Inspired, perhaps, by my discussion last week of soft holiday candies, Sylvie Rueff called me to talk about her great-grandmother’s recipe for a holiday confection called Cleveland’s Choice.

The story has all the elements of a tale of culinary intrigue: a cast of characters that includes a U.S. president, area ties and a long historical thread leading to an unusual and extraordinarily tasty food item. Better yet, this is a candy that might have been forgotten if not for people like Sylvie and her forebears, who have (literally) whipped it up during the holidays for a century or more.

I listened as Sylvie struggled to describe Cleveland’s Choice, which is a soft, almost creamy, not quite gooey and mildly addictive candy that can be eaten in ball form, pressed into a small disc and topped with a pecan or used to stuff a date. Rolled up into balls, it can be coated in powered sugar, dipped in chocolate or eaten plain.

Until I tasted Cleveland’s Choice, it was difficult to understand how a candy could defy description. “It tastes almost like a caramel, but it’s not a caramel,” she told me. The phrase “vanilla cream” kept coming up.

Sylvie’s grandmother, Lillian (aka Dalily) Stone Johnson, got the recipe from her mother, Della Frazier Stone, and the candy became known within the family not as Cleveland’s Choice but as Dalily’s Holiday Treats.

According to family lore and Sylvie’s Internet research, Cleveland’s Choice was made as early as 1868 at a downtown Lawrence candy store owned by the Wiedemann family. The store operated under different owners and at several locations until 1943.

At some point in the late 19th century, Grover Cleveland came to town, tried Wiedemann’s candy and proclaimed the cream-filled chocolates to be the best he had tasted. A confectionary star was born. The recipe for the cream candy became a closely guarded secret, yet somehow Della Frazier Stone got it.

Other versions of the recipe are floating around, but the one below is simple and the flavor is straightforward. Oddly, despite my proclivity toward all things chocolate, I actually preferred the candy plain. When I tasted the chocolate-dipped cream balls, I thought the chocolate competed with, and even overpowered, the wonderful flavor of the cream-and-vanilla-flavored candy.

Sylvie was unable to tell me precisely how many candies this recipe makes, because the candy can be used in balls, flattened or as date stuffing, all of which use different amounts. Then there’s that other issue.

“The problem is that you eat it while it’s cooling off,” she added.

So here’s to a U.S. president’s sweet tooth and a top-secret recipe that became a holiday legacy. Pass it on.

Dalily’s Holiday Treats

2 cups sugar

1 pint whipping cream

1/2 cup light Karo syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

Place the sugar, cream and corn syrup in a large saucepan and bring to a boil, continually beating with a whisk until the mixture reaches 235 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer. Remove from the heat and continue beating with an electric mixer until cool. Do not use the electric mixer while the ingredients are over direct heat on the stove.

When the mixture is partially cool, add the vanilla and continue beating until the candy is cool enough to touch. Pour the candy onto a plastic wrap-covered platter, and cover with a cloth. Let rest several hours or overnight. The candy will have a slightly firm but workable consistency and can be sliced or rolled.

Makes at least 60 small candies.