Gifts – candy coated culinista

Papabubble Toronto – Candy Coated Culinista

Location: 3360 Yonge Street. Toronto, Ontario M4N 2M7 Phone Number: 416-483-3360

Do you ever have a connection to a certain type of food that just drums up all these memories every time you see them? Well I do and Papabubble reminds me of the handmade rock candy I would get from my Gran & Auntie when they visited England. When I saw a few pictures of Papabubble’s candy I knew I’d have to visit this shop when I found myself Uptown. Papabubble was founded in Barcelona and strives to make authentic high quality handmade hard candy. The Toronto and only Canadian location opened in October and is the third North and for me it’s an avid candy lover’s place to visit.

When I entered the minimalistic but attractive store there was an associate who welcomed me and two candy makers cutting the candy. They were cutting purple “X & O” candy which means they are prepping for Valentine’s Day as the Christmas season is now officially over. There was a lovely red, black and white mural on the wall and a very inviting winterscape made of pulled candy in the window.
As I walked around I saw a big candy hook – a hook used for pulling the candy many many times to aerate the batch (you read one confectioners book and you’d be surprised what you retain and like I said I love candy) Sadly I didn’t get to see it in use sadly or see them twisting and scraping and freshly made candy.

Then I looked at the two candy shelves where there is striped and solid candy with little design inside like a happy birthday, snowman, apple, banana; basically anything is possible. Prices range from a 60g bag for $6 to a 275g jar for $25 along with lollis and seasonal flavours. The price is a little steep but you are paying for the artisan handmade aspect of this process. If you can appreciate the process then you can understand the pricing. Custom candies can also be made in lolli and candy form. I was offered a taste of the traditional candy and they the sour mix, all of which was delicious; but then I’m partial to candy.

The candy itself wasn’t hard as I bit into it which I enjoyed and also made it easier to eat too much and the flavours were great. I bought the Happy Birthday Mix as my birthday is fast approaching and this will be my birthday candy for the day with flavours of melon, vanilla cream & strawberry cream and then the holiday mix or cream soda, blueberry and watermelon. (These cute candies said Happy Birthday in the centre, or Happy Holidays, a snow flake and a snowman.) and the packaging is darling and I now have a jar to use for something else.

I went back again this weekend and grabbed some Chinese New Year mix with flavours. Banana, lychee, pineapple, mango and guava, Valentine’s Day mini candy test tube and some egg nog candies. They all tasted amazing and I am wishing The Chinese Mix was a year round mix personally.

This particular art of candy making I find very interesting and would love to take a workshop if possible some day.
If you want that little bit of nostalgia from your childhood or you love beautifully crafted artisanal handmade products or you fall somewhere in the middle like me go visit Papabubble you won’t regret it.