipops all over the world and has been featured in a Martha Stewart Weddings photo spread. Carr says edible images are popular for just about any occasion.

"We do weddings, we do showers, we do corporate events, we do graduation parties," she said.

IMG_2328
IMG_2316
IMG_2315
IMG_2309
IMG_2305
IMG_2300
IMG_2298
IMG_2297
IMG_2295

Carr said you can put just about anything inside a lollipop.

"We can put any type of graphic design inside. We can now do that. you can send us an invitation, you send a picture of it and we can put it inside a lollipop," she said.

That makes Vintage Confections unique. Carr said their products are custom made, not only beautiful but delicious.

"It's not a Dum Dum, it's not a Tootsie Pop, it's a gourmet high end product," she said.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.