Monks Cook Up ‘Heaven’ For Chocolate Lovers

ERIKA ANDERSON, Staff Writer

Published: December 9, 2004

Father Anthony Delisi, OCSO, stands over completed trays of fudge ready for packaging. (Photo by Michael Alexander)

CONYERS—In a small kitchen in an annex of the Monastery of the Holy Spirit, Cistercian Father Anthony Delisi and Brother Louis Paul are tipping a large silver kettle.

From the kettle flows a river of dark, rich chocolate, with bumps of nuts throughout the mixture.

The chocolate fills a large round plastic bowl and is then transferred to smaller oblong containers. With memories of a mother’s kitchen, an observer’s mouth waters at the idea of licking the spatula used to ease the chocolate into the bowl. But the two monks who are creating the concoction are all business. They’ve been at this for two hours, and they want to make sure everything is perfect.

Beneath a replica of DaVinci’s “The Last Supper,” Father Delisi and his fellow monks are creating a small taste of heaven.

“The secret of any good fudge is in the last 15 minutes,” Father Delisi said. “It’s all about making sure it’s properly mixed.”

The monks, who created a sensation when they introduced their peach brandy-laden fruitcakes in 2001, are again trying their hand at making sweets. At the Abbey Store, located on the monastery grounds, fudge from the monks’ mother monastery, Gethsemani in Kentucky, is already a popular seller. Father Delisi saw a business opportunity for the Conyers monastery.

“We were already selling fudge from other places, and I’d been thinking about it for years. I thought, ‘Why can’t we sell our own fudge?’” he said. “Our fruitcakes do well, but those are only sold during the Christmas season. We are hoping that the fudge can be a year-round industry for us.”

So Father Delisi began experimenting. He didn’t want to have a liquor-heavy fudge, like the bourbon-flavored fudge of Gethsemani, and after many test batches, he struck a perfect balance.

“I wanted something that was Southern but not too overwhelming,” he said. “So we came up with the idea of diced peaches soaked in peach brandy. That way it doesn’t overwhelm the taste of the fudge.”

It wasn’t until the monastery acquired the large fudge-making kettle that Father Delisi’s idea could become a reality. The first batch of fudge was created for the monastery’s abbatial blessing, held July 11.

“That was the first time we used the kettle, and people were so delighted we just kept experimenting,” he said.

His fellow monks became the taste-testers.

“Some would like more brandy in it,” Father Delisi said. “But I don’t want to overwhelm the fudge.”

The fudge, offered in half-pound and one-pound quantities, is characterized by the “Southern Touch” ingredients, consisting of real peaches, peach brandy and pecans. Flavors include chocolate, vanilla and specials of the month, pumpkin pie and eggnog. The maple walnut flavor is non-alcoholic and is freshly made with maple syrup, walnuts, cream and butter.

For now, the chocolate factory is the small kitchen, with the air conditioning blowing to fend off the heat from the kettle. And instead of Willy Wonka’s purple velvet suit, Father Delisi wears a black and white Trappist habit covered by a chocolate-stained apron, his socks visible through his sandals.

The kettle makes 35 pounds in a single sitting, but with only Father Delisi and one or two fellow monks to help, the work can be tedious.

“It’s kind of a ‘mom-and-pop’ operation right now, but we’re hoping to get a bigger set-up if this is successful,” he said.

The cost of a half-pound of fudge in a plastic container is $5.95. The one-pound quantity sells for $11.95 and includes a gold gift box.

To purchase the fudge, visit the Abbey Store online at

www.abbeystore.org, or call (800) 592-5203. The store is located at 2625 Highway 212, SW, Conyers.