Fear's Confections In Ohio Up For 2 Awards

LAKEWOOD, OH — Fear's Confections in Lakewood is one of the must-visit confectionery companies in Northeast Ohio. The shop on Madison Avenue drew national headlines when it introduced politically themed candies during the Republican National Convention. Now, shop owner Cassandra Fear, is nominated for two awards: a 2017 Pop Shop America Maker Award, and a spot on the Cleveland Hot List for Best Desserts.

The now-annual awards Pop Shop Maker Awards are in their fourth year and honor handmade products from a variety of industries, including the arts, foods, blogs, and food trucks. Cassandra is nominated in the Best Food (Packaged or Fresh) category.

The nomination process wasn't the smoothest for Cassandra. She said the Pop Shop blog emailed her some time ago congratulating her on her nomination. She assumed it was a scam or fluff and moved on. Then friends messaged her on Wednesday and told her she was legitimately up for an award. (Subscribe to the Patch Lakewood newsletter for local news and updates.)

"I honestly didn't know I was nominated until Wednesday," Cassandra told Patch.

The competition in the category will be intense. Fear's Confections is the only Ohio company in the competition. Cassandra's store will be squaring off with Sinfull Bakery (Houston, Texas), Jolly Roger Sweets (Houston, Texas), and HouSalsa (Houston, Texas).

You can vote for Cassandra and Fear's Confections on the Pop Shop blog. Voting closes June 5.

The Cleveland Hot List is old hat for Fear's Confections. The confectionery shop has won its spot on that list before. The shop is up for Best Dessert in the area again, an award that Cassandra would like to win.

"I feel pretty good," she said. "It’s a good thing to wake up to [award nominations]."

Voting for the Hot List ends June 4. You can vote for the shop by clicking here.

A Shop Like No Others

Cassandara has made a name for her shop by indulging her idiosyncrasies. In July 2016, she produced "Trump Dumps," a creamy chocolate ganache topped with modeling chocolate toupees made to resemble then-Republican nominee for president Donald Trump. In May, she donned her Princess Leia costume and delivered white chocolate BB8s, the round soccer-ball-looking droid introduced in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," along with chocolate R2D2s, Millennium Falcons, Han Solo in carbonite (chocolate), Darth Vaders, Death Stars and more.

"I can usually tell people’s first time in the shop," she said. "It doesn’t look like a Malley’s or a Sweet Designs. It’s weird, I admit it. I see people walk in and look around and it's unlike any other shop they've been. I ask them if it's their first time in the shop."

After the president's recent Twitter gaffe, sending out a message that read, "Despite the constant negative press covfefe," the world responded with an army of memes and jokes. Cassandra saw that and is toying with the idea of an espresso-based remix on her original "Trump Dumps" ganache.

For now, the idea will stay an idea. After the original "Trump Dumps" made headline waves across the nation, Cassandra and her shop started getting bomb threats. So she's reticent to jump back into the politically-themed candy world.

Instead, she'll keep making specialty candies and confections and racking up gold for her award shelf.

See other Fear's Confections stories below:

• Star Wars Day: The Force Is Strong At This Lakewood, Ohio Candy Shop
• Fear's Confections in Lakewood Introduces Trump Dumps in Time for the RNC
• Fear's Confections in Lakewood Brings Back 'Trump Dumps' For Inauguration Day

Photos from Rick Uldricks, Patch