Announcing the first Heidi's Fudge store
As everyone knows, Heidi's Fudge has long been an attraction at the Playmill Theater in West Yellowstone, Montana. With the announcement of the new Playmill Theater building, Heidi's Fudge has decided to open the doors to its own store front, where we can serve fresh, delicious fudge year round to our public in West Yellowstone and the many friends and family who visit there each year. We would love to see you at our new location in 2008.
FUDGE HISTORY
Post Register
Wednesday, August 22, 2001
Playmill actress creates 19 flavors and then some - By Jennifer Warnick - Poster Register
She played Maria in "The Sound of Music."
She was a narrator for "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."
She is Doris in "Damn Yankees."
But people don't recognize Heidi Merrill for the roles she's played in her last 15 years at the Playmill Theatre in West Yellowstone, Mont.
They recognize her as the fudge lady.
Heidi is the candy maker behind the renowned Playmill Theatre fudge. She made two tons of the local favorite last year between her two main seasons — Playmill and Christmas.
"I don't eat much fudge anymore," says Heidi, Laughing. "It's like people who live next door to Disneyland," jokes her husband, Roger.
In 1986, Heidi spent the summer as an actress at the Playmill, where she met her husband, the Romeo to Juliet, and eventually, her fudge helper in the kitchen. The two have been acting and directing every summer since.
Three years later, Heidi took on her biggest (in terms of raw tonnage) Playmill role yet. She started making the fudge that puts grandma's to shame. In fact, many people who meet the fudge lady in person are surprised she's not a plump, rosy-cheeked old woman.
"People always comment 'You're so young,'" she says. "And then they say, 'You're so small.'"
In 1989, the Playmill's new owner passed the fudge making on to her, along with the original recipe — fudge with walnuts.
Now, 12 years and almost 20 creative fudgey flavors later, Heidi is in the full-time fudge business. She works 30 to 40 hours a week in her kitchen, stirring, tasting, experimenting and perfecting.
She actually has two kitchens. The Merrills, who reside in Idaho Falls in the off-season, travel to West Yellowstone every summer with their four children and lots of toys and head back in time for school each fall.
The famous fudge is very much a family affair. Their van's license plates reads "OHFUDGE" and 300 pounds of specially ordered, newly delivered Ghirardelli chocolate sits on their front lawn next to the kid's scooters.
She and her husband have studied the chemistry of candy making, which she says helps a great deal. "We have it down to a science," she says. "I used to ruin a lot of fudge, but in 12 years, I think I've got it down."
She should. She made 800 pounds last month alone.
"Sometimes if the show is sold out, people will come in to buy fudge anyway," she says.
While fudge and the Playmill go hand in ... er, mouth, Heidi has made a sweet living outside the theater.
She sells her fudge, along with her other specialty — pecan logs — at local craft shows; she also sells them both by mail order.
While she never thought she'd be "the fudge lady," but rather, an actress, Heidi still manages to do some of both. And if things get mundane, she just invents a new flavor of fudge.
"I like to be creative and think of new things," she says.
Heidi's candy making tips
By Jennifer Warnick - Poster Register
While the recipes for her many kinds of fudge and her pecan logs are super-secret, Heidi did offer to share some general tips for candy making:
- Use the best ingredients.
For example, never use chocolate chips to make fudge — it will be grainy. Use blocks of nicer chocolate. Use fresh nuts. She uses nuts from "The Nutty Guys" in Shelly. And use good butter. She likes Rose Valley butter, sold at Winco.
- Try, try again.
"Don't get depressed if it doesn't work out, she says. Most people make candy only once or twice a year, and then get upset if it doesn't work out. Candy is very much a trial-and-error thing, she says, so keep trying.
- Get a basic knowledge of chemistry.
"Science is not my bag," she says, "But knowing how sugars and fats work makes a difference."
- Don't be afraid to experiment.
Many of her flavors have stemmed from her flair for experimenting. "If you find a recipe, change it," she says. Use oils instead of extracts. Add new flavors.
- Don't rely on candy thermometers so much.
"I hate thermometers," she says. "I won't use them." She say instead to do the cold water test and know the chemistry of what you're making.
Fudge Family
By Jennifer Warnick - Poster Register
Heidi Merrill began with one simple recipe more than a decade ago: fudge with walnuts. Since then, she's experimented, introduced new flavors, retired flavors and invigorated taste buds all over the area. Here are some of the flavors in the family of fudge she has created:
- Plain chocolate (for people with nut allergies or dislikes)
- Peanut butter chocolate
- Mint chocolate
- Orange chocolate
- Raspberry chocolate - with fresh raspberries
- Rocky road
- Chocolate with macadamia nuts
- Toasted almond
- German chocolate
- White chocolate
- Orange cream white chocolate
- Lemon white chocolate
- Raspberry cheesecake white chocolate
- Peppermint stick white chocolate
- White chocolate with macadamia nuts
- White chocolate with cashews
- White chocolate with walnuts