Caramels in a Traditional Heart-Shaped Box

This candy box does it all. Tucked into the traditional heart-shaped box originating in the 1800s, it’s filled with caramel and nut turtles and chocolate covered caramels. How can you lose when chocolate and caramel are the nation’s two most popular candy flavors? The caramels are the perfect balance of flavor and texture with a rich outer layer and smooth caramel center. As for the turtles: blend of warm milk chocolate, caramel and nuts bring the best of flavor and crunch.

A Bit About Caramels 
From Susan’s Book “Sweet as Sin”

Caramels are an American invention that emerged from the European caramelized sugar of the seventeenth century and is the essence of the praline which the French brought to Louisiana in the 1760s. The caramel came into its own in the late 1800s, around the time when Hershey started the Lancaster Caramel Company.  The Encyclopedia of Food and Beverages, published in 1901, gives this definition of caramel: “Sugar and corn syrup cooked to a proper consistence in open stirring kettles, run out in thin sheets on marble slab tables and cut into squares when cooled.”  That recipe is not an industry standard: Hershey substituted paraffin wax for milk, a trick her learned when working for at a caramel-making company in Denver. Regardless of who invented what, caramel played a welcome part in candy where, with nuts, chocolate coating, or simply solo, they became one of America’s favorite candies today.

The History of the Heart

Why the Heart Shape of Valentine’s Day
The iconic heart shape is so common – especially around Valentine’s Day – it’s practically redundant.  It’s on cards, decorations, and clothing, plus heart-shaped cakes and cookies and, above all, candy boxes. So, where did this wildly popular symbol came from? Face it: the Valentine’s Day heart looks nothing like the real thing! Actually, the story of the heart shape weaves together ancient plants, playing cards, and clever marketing.

The Heart’s Ancient Beginnings
The heart shape dates back to an ancient and now-extinct plant called silphium. Used in the fifth century by the Romans, silphium had a variety of purposes—it was a spice, an aphrodisiac, and even a form of birth control. Most notably the plant’s seed pod had a distinct heart-like shape, similar to the delicate bleeding hearts found in gardens today. The silphium was popular - so popular in face, it became extinct. 

From Pinecone to Playing Cards
Around 1250, the heart began appearing in religious and romantic imagery, often depicted as an inverted pine cone. By the mid-1300s, the heart shape we recognize today emerged in European artwork and made its way onto playing cards, where it took its place alongside spades, clubs, and diamonds.

Cadbury and the Candy Box Revolution
Fast forward to the late 1800s, when the British Cadbury Company brought the heart shape into the world of sweets. They introduced the first heart-shaped candy boxes, perfectly timed for Valentine’s Day. Their innovative design, coupled with the growing power of advertising, turned the holiday into the grand celebration of love (and love making) of today.

Do you have a favorite heart-shaped candy or Valentine’s Day tradition? Let us know—we’d love to hear your story!