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GOURMET NEWS www.gourmetnews.com n JUNE 2017 n GOURMET NEWS 9 4 2017 Best of Show G OURMET N EWS ® Goats Milk Fudge from Black Mesa Ranch By Lorrie Baumann When David Heininger and his wife Kathryn bought their 280-acre ranch near Snowflake, Arizona, they were thinking of it as a retirement home. Now they've turned it into the Grade A goat dairy that's produc- ing the milk that David turns into award- winning fudge. The fudge, in its turn, has launched him into a new career that's taking him in a full circle back to his culinary roots. "It all started off as that we went up there to retire. We had some investments. In the meantime, we had gotten a few goats, a few sheep and some cows," he said. "The idea was to have a retired life and do some hob- bies. When the investments started fading out, we decided that we needed the goats to start paying for themselves." Heininger's culinary career began right after graduation from Rhode Island's branch of Johnson & Wales University until a decade later, when Heininger and his wife decided to move to Tucson, Arizona for op- portunities to renovate some of the city's historic homes. "Even then we were doing a seasonal candy business. I always stuck with it. It was always something we were doing," he said. "When it was time to goof off a little bit, we found a neat place up there at Snowflake [a small rural town in north central Arizona]." With the decision that the five pet goats on the 280-acre off-the-grid ranch property needed to start paying rent, the Heiningers certified their operation as a goat dairy in 2003. While he was building the dairy facil- ities, he also built a commercial kitchen on the property, with a propane stove and $20,000 in solar generating equipment to power electric refrigeration. "It wasn't a big philosophical decision to move off grid. We just found this perfect property, and there wasn't grid power within six miles of it," he said. "It's a balancing act. We don't run a lot of personal power. Almost everything goes into the dairy.... People think of it as a simple life, but when you make the decision to be your own power company, there's a lot of responsibility that comes with it. If your power goes out, it's your fault." Today, Kathryn Heininger is the couple's herd manager, supervising 50 Nubian goats and milking 30 of them in an operation that's certified Humanely Raised and Han- dled. David Heininger is the operation's cheesemaker and chocolatier. Heininger makes his three flavors of Black Mesa Ranch Goats Milk Fudge with a short list of high-quality ingredients: Belgian choco- late, cane sugar, butter, salt and the milk from 30 Nubian dairy goats. His Belgian Chocolate Fudge includes just those ingredients; Original is the Belgian Chocolate Fudge studded with walnuts, and Fudge on Fire is made with con- cho chiles, Arizona-grown pecans and a little spice. "It's a nice little glow-in-your-mouth kind of fudge," Heininger said. In addition to his fudge, Heininger is making some cheeses, primarily fresh goat cheeses in four flavors: plain, herb, jalapeno and chipotle, in addition to three flavors of feta: plain, hot pepper and garlic. "We sold our first log of cheese locally to a little in- dependent health food store in Snowflake," Heininger said. He then started submitting cheeses to competitions, where they placed well enough to encourage him to persevere, and then Phoenix chefs started calling. "We got some more goats and started making more cheese," he said. He makes a little aged cheese, too, no- tably Dutchess, a Gouda-style cheese; Blue Goat, a blue cheese; and a Havarti-style cheese called Tivoli. The aged cheeses, though, are a minor addition to his range be- cause Heininger's off-the-grid lifestyle doesn't allow for much affinage infrastruc- ture. "When you're on solar, you've got to think about refrigeration and climate con- trol, and we try to keep that part of the busi- ness really small. It's not a huge part of what we're doing," he said. "The confection side is a little less dependent on that. We can do more with less. I can make more fudge out of the same amount of milk than with cheese, and it's ready to go the next day." His food products, which also include a range of spiced pecans made from Arizona- grown nuts, provide Heininger with per- sonal satisfaction as well as the income to maintain a life he loves. "It's just the two of us, and we're making a real go of it. We're never going to get rich doing it, but it's a great lifestyle and we're having a lot of fun," he said. "The Goats Milk Fudge is a really unique product that I think it's going to find a niche and take off. And it takes me back to my training and my roots." For more information, call 928.536.7759 or email david@blackmesaranch.com. Visit online at www.blackmesaranch.com or www.goatsmilkfudge.com. DeBrand Expands A brand new DeBrand Chocolate Shop will be opening this fall in Indianapolis in the prestigious Keystone at the Crossing area. As DeBrand Fine Chocolates was built on a foundation of creating high-quality products with the cornerstone of demanding excel- lence in every detail, it's no surprise the com- pany would pick such an esteemed area for its next chocolate shop. For this Indiana- based chocolatier, every aspect of every product and the level of customer service is important, from the packaging to the product inside to the way customers are treated – the company never settles for anything less than perfection. President and Founder Cathy Brand Beere says, "I am happy to have developed a new business plan that includes a local Indianapo- lis couple who are partnering with my hus- band and me in this new company." The new DeBrand Shop will have a so- phisticated, chic décor and will sell individ- ual chocolates as well as gift boxes, chocolate bars and other chocolate products. DeBrand will also serve ice cream sundaes and coffees. While its three gift collections are the main attraction for these chocolatiers, one product expected to be a large success is the chocolate Race Cars. This product is a creamy milk chocolate molded into the shape of a race car and en- closed in an elegant metallic gold package. There are also two inserts on the back of this packaging, allow for the easy insertion of a business card, notecard or gift card. "The presence in Indianapolis will expose us to many opportunities for our wholesale division, regarding selling our products to fellow upscale retailers," says Brand Beere. De- Brand Fine Chocolates are currently being sold in upscale gourmet shops, gift shops, floral shops and other fine retailers across the country. Visit DeBrand Fine Chocolates in Atlanta, booth #2-3-210 and at NY NOW, booth #3186. For more information, call 260.969.8331, email wholesale@debrand.com or go to www.debrand.com.