Ryba’s Fudge Shops

On Michigan’s world renown Mackinac Island, the sweet aroma of fudge wafts out onto the street from four Ryba’s Fudge Shops. It’s a thriving business and part of its charm is that onlookers can actually see the fudge being made.

Each batch of fudge is handmade: the ingredients are heated to just the right temperature, poured onto a marble slab which absorbs the heat from the fudge and cooled for twenty minutes. The fudge is then worked for seven minutes with a large paddle to cool it and allow the sugar to crystallize. It is then formed into a loaf and sliced for packaging.

Ryba’s makes fourteen flavors of fudge in the summer and six in the winter. What’s the all-time favorite fudge? Chocolate Pecan. It outsells other flavors by 50%.