Chocolate Shop Times

Zoommers

2011-06-16T16:49:00.000-07:00

Sink Your Teeth into Positive Energy-Filled Chocolate Truffles
Put a smile on your face and a charge in your body with delicious
chocolate energy truffles from QuintEssential Botanicals and Burst's
Chocolates in Corvallis, Oregon. Zoommers is the name of our good
energy chocolate truffles made by our experienced chocolatier Chip
Magee at Bursts Chocolates www.burstschocolates.com . With these
half-egg-shaped chocolate truffles, you can enjoy the sweetness of
peanut butter and raw cocoa powder while benefiting from the energizing
power of natural herbal stimulants and ginseng!

ZooMMER Herbs and Essences

Kola Nut
Kola nuts are used mainly for their stimulating and
euphoric qualities, similar to other xanthine
containing herbs like cocoa, coffee, guarana and
yerba mate. However, the effects are distinctively
different, producing a stronger state of euphoria
and well being. Kola nut enhances alertness and
physical energy, elevates mood, is fat burning and
is used extensively in West Africa. Wikipedia

Guarana
Nervine, tonic, slightly narcotic stimulant,
aphrodisia febrifuge, A beverage is made from the
guaran sticks, by grating half a tablespoon into
sugar and water and drinking like a tea. The
Brazilian miners drink this constantly and believe
it to be a preventative of many diseases, as well as
a most refreshing beverage.......Mrs. M.
Grieve....A Modern Herbal

Siberian Ginseng and Panax Ginseng
Panax and Siberian ginsengs are an adaptogen, a
substance that strengthens the body, helping it
return to normal when it has been subjected to
prolonged stress. The root of the American ginseng
is light tan and gnarled, sometimes resembles the
human body. Panax means all illness, and genseng
has been used across the ages in many different
cultures as a “cure all”.....Mrs. M. Grieve....A
Modern Herbal

Barley & Candied Orange Brittle

2011-06-02T11:35:00.000-07:00

The 2011 North American Barley Researchers Workshop is at Oregon State University in Corvallis Oregon. I was asked to come-up with a Barley themed confection that could be included in the participants welcome bags. Here we go...
Barley and Candied Orange Brittle.

Easter Production

2011-03-17T11:44:00.000-07:00

Easter Bunnies are abound at Bursts Chocolates.

Antique Primitive Chocolate Bunny Mold

I have been crafting this Bunnie for 15 years. The mold showed up as a gift from a customer who came across it and didn't know what to do with it. This chocolate Bunnie has shown up for years in the basket of a young women. Her mother loves the tradition, and i enjoy making it for her!


Metal Egg Molds

I use molds like these to make our Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Easter Eggs. They are filled with warmed chocolate and peanut butter, allowed to set up and then popped out onto metal trays. We enrobe them in both milk and dark chocolate. Each egg is decorated, and some have names written across them in white chocolate.

History of Bursts Chocolates

2011-02-27T14:36:00.000-08:00

1938. Lean, tough times in Corvallis. What could a man do to make a living? Rhea Burst, a long-time resident of Corvallis, said to her husband, Charlie, "What we could use in this town is a handmade chocolate shop." So what did they do? The Bursts decided to try what many only dream of: to make a living making chocolate. Three months later, Burst’s Candies opened its door on the first floor of a brand new building at 353 SW Madison Avenue in Corvallis, Oregon.
Charlie worked in a small kitchen in the back of the store, creating handmade candies and tempering his chocolate on a marble slab. Rhea worked the front of the store, selling chocolates and candies to families looking for high quality, special treats they could afford in these difficult times. From the beginning, Charlie and Rhea believed "any kid with a penny in their pocket should be able to come in and get a piece of candy." The Burst’s tradition of quality and value had begun. Not having children to pass the business on to, Charlie and Rhea sold their dream and legacy to Ralph Batmen in 1957. From his first day in the shop, Ralph continued the Burst’s tradition of producing the highest quality chocolates and, as he did, the business thrived. Through the 1960s, the Burst’s reputation for excellence grew throughout the Willamette Valley. Then, fifteen years after taking over from the Bursts, Ralph Batmen decided to retire as well, and sold the business to Don and Rosemary Burck in 1972.
Then came the early 1980s and recession. The Oregon economy took a turn for the worse. Through hard work and devotion to the legacy of Burst’s Candies, Don made sure that Burst’s weathered the downturn.
Harkening back to Charlie and Rhea’s original commitment, Don kept his quality high and his prices affordable so second and third-generation customers could continue to enjoy a special "treat" in these very difficult times. Enter yours truly, Chip Magee. As Burst’s success ebbed and flowed in the 1970s and 80s, I was growing up just down the road from Corvallis. I was the first child in a family with a legacy of chefs and a love of good food. So it was no wonder I grew early on to love the fine chocolates and candies of Burst’s.
After graduating from Oregon State University, I lived abroad for three years and learned the art of cooking. I, then, moved back to Corvallis in 1996—just for one year—with the intent of returning to Europe to continue my career. While in Corvallis and needing work, I remembered how much I enjoyed my experiences — and the chocolates — at Burst’s as I was growing up. After introducing myself to Don Burck, I was hired on the spot for a dream job, working as a confectioner in the kitchen of Burst’s Candies! As the end of my "year" in Corvallis grew closer, my desire for a life in Europe seemed farther and farther away.
Sensing this change, and knowing I would be up to the challenge of carrying on the traditions that Ralph Batmen and Charlie and Rhea Burst had worked so hard to build and sustain, Don Burck offered to sell me the business, to let me own and become part of the legacy of Burst’s Candies.
It has been a wonderful, challenging, and rewarding ten years! And it is my pleasure to share with you not only this 70-year history of chocolate making at Burst’s, but also my commitment to manufacturing premium, luxury chocolates. For nearly four generations, Burst’s Chocolates have sweetened lives in Oregon’s lush Willamette Valley. Handcrafted in small batches with exacting care, our confections combine locally grown and produced specialties with quality ingredients collected from around the world. The result: the best bite you’ll ever savor!