20 Easy Candy Recipes Perfect for Beginners (2024)

FAQs

What are the basic ingredients in candy? ›

Stir white sugar, corn syrup, and water together in a medium saucepan. Cook, stirring, over medium heat until sugar dissolves, then bring to a boil. Without stirring, heat to 300 to 310 degrees F (149 to 154 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms hard, brittle threads.

One of the oldest hard candies ever made was created by The Aztecs & Mayan civilizations using barley, honey and spices. This ancient hard candy was known as “piktli”, which means "little pieces" in the Aztec language.

Basic Candy Instructions

Put the sugar, water and glucose syrup into a pan. Place it over high heat. If you've got any sugar on the sides wash it down using a wet pastry brush. Turn your oven on to 100C (212 degrees Fahrenheit) and place a tray lined with non-stick baking paper in to warm up.

INGREDIENTS: Sugar, Corn Syrup, Hydrogenated Palm Kernel Oil; Less Than 2% Of: Citric Acid, Tapioca Dextrin, Modified Corn Starch, Natural And Artificial Flavors, Sodium Citrate, Colors (Includes Red 40 Lake, Blue 2 Lake, Yellow 5 Lake, Blue 1 Lake, Yellow 6, Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 1), Carnauba Wax.

Candy is made by dissolving sugar in water or milk to form a syrup, which is boiled until it reaches the desired concentration or starts to caramelize. The type of candy depends on the ingredients and how long the mixture is boiled. Candy comes in a wide variety of textures, from soft and chewy to hard and brittle.

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.

So, it's no surprise that, for years now, Snickers has been the most popular candy bar in the United States -- and in the world. This isn't being said hyperbolically, either.

In 1976, Mars eliminated red-colored M&M's because of health concerns over the dye amaranth (FD&C Red #2), which was a suspected carcinogen, and replaced them with orange M&M's. This was done despite the fact that M&M's did not contain the dye; the action was purely to satisfy worried consumers.

In 1930, Mars introduced Snickers, named after the favorite horse of the Mars family. The Snickers chocolate bar consists of nougat, peanuts, and caramel with a chocolate coating.

What is a candy maker called? ›

: one that makes candy : confectioner.

Five of the most common acids used in sour candy include citric acid, malic acid, fumaric acid, and tartaric acid. Citric acid is one of the most common ingredients in sour candy, providing the perfect pop of tartness.

Sucrose, made from either sugarcane or sugar beets, is the main ingredient for making candy. It is composed of two simple sugars called glucose (the main ingredient in corn syrup) and fructose (the sweetest of all sugars).

Cane Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Vegetable Oil, Food Acid (Citric), Fruit Juice Concentrate, Gelatine, Natural Flavours, Natural Food Colours (Anthocyanins, Grape Skin Extract, Paprika Oleoresin, Turmeric).

Sugar is the primary ingredient in candy bars whereas cocoa forms the main component in chocolate bars. While candy bars can also include chocolate, they contain a higher ingredient of sugar and water or milk. Chocolate bars on the other hand contain milk, nuts, raisins and other ingredients in addition to cocoa.