Island Profile:
The Candy Man - Steve Colwell


By Mary Beth Litrico - Photos by Charles Litrico

If you walk down Centre Street in Fernandina Beach at the right time, and at the right corner, the irresistible aroma of butter melting with sugar and chocolate may assault your senses. Your salivary glands will indicate that you are near 218 Centre Street and the threshold to Fernandina's Fantastic Fudge.

Fudge is only the beginning; also there to satisfy your sweet tooth are hand-dipped chocolate confections, homemade ice cream, freshly made caramel corn and peanut brittle and a selection of candies. This is all the work of a master: meet Steve Colwell, also known as "Steve Fudge" and "Ice Cream Steve."

After the fudge is mixed and heated in a copper kettle,
it is poured onto a marble slab to cool.
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When Colwell came to Amelia Island in 1988, he brought with him the original recipe for marble-slab fudge, created by Taylor Murdick in 1887. Mr. Murdick was creating his confection on marble slabs in his basement. Friends encouraged him to open a shop on Mackinac Island. What Colwell thinks was Murdick's second shop opened nearby in Petoskey, Michigan.
Eventually it was located in a building owned by Colwell's parents. He worked for the couple that ran the shop and learned the technique for making the fudge and satisfying his customers' cravings. "The couple was getting older and my parents asked if it was a good business," Colwell remembers. Colwell agreed that it was, so his parents bought the business and the rights to Mr. Murdick's original recipe, "secretly guarded since 1887." Colwell continued to work there in high school. He's been making this fudge for twenty years.

Upon graduating college in the late 1980s, Colwell was a little discouraged at interviews for entry into the corporate world. Mean-while, he says that "his parents had a motor home and they would travel to state parks around the coast. They found Fort Clinch and fell in love with the place [the town of Fernandina Beach]." His father, a semi-retired realtor, and his mother, the "hands-on" expert from the Petoskey candy store, remembered how lucrative the store had been and thought that Fernandina Beach was a good market for a sweet shop. And, they knew where to find an expert candy maker.

Above: After the fudge cools for a few minutes,
Steve mixes and shapes it by hand.
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Below: Some lucky bystanders get a taste of
Steve's peanut-butter fudge.

Colwell arrived here in October 1988. He had hoped to be up and running in the former Hardee Brothers Hardware store in time to process Christmas orders. Instead, he had to move production to Lake Panasoffkee, Florida, to the shop of an associate of his father's who made hand-dipped chocolates. In the process, he learned a few new recipes to enhance his candy store. Fantastic Fudge opened on Centre Street in January, 1989, and has been padding our waistlines ever since.

Ice cream is another big seller. His number one seller used to be Butter Pecan until he recently introduced Fudgetastic, a mix of Colwell's fudge, salted peanuts and caramel. "My dad's favorite ice cream was tin roof and that's real similar," explains Colwell.

In the busy spring and summer season Colwell estimates that he makes at least 100 pounds of fudge a day. That doesn't include his hand-dipped chocolates. Fantastic Chocolate Fudge is his overall best seller. His favorite flavor is the chocolate-walnut.

Yes, Colwell samples his creations. He admits that with the "caramel corn and peanut brittle, once you start, it's hard to stop." The peanut clusters covered in chocolate are another favorite. His wife, Marci, jokes a little when Steve is asked if he ever eats a candy bar. "Well," he says, "I think I had a Twix in college."

Colwell works almost every day, ensuring freshness by making small batches of each item. He's learned what moves quickly, so everything will taste fresh. The hard work is worth it. The most rewarding part? "All the people that I've met," says the Candy Man. Stop by for the sweet rewards.