About Dorothy's Candies
Dear Chocolate Lovers:
If you love fine chocolates with old-fashioned goodness, you have come to the right place – Dorothy’s Candies. I have enjoyed making and eating chocolates since I was just a tyke in the kitchen of my grandmother, Mae Gillespie. She and my mother, Dorothy, concocted yummy confections in Mae’s home in the West End, then a burly working-class neighborhood overlooking Pittsburgh’s legendary steel mills. Mae began by selling confections in her neighborhood during the Great Depression to augment the family income.
Later, Dorothy opened a tiny shop in the basement of our home in McKeesport, just up the river from Pittsburgh. People were constantly clamoring for her gifts of homemade chocolates, and Dorothy thought selling them would be a nifty way to save up for my college fund.
It was this tiny basement shop that has become Dorothy’s Candies.
Today, we sell our candies all across the United States and beyond -- more than 75,000 pounds of boxed-chocolates each year. Our facilities are a far cry from Dorothy’s cramped basement, however. We produce our chocolates in a state-of-the-art facility with climate-controlled storage rooms, and advanced chocolate melters. But one thing has not changed since 1947 when Mom opened shop in her basement -- our commitment to produce the finest chocolates anywhere. We still use all the secret recipes, which Mom developed over the years, for dipping chocolate and creating delectable fillings. She passed these recipes and techniques on to me and a few select friends who still work with me today. True to Mom’s tradition, we still use only the finest ingredients available on the market today, from fresh, crunchy nuts, to rich, creamery butter. All of our chocolates begin with the finest Swiss blend chocolate available.
Though most candy makers now manufacture their chocolates on an assembly line, we still dip our chocolates by hand just like Mom and Grandma did. We think it tastes better that way. Just try it. We think you’ll agree.
Sincerely,
Robert Gastel
