Confectionery

Some Indian confectionery desserts from hundreds of varieties. In certain parts of India, these are called mithai or sweets. Sugar and desserts have a long history in India: by about 500 BCE, people in India had developed the technology to produce sugar crystals. In the local language, these crystals were called khanda (खण्ड), which is the source of the word candy.[7]

Before sugar was readily available in the ancient western world, confectionery was based on honey.[8] Honey was used in Ancient China, Ancient India, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome to coat fruits and flowers to preserve them or to create sweetmeats.[9] Between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, the Persians, followed by the Greeks, made contact with the Indian subcontinent and its "reeds that produce honey without bees". They adopted and then spread sugar and sugarcane agriculture.[10] Sugarcane is indigenous to tropical Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.[11][12][13][14][15]

In the early history of sugar usage in Europe, it was initially the apothecary who had the most important role in the production of sugar-based preparations. Medieval European physicians learned the medicinal uses of the material from the Arabs and Byzantine Greeks. One Middle Eastern remedy for rheums and fevers were little, twisted sticks of pulled sugar called in Arabic al fänäd or al pänäd. These became known in England as alphenics, or more commonly as penidia, penids, pennet or pan sugar. They were the precursors of barley sugar and modern cough drops. In 1390, the Earl of Derby paid "two shillings for two pounds of penydes."

Jordan almonds. Sugar-coated nuts or spices for non-medicinal purposes marked the beginning of confectionery in late medieval England.

As the non-medicinal applications of sugar developed, the comfitmaker, or confectioner gradually came into being as a separate trade. In the late medieval period the words confyt, comfect or cumfitt were generic terms for all kinds of sweetmeats made from fruits, roots, or flowers preserved with sugar. By the 16th century, a cumfit was more specifically a seed, nut or small piece of spice enclosed in a round or ovoid mass of sugar. The production of comfits was a core skill of the early confectioner, who was known more commonly in 16th and 17th century England as a comfitmaker. Reflecting their original medicinal purpose, however, comfits were also produced by apothecaries and directions on how to make them appear in dispensatories as well as cookery texts. An early medieval Latin name for an apothecary was confectionarius, and it was in this sort of sugar work that the activities of the two trades overlapped and that the word "confectionery" originated.[6]

In the cuisine of the Late Ottoman Empire diverse cosmopolitan cultural influences were reflected in published recipes such as European-style molded jellies flavored with cordials. In Europe, Ottoman confections (especially "lumps of delight" (Turkish delight) became very fashionable among European and British high society.[16] An important study of Ottoman confectionery called Conditorei des Orients was published by the royal confectioner Friedrich Unger in 1838.[17]

The first confectionery in Manchester, England was opened by Elizabeth Raffald who had worked six years in domestic service as a housekeeper.[18]

Confections are defined by the presence of sweeteners. These are usually sugars, but it is possible to buy sugar-free candies, such as sugar-free peppermints. The most common sweetener for home cooking is table sugar, which is chemically a disaccharide containing both glucose and fructose. Hydrolysis of sucrose gives a mixture called invert sugar, which is sweeter and is also a common commercial ingredient. Finally, confections, especially commercial ones, are sweetened by a variety of syrups obtained by hydrolysis of starch. These sweeteners include all types of corn syrup.[19]

Petits fours are baker's confections.

Bakers' confectionery includes sweet baked goods, especially those that are served for the dessert course. Bakers' confections are sweet foods that feature flour as a main ingredient and are baked. Major categories include cakes, sweet pastries, doughnuts, scones, and cookies.[20] In the Middle East and Asia, flour-based confections predominate.

The definition of which foods are "confectionery" vs "bread" can vary based on cultures and laws. In Ireland, the definition of "bread" as a "staple food" for tax purposes requires that the sugar or fat content be no more than 2% of the weight of the flour, so some products sold as bread in the US would be treated as confectionery there.[21]

Sugar confections include sweet, sugar-based foods, which are usually eaten as snack food. This includes sugar candies, chocolates, candied fruits and nuts, chewing gum, and sometimes ice cream. In some cases, chocolate confections are treated as a separate category, as are sugar-free versions of sugar confections.[23]

Different dialects of English use regional terms for sugar confections:

• In Britain, Ireland, and some Commonwealth countries, sweets (the Scottish Gaelic word suiteis is a derivative). Candy is used specifically for rock candy and occasionally for (brittle) boiled sweets. Lollies are boiled sweets fixed on sticks.
• In Australia and New Zealand, lollies. Chewy and Chuddy are Australian slang for chewing gum.[24]
• In North America, candy, although this term generally refers to a specific range of confectionery and does not include some items of sugar confectionery (e.g. ice cream). Sweet is occasionally used, as well as treat.

In the US, a chocolate-coated candy bar (e.g. Snickers) would be called a candy bar, in Britain more likely a chocolate bar than unspecifically a sweet.

Examples

Further information: List of candies

Rock candy is simply sugar, with optional coloring or flavor.

A bar of chocolate, which can either be consumed as-is or used as an ingredient in other dishes.

Assorted fudges

Brittles are a combination of nuts and caramelized sugar.

Sugar confectionery items include candies, lollipops, candy bars, chocolate, cotton candy, and other sweet items of snack food. Some of the categories and types of sugar confectionery include the following:[19]

• Chocolates: Bite-sized confectioneries generally made with chocolate, considered different from a candy bar made of chocolate.
• Divinity: A nougat-like confectionery based on egg whites with chopped nuts.
• Dodol: A toffee-like delicacy popular in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines
• Dragée: Sugar-coated almonds and other types of sugar panned candies.
• Fudge: Made by boiling milk and sugar to the soft-ball stage. In the US, it tends to be chocolate-flavored.
• Halvah: Confectionery based on tahini, a paste made from ground sesame seeds.
• Hard candy: Based on sugars cooked to the hard-crack stage. Examples include lollipops, jawbreakers (or gobstoppers), lemon drops, peppermint drops and disks, candy canes, rock candy, etc. Also included are types often mixed with nuts such as brittle, which is similar to chikkis.
• Ice cream: Frozen, flavored cream, often containing small pieces of chocolate, fruits and/or nuts.
• Jelly candies: Including those based on sugar and starch, pectin, gum, or gelatin such as Turkish delight (lokum), jelly beans, gumdrops, jujubes, gummies, etc.[29]
• Liquorice: Containing extract of the liquorice root, this candy is chewier and more resilient than gums or gelatin candies. For example, Liquorice allsorts. It has a similar taste to star anise.
• Marshmallow: For example, circus peanuts.
• Marzipan: An almond-based confection, doughy in consistency.
• Mithai: A generic term for confectionery in the Indian subcontinent, typically made from dairy products and/or some form of flour. Sugar or molasses are used as sweeteners.
• Persipan: similar to marzipan, but made with peaches or apricots instead of almonds.
• Pastillage: A thick sugar paste made with gelatin, water, and confectioner's sugar, similar to gum paste, which is moulded into shapes, which then harden.
• Tablet: A crumbly milk-based soft and hard candy, based on sugars cooked to the soft ball stage. Comes in several forms, such as wafers and heart shapes. Not to be confused with tableting, a method of candy production.
• Taffy (British: chews): A sugar confection that is folded many times above 120 °F (50 °C), incorporating air bubbles thus reducing its density and making it opaque.
• Toffee: A confection made by caramelizing sugar or molasses along with butter. Toffee has a glossy surface and textures ranging from soft and sticky to a hard, brittle material. Its brown color and smoky taste arise from the caramelization of the sugars.

A Japanese vendor selling sweets (wagashi) in "The Great Buddha Sweet Shop" from the Miyako meisho zue (ja:都名所図会) (1787)

Both bakers' and sugar confections are used to offer hospitality to guests.

Confections are used to mark celebrations or events, such as a wedding cake, birthday cake or Halloween.

The chocolate company Cadbury (under the guidance of Richard Cadbury) was the first to commercialize the connection between romance and confectionery, producing a heart-shaped box of chocolates for Valentine's Day in 1868.[31]

Tourists commonly eat confections as part of their travels. The indulgence in rich, sugary foods is seen as a special treat, and choosing local specialties is popular. For example, visitors to Vienna eat Sachertorte and visitors to seaside resorts in the UK eat Blackpool rock candy. Transportable confections like fudges and tablet may be purchased as souvenirs.[32]

Generally, confections are low in micronutrients and protein but high in calories. They may be fat-free foods, although some confections, especially fried doughs and chocolate, are high-fat foods. Many confections are considered empty calories and ultra-processed foods. Specially formulated chocolate has been manufactured in the past for military use as a high-density food energy source.

Many sugar confections, especially caramel-coated popcorn and the different kinds of sugar candy, are defined in US law as foods of minimal nutritional value.[33]

Contaminants and coloring agents in confectionery can be particularly harmful to children. Therefore, confectionery contaminants, such as high levels of lead, have been restricted to 1 ppm in the US. There is no specific maximum in the EU.[34]

Candy colorants, particularly yellow colorants such as E102 Tartrazine, E104 Quinoline Yellow WS and E110 Sunset Yellow FCF, have many restrictions around the world. Tartrazine, for example, can cause allergic and asthmatic reactions and was once banned in Austria, Germany, and Norway. Some countries such as the UK have asked the food industry to phase out the use of these colorants, especially for products marketed to children.[35]

• Candy making
• Confectionery store
• List of candies
• List of top-selling candy brands
• List of foods

• García Ballesteros, Enrique (2012). Foods From Spain History: Bakery & Confectionery. A Taste For Sweetness.
• Goldstein, Darra (2015). The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-931339-6.
• Richardson, Tim H. (2002). Sweets: A History of Candy. Bloomsbury USA. ISBN 1-58234-229-6.
• Stroud, Jon (2008). The Sucker's Guide: A Journey into the Soft Centre of the Sweet Shop. Summersdale. ISBN 978-1-84024-709-1.
• Weatherley, Henry (1865). A Treatise on the Art of Boiling Sugar. H.C. Baird. Retrieved 14 July 2008.
• Confectionery, International (2018). International Confectionery Journal. Hand Media International. Retrieved 14 July 2018.

• Media related to Confectionery at Wikimedia Commons
• Confections at the Wikibooks Cookbook subproject
• The dictionary definition of confectionery at Wiktionary