A hard candy (American English), or boiled sweet (British English), is a sugar candy prepared from one or more sugar-based that is heated to a temperature of 160 °C (320 °F) to make candy. Among the many hard candy varieties are stick candy such as the candy cane, , blackpool rock, , and bêtises de Cambrai.
Most hard candy is nearly 100% sugar by weight, with a tiny amount of other ingredients for color or flavor, and negligible water content in the final product. Recipes for hard candy may use syrups of sucrose, glucose, fructose or other sugars. Sugar-free versions have also been created.
Creation
Recipes for hard candy use a sugar syrup, such as sucrose, glucose or fructose. This is heated to a particular temperature, at which point the candy maker removes it from the heat source and may add
citric acid,
food dye, and some flavouring, such as a plant
extract,
essential oil, or flavourant. The syrup concoction, which is now very thick, can be poured into a mold or tray to cool, or a cooling table in case of industrial mass production. When the syrup is cool enough to handle, it can be folded, rolled, or molded into the shapes desired. After the boiled syrup cools, it is called
hard candy, since it becomes stiff and brittle as it approaches
room temperature.
Chemistry
Chemically, sugar candies are broadly divided into two groups:
crystalline candies and
amorphous candies.
are not as hard as
of the mineral variety, but derive their name and their texture from their microscopically organized sugar structure, formed through a process of
crystallization, which makes them easy to bite or cut into.
Amorphous candies have a disorganized crystalline structure. Hard candies are non-crystalline, amorphous candies containing about 98% (or more) solid sugar.
Medicinal use
Hard candies are historically associated with
cough drops. The extended flavor release of lozenge-type candy, which mirrors the properties of modern cough drops, had long been appreciated. Many
apothecaries used sugar candy to make their prescriptions more palatable to their customers.
They are also carried by people with
hypoglycemia to quickly raise their low blood sugar level which, when untreated, can sometimes lead to fainting and other physical complications, and are used as part of
diabetic management.
Sugar-free
Hard candies and
prepared without
sugar employ
isomalt as a
sugar substitute, and are sweetened further by the addition of an artificial sweetener, such as
aspartame,
sucralose,
saccharin, or a
sugar alcohol, such as
xylitol.
In Japan
Japanese hard candies are known as bekkō ame (鼈甲飴, lit:
tortoiseshell candy). Common legends about the yōkai
Kuchisake-onna say that she can be escaped by distracting her with bekkō ame.
Names
Boiled sweet is a misnomer, as sucrose (a
disaccharide) melts fully at approximately 186 °C. Further heating breaks it into glucose and fructose molecules before it can vaporize.
See also
Confectioners of boiled sweets
Notes
