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Wrapping winds whirl Winter’s weight while we weary witnesses watch and wait for widespread white weather to withhold its wrath. Fortunately for Franklin Fountaineers, fair and favorable flushes of fortune found from fully fragrant flowered fields and forests fills and frills our Fountain’s frame, force, and faces, forthwith and forevermore.
St. Patrick’s day is coming up soon, and we are caught fully by the Celtic spirit! We will be decorating the store with charm and greenery, and we shall serve a variety of Irish-American sweets. “Irish Potatoes”, a historic Philadelphia confection, will be served once more at The Franklin Fountain. These treats have been made by the Shane family for generations, and we will be citing their early twentieth century recipe in concocting the treats in the old Shane candy kitchen. They are made by hand-shaping balls of shredded coconut fondant flavored with vanilla extract rolling them about in a coat of ground cinnamon and diced pignola nuts. They are as delicious as they are traditional, and we request that you purchase a box and give them a try.
We will also be featuring the “Irish Rose Ice Cream Soda”, a sweet and fragrant beverage named after the song “My Wild Irish Rose” written by stage actor Chancellor Olcott in 1899 for his production of “A Romance of Athlone” on Broadway. The drink is made with Schoenhofen Brewery’s “Green River” soda, a scoop of our creamy coconut ice cream, and a sprout of homemade whipped cream garnishing the garden of tastes. The drink is sumptuous and sugary, and quite enticing.
This year, we will be celebrating our five year anniversary of making our own homemade ice cream. We have been awarded multiple times by Philadelphia Magazine, featured on internationally broadcast television programs, and, most importantly, earned the respect of peers, friends, and returning clientele all because of the integrity and outstanding taste of our ice cream. We are quite proud for having stuck it out this long, and will continue to thrive for years to come with the help of your support and patronage.
On the evening of Tuesday, March the 2nd, the Berley Brothers participated in a panel and lecture on the history of confectioners in Philadelphia at the Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent. Tony Walter, owner of Lore’s Chocolates, sat on the panel alongside the Berleys. The event was moderated by Christie Speer, an editor of The Philadelphia Magazine. Ryan and Eric Berley displayed a power point presentation on the intricate topic, highlighting Philadelphia confectioners such as Eliza Leslie, The Parkinson Family, H. O. Wilbur, and even Milton Hershey. They also documented and lectured on industrialization’s role in how candies were produced, packaged, and distributed, and why Philadelphia specifically was so crucial to the confectionery world. Veteran confectioner and food historian Jack Lees of Casani Candy also contributed a vast wealth of historical information to a transfixed audience.
The event was well received and well attended, and the Berleys got to show sneak-peek glimpses of the Shane Confectionery restoration, citing the tireless efforts of our workforce, including our site laborers: Creative Director Emily Malina, Pastry Chef Davina Soondrum, and Historian Jeffrey Heinbach. Afterwards, homemade Shane truffles and Irish Potatoes were served to those attended, as were Wilbur Buds donated by Wilbur’s Chocolates, and a delicious assortment of chocolates donated by Lore’s chocolates. A sweet way to end an evening!
We have three new ice cream flavors to debut this month. We couldn’t have made two of these flavors without the assistance and support of the wonderful Girl Scouts of America, founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912. We are using some of their annually sold cookies in our “Thin Mint Chip Ice Cream” (featuring crushed Thin Mint Cookies in white peppermint ice cream, a green creme de menthe swirl, and dark bittersweet Wilbur’s chocolate strewn throughout) and “Shortbread Ice Cream” (Madagascar and Mexican vanilla based flecked with crushed vanilla beans, and the 1922 original recipe for girl scout shortbread cookies.) We hope that when you taste these flavors, you also ingest the values of honesty, fairness, courage, compassion, character, sisterhood, confidence, and citizenship.
Stay tuned to forthcoming news announcements regarding our Easter Season Confectionery Line. We hope to serve homemade buttercream Easter Eggs, a variety of seasonal chocolates, and other goods to warm your heart and soul.
May new life revive you. May rainbows become present in your sky, and may you present your own rainbows to horizons to come.
The Franklin Fountain.
