Candy
Candy,
specifically sugar candy, is a confection made from a concentrated solution of
sugar in water, to which flavorings and colorants are added. Candies come in
numerous colors and varieties and have a long history in popular culture.
The Middle
English word candy began to be used in the late 13th century, coming into
English from the Old French çucre candi, derived in turn from Persian Qand (=قند) and Qandi (=قندی), "cane sugar", probably derived from
Sanskrit word khanda (खण्ड) "piece (of sugar)", perhaps from
Dravidian (cf. Tamil kantu for candy, or kattu "to harden,
condense"). In North America, some use candy as a broad category that may
include candy bars, chocolates, licorice, sour candies, salty candies, tart
candies, hard candies, taffies, gumdrops, marshmallows, and more. Vegetables or
fruit, or nuts which have been glazed and coated with sugar are said to be
candied.
Gummi candy
Gummi candy,
gummy candy, gummies, or jelly sweets are a broad category of gelatin-based,
chewy candy. In the United States and Germany, gummi bears are the most popular
and well known of the gummi candies. Other common shapes include bottles,
worms, frogs, hamburgers, sharks, army men, full-size rats, large human body
parts (hearts, feet, faces), Ampelmännchen and Smurfs.
Gummi candy is
sometimes combined with other forms of candy, such as marshmallow, chocolate or
sour sugar.
Hard candy
A hard candy, or
boiled sweet, is a candy prepared from one or more syrups boiled to a
temperature of 160 °C (320 °F). After a syrup boiled to this temperature cools,
it is called hard candy, since it becomes stiff and brittle as it approaches
room temperature. Hard candy recipes variously call for syrups of sucrose,
glucose, or fructose.
Once the syrup
blend reaches the target temperature, the confectioner removes it from the heat
source, and may add citric acid, food dye, and some flavouring, such as a plant
extract, essential oil, or flavorant. One might then pour the syrup concoction
(which is now very viscous) into a mold or tray to cool. When the syrup is cool
enough to handle, one can fold, roll, and mold it into the shapes desired.
Hard candies and
throat lozenges prepared without sugar employ isomalt as a sugar substitute,
and are sweetened further by the addition of an artificial sweetener, such as
aspartame, or a sugar alcohol, such as xylitol.
Among the many
hard candy varieties are stick candy (such as the candy cane), the lollipop,
the aniseed twist, and the bêtises de Cambrai.
Lollipop
A lollipop is a
type of confectionery consisting mainly of hardened, flavored sucrose with corn
syrup mounted on a stick and intended for sucking or licking. Different
informal terms are used in different places, including lolly, sucker, sticky-pop,
etc. Lollipops are available in many flavors and shapes.
Types
Lollipops are
available in a number of colors and flavors, particularly fruit flavors. With
numerous companies producing lollipops, the candy now comes in dozens of
flavors and many different shapes. They range from small ones which can be
bought by the hundred and are often given away for free at banks, barbershops,
and other locations, to very large ones made out of candy canes twisted into a
circle.
Most lollipops
are eaten at room temperature, but "ice lollipops" or "ice
lollies" are frozen water-based lollipops. Similar confections on a stick
made of ice cream, often with a flavored coating, are usually not called by
this name.
Some lollipops
contain fillings, such as bubble gum or soft candy. Some novelty lollipops have
more unusual items, such as mealworm larvae, embedded in the candy. Other
novelty lollipops have non-edible centers, such a flashing light, embedded
within the candy; there is also a trend of lollipops with sticks attached to a
motorized device that makes the entire lollipop spin around in one's mouth.
In the Nordic
countries, Germany, and the Netherlands, some lollipops are flavored with
salmiak.
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