Candy Candy Candy - You Can’t Get Enough Candy

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November 5, 2008

Don’t you remember Black Licorice Pipes and Wonka Bottlecaps and Necco Chocolate Wafers and Lemonheads - the candy from your childhood? You are not alone. Candy is so popular that even my neighbor, Candy Crawford is named after it. And, you may have heard of Candy Reyes.

Today there are many choices at the candy kingdom. It is a literal big rock candy mountain. These are just a few examples: Pixy Stix and Country Store Taffy and Cella’s chocolate covered cherries and Horehound Drops and Nestle? Milk Chocolate and Crunch bars.

Although cocoa was grown as early as 1180 BC, candy almost certainly was invented much earlier as a simple coating of honey on fruits and nuts as well as flowers and seeds. The honey not only gave the fruits and nuts an extra sweetness, but it helped to preserve them for storage.

In America, candy made from molasses and maple syrup as well as brittle were known in the 1600’s and 1700’s. Some early medicines eventually took the form of candy - marshmallows, licorice, peppermint and hard candies for example. Early American cookbooks actually include recipes for candies and other sweets like Candied orange peel and Red quince marmalade and quinces and candied Melon citron candied and horehound candy.

Here is a sample recipe of one:

“Apricot Sweetmeats 1 pound dried apricots, ground 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 1/2 cup orange juice pecan or walnut halves, or almonds superfine granulated sugar Combine apricots, granulated sugar and orange juice in a saucepan. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Drop by teaspoon onto waxed paper. When cool, place a pecan or walnut half or an almond in the center, rolling apricot mixture around it. Drop each ball into superfine granulated sugar to coat completely. Pack in a tightly covered container to store. Makes 3 dozen.” —A Cooking Legacy, Virginia T. Elverson & Mary Ann McLanahan [Walker and Company:New York] 1975 (p. 166)

Try it, you will probably be surprised at how good it is.

Food & Drink