This vintage-styled, hand-built trailer may be found selling candy at local farmers markets.

Sweet news, everybody! San Diego may have missed out on a county fair this year, but thanks to a burgeoning farmers market business, we can still sample the wares of last year’s best-in-class candy maker.

A bar of old fashioned fudge, based on a passed-down family recipe

Native San Diegan, Albie Asmussen is the man behind Albie Candy Co.. Previously, this candy maker co-founded the now defunct Oddball Candy Company. Since taking top honors at both the county and state fairs last year, he’s secured a cottage kitchen license and built an adorable, vintage looking trailer small enough to park in ten-by-ten farmers market stalls.

I spotted the trailer and its “We [heart] candy” signage at the Hillcrest Sunday market, though it’s also a regular at La Mesa’s Friday market and Vista’s Saturday market, with occasional appearances in North Park and Santee.

Three fudge bars for ten dollars

Albie’s cart displays large, rainbow swirl lollipops, assorted jarred candy such as jelly beans, gummies, and gumdrops. But the best reason to check it out is the homemade fudge. Small bars include flavors such as, chocolate peanut butter and mint chip. There are even vegan flavors, including hazelnut and rocky road. Each bar goes for $4, or you can get three for $10.

I had to try the 2019 county fair winner, maple walnut, a maple syrup fudge laced with chopped walnuts and a “hint of smoky bacon.” I was initially surprised by the lack fo chocolate, but Albie says roughly half his fudge recipes are chocolate-free, including cookies n’ cream and Irish cream.

County-fair-winning maple-walnut fudge is one of Albie's many chocolate-free fudge flavors.

The maple walnut more than satisfied me, but the kids preferred something simpler: a crumbly old fashioned fudge, based on the recipe of Albie’s great-grandmother. We all agreed the milk chocolate toffee crunch was our favorite, due to its “buttery toffee” and “hint of almond.” The dark chocolate toffee crunch is that much better, to the grown-ups anyway.

The state fair winner, a root beer float fudge, sounds intriguing enough, and though Albie hasn’t seen it sell well in the past, he may re-introduce it before the summer’s end, as a refreshing warm weather flavor. However, fans may need to check back when the weather cools to find some of his popular caramel fudges, being that he tells me caramel is tough to work with in the heat. When it returns, I’ll be first in line to try his bourbon caramel dark chocolate fudge, made with locally produced San Diego Distillery bourbon and finished with Hawaiian sea salt.

Toffee chinks make this milk chocolate fudge even better.

In the meantime, the local spirit may be found in another type of candy: bourbon pecan brittle. Albie just recently expanded to include traditional peanut brittle in addition to alternate variations.