Feast on iCandy, a new confectionery on Asbury Ave.

Last Updated on Tuesday, September 18, 2012 03:48 pm Written by Cindy Nevitt Friday, June 08, 2012 01:03 am

Arie Staller, owner of iCandy owner Jan Staller, displays a tray of hand-decorated chocolate-covered Oreos. OCEAN CITY – Arie Staller is the proverbial kid in a candy store.

Staller, a former newspaper reporter who currently practices law in New York City, gets excited just talking about her mother's handmade chocolate creations. Recently, she's been helping her mother, Jan, get her second iCandy store up and running at 754 Asbury Ave.

“This is a totally new, different idea,” she said of iCandy, which opened Memorial Day weekend. “Everything is homemade and handmade.”

Some of Jan Staller’s favorite things to create are chocolate “foods.” iCandy has containers of white chocolate ravioli, “buffalo wings” that are made of ripple potato chips drizzled with peanut butter and chocolate, chocolate pizza, and caramel-filled chocolate bagels for sale, as well as flowers, miniature sports cars and high heels made of chocolate. One of the more elaborate pieces is a carousel with pastel-colored chocolate horses on it.

Jan Staller, who has been making candy for more than 30 years, opened her first iCandy store last July in Margate with her husband, Len. The family decided “to branch out” to showcase Jan’s confections, the daughter said, and chose Ocean City because it is well known among shore towns. The Stallers also opened a store called Beach Candy by iCandy at 519 E. Eighth St.

Arie Staller, who grew up eating her mother’s creatively decorated chocolate treats, hasn't tired of them yet. Among her favorites are the hand-decorated, chocolate-covered Oreos and the sea salt caramels. The Oreos are adorned with circus animals, sports themes, flip flops and other emblems made entirely of chocolate, and can be customized with photographs for special events.

Truffles, another favorite, come in traditional flavors, like raspberry and chocolate, as well as more adventurous combinations such as chocolate and jalapeno, chocolate and bacon, and peanut butter cayenne.

“It’s been known for a long time that chocolate and hot peppers go to together,” Arie Staller said. “Now that people are open to it; it’s become more mainstream.”

Still, many candy fans are traditionalists, and for them, there are plenty of choices.

“Most people are peanut butter fans,” Staller said. “Chocolate with nuts is a big seller. But with peanut butter, there are so many ways you can work with it and chocolate.”

No matter how impressive the artistry of her mother’s works, there is no such thing as something being too good to eat, in Staller’s opinion. Given a box of St. Patrick’s Day-themed chocolate-covered Oreos to share with her friends, Staller confessed she ate one a day until the box was empty. “They are addictive,” she said. “You can’t stop eating them.”

iCandy is open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily until mid-June when store hours will expand.

Email the author at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it