Candy Basket

I love this place, they are good people and their products are wonderful, salted caramels are my faves.

When you walk in the door of the Shorthill Taffy Factory you are immediately greeted by a huge chocolate waterfall. It is impressive when it is working. They sell house made chocolates, taffy, caramels, creams, and other sweet treats. They also have jelly beans, gummies, stuffed toys, cards, popcorn, other items that are ideal for gifting. I highly recommend the Fleur de Sel dark chocolate covered caramels. A pound of chocolates is $ 18.95. What a steal!
The only thing I would change would be to give the space a bit if a renovation. Pull up the old carpets, soften the lights, and throw on a fresh coat of paint.

The Chocolate Waterfall is not working! There is NO estimated time of repair. :(
This shop is located on the outskirts of Portland, close to the freeway and with plenty of parking. The mechanism for the 20 foot Waterfall is right at the entrance. Even though it’s not working, it is interesting to look at, not to mention finding all the chocolate splatters on the walls and ceiling.
Now that the Waterfall can’t steal the show, if it were me, I would decorate the heck out of this place. It is far too drab for a candy shop! The shop is quite spacious so don’t be afraid to wander to the back corner where the discount «Oops» candy is. I have to say I was a little weary trying their confections by the simplicity of the shop and how inexpensive the «Oops» containers were. $ 4.75 for 8 oz.?! I asked what was wrong with them and the super sweet saleslady said they were imperfect. I thought they looked perfectly imperfect – nothing majorly wrong in appearance to me!
Oops they tasted so good! What I recommend:
Molasses Chips – I have never seen anything like this, they are amazing! They are similar to toffee but with real molasses flavor.
Valencia Ganache Truffle – real orange flavoring mixed into dark chocolate, super rich and satisfying.
Fleur de Sel Salted Caramel – I really don’t have to explain this, it’s a big trend now.
I came for the Waterfall but left with amazing chocolate!

For the last 3 years a friend has given me Chocolate covered Oreo’s from here. I have no idea why, I’m not a huge Oreo fan but with that said the Candy Cane Oreo’s are really good. Add Chocolate and Peppermint to almost anything and I will probably eat it.
The packing is really cute with 4 Cookies in a box tied with a bow. I’ve since spotted these in various store’s (Home goods, Marshall’s) over the holiday’s so you don’t necessarily have to order from the website.

Beware! Over half the items I looked at had partially hydrogenated oils within the top 5 ingredients! NYC has banned the use of this chemical yet this Portland company uses it liberally? For shame!
Otherwise, staff was friendly and fountain was ok but overall seems like they can’t decide between bring a factory, an office, and a store. The store seems almost like an afterthought. From outside, I almost didn’t go in because it looked like a wholesale only kind of place.
Go to Moonstruck instead.

We had a truly horrible experience being there. First of all, the chocolate fountain was not working, when we got there, the entire store had really bad smell… foul odor… We called in an hour before heading out there to make sure that the fountain was running for our two small children to see. They were very very disappointed. One of my children needed to use restroom but they don’t have any for customers. I am sure there was one in office area which is right next to the retail store. My child was in tears. A girl behind the counter was nice but not very helpful. I can go on and on.
A woman who answered the phone also gave us wrong information and wrong prices on items we were looking for. They were exactly same price as the Made in Oregon store !! We bought some anyway but we think the ones at the Made in Oregon store are fresher… it was a waste of gas and time.

I have never been there, but I got a hold of their 2 lb box of Fleur de Sel Salted Milk and Dark Chocolate Covered Caramels off Woot. It was a great deal and they are to die for. I would love to be able to visit the shop someday. My wife and I agree, their Fleur de Sel Salted Milk and Dark Chocolate Covered Caramels are unequaled. I can not wait to get her some for Valentines day again.

Fresh chocolate!

We went here to look at the chocolate waterfall. It was pretty gross. Don’t get me wrong, I am one of the most biggest chocolate fans out there, but this waterfall was so wrong! It makes a really gross gloopy sound and smells (a little like burnt chocolate and something extra).
I was happy to find that their candy was good. I had some taffy and a piece here and there of the different chocolates in their case. They were all delicious!

How can you not love a candy store with a chocolate fountain, as odd as it may sound and look, it’s still a treat. This place is great, lots of choices for tasty treats. I love the «oops» section where you can try stuff without spending a lot. The day I went, they had samples of this peanut butter chocolate fudge out, and it was buy 1 get one free. It was so delicious and silky I couldn’t resist, and now I’m pawning off delicious fudge to everyone I see, which of course, they love.

I was forced to drive past this place when detouring from the freeway for a gas stop. Boy was I pleasantly surprised. I loved walking in and being greeted by the giant chocolate fountain — not as grand as Willy Wonka’s chocolate fountain, but this is definitely the largest one I’ve seen in real life. I only spent a few minutes browsing their shelves of pre-​packaged candies. I just can never seem to dish out money on pre-​packaged goodies when they obviously have the fresher stuff behind the counter.
Eddie was immediately drawn to the taffy section so while he was scooping up Oreo and mint Oreo taffy flavors, I was scoping out the chocolate counter. Finally in the third case I found my favorites: delicious caramels. I bought plain caramels, milk chocolate covered caramels, fleur de sel caramels, and a big chunk of chocolate toffee. Eddie joined me at the counter just in time to hear the employee tell us about their chocolate-​covered marshmallows. Homemade marshmallows. Yeah, we added one of those to the bag.
The taffy wasn’t super fresh, but both types had a great Oreo flavor. The plain caramels are delightful — chewy, creamy, soft, buttery. Delicious. But my favorite in the bag are the fleur de sels. I just love chocolatey salted caramels. Such a great combination. And the chocolate covered marshmallow was great. They make a very light and fluffy marshmallow filling and line it with caramel (I think) before dipping it in a light coating of chocolate. Far better than I expected.
Somehow the toffee has survived the night so I won’t be trying that until tomorrow. But if any of today’s treats are an indication, I imagine the toffee will be fantastic.

The 2lbs of dark & milk chocolate covered sea salt caramels and they are absolutely delicious. The layer of chocolate is thin, the sea salt granules are fine, and they caramel inside is soft and smooth, rich and buttery. Each caramel weighs in about 14 grams, based on the nutritional facts on the box, 60 calories for such a decadent treat is not bad.
I recommend biting into the caramel and slowly let it melt in your mouth and truly enjoy all the flavors. The sweet and salty is really an amazing combination.
Chocolate connoisseurs are probably going to hate me, but I like them chilled in the fridge. I do take precaution and put them in an air tight container.

Inside the medieval ramparts of ancient Bruges in Belgium, small crowds press into the cramped shops of world renowned chocolate confectionaries. Some people, like wine aficionados, take chocolate tasting very seriously. I’m pretty sure they don’t have a Candy Basket outlet in Bruges — it’s more of a Rockwood sort of thing.
The Candy Basket is actually an outlet store attached to the Shorthill Taffy factory, where between sixty and seventy candy makers work in a windowless industrial building churning out all manner of sweet confections. What would have been the front office and reception area, had the building been occupied by a metal stamping company, is the Candy Basket store. I felt like I should be carrying a lunchbox and a timecard as I entered the featureless building — featureless except for two wooden nutcracker sentries standing on both sides, and the «The Candy Basket» sign above, the door.
Inside, a molten chocolate river falls from a slit in the wall and drips down a sheet metal object, I think is supposed to look like a big candy or maybe a cake. It’s called the «Chocolate Cascade» and there is a sign warning visitors not to eat from it — this they didn’t need to tell me.
The store is very matter-​of-​fact; acoustic ceiling, rows of industrial strength fluorescent lights, well worn indoor-​outdoor carpet, and racks upon racks of candy. There are sampler boxes, gift packs and baskets. There is peanut brittle, taffy, jelly, gummy, marshmallow, and «oops» — candy that isn’t perfect. The glass counter holds the good stuff — newly minted nuggets, creams, truffles, fudges and chocolate covered jellies. The wall behind the counter is lined with glass jars of jelly beans and other jelly and gummy candies. They offer sugar free candy as well. The young folks working the store are knowledgeable, helpful, and friendly. I bought a bag full of chocolate creams, chocolate covered jellies, and Asian pear juicy jells.
To be sure, it’s factory candy, and doesn’t compare favorably with the fine and ancient family shops in Bruges, and the store itself could use the services of an interior decorator, but the candy is pretty good, and I don’t think there is a kid alive that wouldn’t love the place. It’s an honest place, making an honest product, and there’s a lot to be said for that.

50 – 60 candy factory workers making goodies here. It does not look like there is so much going on off of 181^st but this place has been here since 1912. We pull in to their parking lot and head on in. The first thing you see is a very old, but cool, chocolate waterfall… it’s been there, well for a long time and it is flowing liquid chocolate. Not something you see just anywhere.
Walking in to their store there are lots of candy choices out there including, everything from chocolate chip marshmallows, to red and green jellies, to all sorts of different chocolate covered items including gummy bears, to beaver chocolates (go there and you’ll see, it’s got to do with Oregon so get your mind out of the gutter). if you go down to the end and turn to your right there are «oops» candies. these are the not so perfect ones though they did not look too bad to me. And for the most part, except for their jelly bellys as an example, 90% I would estimate is all made there. That says a lot. Speaking of a lot, these folks at the counter know plenty about their candies, we asked them. And they are proud of it in a very family kind of way. oh and I saw one of the candy makers stick her head out with her hair net and all. and she looked like an angel.

The Candy Basket shouldn’t be where it is. It shoud be in a big old brick factory with smoke coming out giant towers. The chocolate waterfall is kind of gross and dirty looking and I kind of hope it’s just for show, rather than actually going into the candy.
The candy is yumtastic! Haystacks and jellies and brittle and everything you can think of. The sugar free candy is great too! I have to send my dad a couple boxes of Rocky Road every few months to keep him happy.

pretty good dark chocolate. I believe they use Guittard.
reminded me quite a bit of Wild Berry back in AK. chocolate fountain and all.
tried a few cream filled: lemon, orange and huckleberry. they were okay, huckleberry being the best.
their caramels and «seafoam» were great, tho. as were the molasses chips.
they also make taffy and have the usual selection of jelly belly products and various sour gummies, but I didn’t try any.
can’t believe I’ve been here a year and didn’t know this place was less than two miles away. probably a good thing, now that I think about it…

At some point early on in the several years in Portland I ended up at a candy factory east of the city, lost in suburban Gresham, and the reason we went there was that we were following a rumor that there was a real chocolate waterfall at this factory. I don’t mean one of those little chocolate fountains that are perfect for chocolate fondue, but rather a real genuine wonka-​style chocolate waterfall. And lo and behold, this eastside candy factory proudly has one.
One cascading waterfall of melted belgian chocolate. Unreal.