Cashmere, WA, is home to the Aplets and Cotlets Candy Kitchen and Country Store. We drove there for a tour while we were staying at nearby Leavenworth.
It was after 3:30 pm, so production was over for the day, and only the packers were still at work. But we took the short tour of the building and the process anyway.
On the left are the big kettles in which the sugary part of the candy is mixed and heated to an impressive temperature. (Yes, I forgot the exact number given by the tour guide. Sorry.) Then it is dumped into the vat in the center of the photo, where the nuts and fruits are added.
The mixture is then poured into trays and allowed to cool to room temperature. It was two days ago when we did the tour, and I'm not positive I remember all the details correctly, but I believe a layer of cornstarch is added to the bottom of the trays and again to the top at this point in the process.
Next, the trays of candy are moved to a refrigerator room for a specific length of time, which I have also forgotten. (If you have ever been on a tour of a place like this, you know how quickly the guides rattle off their memorized information.) I took this photo through the spotty window looking into the freezer.
The trays of candy are brought in on the left, and are put through a cutting machine and then tumbled in a drum filled with cornstarch to coat the sides of the pieces of candy, which keeps the pieces from sticking to each other and prevents the powdered sugar from soaking right into the candy. Then powdered sugar is added.
These ladies are packing the candy into plastic trays. Each person had a different flavor to put into a specific row.
Next, the tops are placed onto the boxes, along with a paper guide to the flavors.
The filled boxes then go through this machine, where they are wrapped in cellophane before being stacked in cases for shipping.
It was all quite interesting, and I would recommend this tour for anyone who is in the area. Of course, the adjacent store contains all the goodies they make, and free samples are available.
All photos taken by my detail-challenged self on my Android phone.