After her kids left for college in 2019, Cindy O’Brien adjusted to life as an empty-nester by making candy and sweets in her Lake Highlands kitchen. And when she went to the State Fair of Texas that fall, it wasn’t with her kids in tow, but rather a few batches of homemade toffee and fudge to enter into the candy competition. While the fudge didn’t win, the toffee was the real gold, winning first place.
To O’Brien, toffee is her way of meeting new people and getting plugged into her community. She runs her homemade sweets business in Lake Highlands, a place she’s called home since 1998. She moved to Lake Highlands after getting married but stayed in the area because her husband’s business was nearby.
O’Brien sells a 12-ounce bag for $20 and a 7-ounce bag for $15 in local markets and on her Facebook storefront, Cindy’s Cakeballs and Sweets.
“Everyone loves toffee, and if I can get a sample in a customer’s mouth, it’s a bag sold,” she says.
What is your day job?
When I’m not making toffee, I’m an accountant. I’m a controller for real estate development. But making candy and being an accountant aren’t all that different because you’re following a recipe. You’re following strict measurements, and I think it winds up that you have to do everything exactly right time after time after time. I get a lot more creative when I’m making toffee, but it’s definitely about getting it right more than anything.
Why toffee?
I have always really liked to make desserts, but candy was one of the harder things to make. In fact, toffee is one of the hardest things I learned how to make because it always takes a bit longer than I think to cook hard enough, but not too hard. Toffee challenged me for sure, and I was able to experiment early on.
How has being a local business plugged you in with the community?
I remember there was a roofer in town that would give my toffee away as Christmas gifts, and oftentimes people associate toffee with seasonal occasions. Within my small circle of friends, I am definitely known as the person who can make toffee or any other sweets, cookies and things.
How long does it take to make toffee?
Now, the actual cooking process takes me half an hour. An entire batch takes three or four hours because it includes waiting, refrigeration and cooling time, breaking the toffee into parts and packaging. It’s not something I can whip up, but I have gotten more efficient at the steps over the years.
Is making toffee muscle memory now?
I don’t have to look at the recipe anymore, but I do have a little system. Before I start cooking, I have everything ready to go for that batch. That way, I know that if a particular item is still sitting on the counter, I haven’t used it up yet. It gets a little tricky if I am making multiple batches at a time, and sometimes I’ll forget if I put an ingredient in a batch or not, or where I am in the process for which batch.
Do you put your own spin on your toffee?
There are people who want me to try to put ghost peppers or mix other flavors, but my normal toffee is milk chocolate with almonds.
Does your family get involved?
I couldn’t do it without them. They’re out in the heat, cold or rain with me at markets and fairs. They help out with selling and set-up while I’m usually in charge of making the toffee and packaging it.
What can we expect from Cindy’s Sweets?
As long as toffee keeps selling, I will be around! I do sell other treats, but they’re more special orders like cake balls and cookies, other candies, but the toffee is the headliner, if you will.
