Fair week changes the pace around here. Starting Wednesday, August 12, the Humboldt County Fair takes over the fairgrounds just down the street, and for five days the whole town runs on fair energy. In the shop we keep doing what we always do, making candy fresh each morning, but there is a little extra bounce in the room. People stop in on their way to the midway and ask what they should bring along, and I usually point them to the Moo Bar.
The Moo Bar has been our most beloved bar for a long time, and I think the reason is that it tastes like the place it comes from. We layer rich, buttery caramel made with fresh Humboldt Creamery cream and butter, add our own pillowy marshmallow and freshly roasted almonds, and dip the whole thing in Guittard milk or dark chocolate. It is a generous bar that holds up fine in a fair tote bag and still tastes right when you eat it on a bleacher seat between shows.
There is something fitting about a bar like that during fair week. The fair has made its home in Ferndale since 1896, and it counts as one of California's longest-running county fairs. It began as a place for the valley's farms to show off their livestock and produce, and that agricultural heart is still there, with dairy farms all around us. When we make our caramel with cream from Humboldt Creamery, we are drawing on the same local dairy country the fair celebrates. The Moo Bar is our small nod to all of it.
Fair week is also a good reminder of why we make candy the way we do. Caramel gets its color and its depth from sugar browning slowly as it cooks, and there is no shortcut that gives you the same result. We let it take the time it takes, the same way the fair has been putting on its show for well over a century. So if you are in town for the fair, stop by the shop and grab a Moo Bar to carry with you. It has been a favorite around here for a long time, and I suspect it will be yours too.