“But like any form of baking, [when] you put a lot of really good ingredients in, you get a good product out at the end,” Burns explained. “If you’ve got cheap ingredients you end up with a budget product. We know we are not the cheapest, but everyone tells us that ours is the best product.”

Burns has been with the Fudge Cottage for 10 years; Aileen Costin, a baker by trade, has been getting creative with her Fudge Cottage confections for 13 years.

 

“I used to bake and then I wanted a change from the early mornings,” Costin explained. “It was really exciting because there’s always something to do and lots of things to make. There’s lots of variety.”

 

The Fudge Cottage not only boasts a rotating collection of 20 fudge bars, they also offer personalized fudge logs, Swiss rolls, licorice and chocolates. Seasonal treats such as icing eggs and ornate candy houses are there too, encased in glass, calling to those wandering through the mall.

 

These new, modern quarters have been temporary housing for six years, since the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes. Their original home, which was destroyed in the quake, was an actual cottage in the heritage Christchurch Art Centre.

 

 “Our old kitchen used to be in our basement and we liked going down the stairs,” Burns explained. “While we get immune to the smells, they sort of got impregnated into the timbers and the customers would come down the stairs and go ‘oh wow,’ just smelling the walls.”

 

The Art Centre, located on Worcester Blvd, is currently undergoing a restoration project that Burns believes will have the Fudge Cottage returning home in the next few months. Since it has only secured retail space in the restored Art Centre, a confectioner will be decorating post-production treats at the shop. When Burns receives the all clear, the Cottage will begin to phase out of its current location, but keep the kitchen permanently in the Bishopdale Village Mall, where they plan to offer fudge-making classes to interested visitors.

 

Classes, similar to tours, will give customers a look into the time consuming and loving process that goes into making each bar of fudge. Not only is each batch mixed, stirred, poured, cut, weighed, sealed, boxed and date stamped by hand, but the lack of preservatives and artificial coloring allows the fudge to announce to the customer, “I’m homemade.”

 

“It’s something we are truly proud of,” Burns stated. “Our fudge is a real handcrafted product.”

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