Confectionery is the

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

of making confections, or sweet foods. Confections are items that are rich in sugar and

carbohydrate A carbohydrate () is a biomolecule composed of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O) atoms. The typical hydrogen-to-oxygen atomic ratio is 2:1, analogous to that of water, and is represented by the empirical formula (where ''m'' and ''n'' ...

s, although exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confections are divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories: baker's confections and sugar confections. Baker's confectionery, also called flour confections, includes principally sweet pastries, cakes, and similar

baked goods Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but it can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot Baking stone, stones. Bread is the most commonly baked item, but many other types of food can also be baked. Heat is ...

. Baker's confectionery excludes everyday breads, and thus is a subset of products produced by a

baker A baker is a tradesperson who baking, bakes and sometimes Sales, sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient histo ...

. Sugar confectionery includes candies (also called ''sweets'', short for ''sweetmeats'', in many English-speaking countries), candied nuts, chocolates, chewing gum, bubble gum, pastillage, and other confections that are made primarily of sugar. In some cases, chocolate confections (confections made of chocolate) are treated as a separate category, as are sugar-free versions of sugar confections. The words ''

candy Candy, alternatively called sweets or lollies, is a Confectionery, confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, also called ''sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection, including chocolate, chewing gum ...

'' (Canada and US), ''sweets'' (UK, Ireland, and others), and ''lollies'' (Australia and New Zealand) are common words for some of the most popular varieties of sugar confectionery. The occupation of confectioner encompasses the categories of cooking performed by both the French '' patissier'' (pastry chef) and the ''confiseur'' (sugar worker). The confectionery industry also includes specialized training schools and extensive historical records. Traditional confectionery goes back to ancient times and continued to be eaten through the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

and into the modern era.

Etymology

Yasnaya_Polyana_Confectionery_Factory_01

The oldest recorded use of the word ''confectionery'' discovered so far by the ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...

'' is by Richard Jonas in 1540, who spelled or misspelled it as "confection nere" in a passage "'' Ambre, muske, frankencense, and confection nere''", thus in the sense of "things made or sold by a confectioner". Also according to the OED, the sense of "the art and business of a confectioner" is first recorded in 1743, and the earliest use in the sense of a "confectioner's shop" dates to 1803.

History

Before sugar was readily available in the ancient western world, confectionery was based on

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...

. Honey was used in

Ancient China The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Y ...

Ancient India Anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago. The earliest known human remains in South Asia date to 30,000 years ago. Sedentism, Sedentariness began in South Asia around 7000 BCE; ...

Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

Ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

and

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

to coat fruits and flowers to preserve them or to create sweetmeats. Between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, the

Persians Persians ( ), or the Persian people (), are an Iranian ethnic group from West Asia that came from an earlier group called the Proto-Iranians, which likely split from the Indo-Iranians in 1800 BCE from either Afghanistan or Central Asia. They ...

, followed by the

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

, made contact with the Indian subcontinent and its "reeds that produce honey without bees". They adopted and then spread sugar and

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

agriculture. Sugarcane is indigenous to tropical

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

. 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 or '. 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." La-Pone-Jordan-Almonds

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 , and it was in this sort of sugar work that the activities of the two trades overlapped and that the word "confectionery" originated. 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. An important study of Ottoman confectionery called '' Conditorei des Orients'' was published by the royal confectioner Friedrich Unger in 1838. The first confectionery in

Manchester, England Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

was opened by Elizabeth Raffald who had worked six years in

domestic service A domestic worker is a person who works within a residence and performs a variety of household services for an individual, from providing cleaning and household maintenance, or cooking, laundry and ironing, or care for children and elderly ...

as a housekeeper.

Sweetening agents

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 A disaccharide (also called a double sugar or ''biose'') is the sugar formed when two monosaccharides are joined by glycosidic linkage. Like monosaccharides, disaccharides are simple sugars soluble in water. Three common examples are sucrose, ...

containing both

glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecular formula , which is often abbreviated as Glc. It is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. It is mainly made by plants and most algae d ...

and

fructose Fructose (), or fruit sugar, is a Ketose, ketonic monosaccharide, simple sugar found in many plants, where it is often bonded to glucose to form the disaccharide sucrose. It is one of the three dietary monosaccharides, along with glucose and gal ...

. Hydrolysis of

sucrose Sucrose, a disaccharide, is a sugar composed of glucose and fructose subunits. It is produced naturally in plants and is the main constituent of white sugar. It has the molecular formula . For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refined ...

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 Hydrolysis (; ) is any chemical reaction in which a molecule of water breaks one or more chemical bonds. The term is used broadly for substitution reaction, substitution, elimination reaction, elimination, and solvation reactions in which water ...

starch Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human diet ...

. These sweeteners include all types of

corn syrup Corn syrup is a food syrup that is made from the starch of corn/maize and contains varying amounts of sugars: glucose, maltose and higher oligosaccharides, depending on the grade. Corn syrup is used in foods to soften Mouthfeel, texture, add vol ...

.Terry Richardson, Geert Andersen, "Confectionery" in Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry 2005 Wiley-VCH, Weinheim.

Baker's confectionery

Baker's confectionery includes sweet baked goods, especially those that are served for the

dessert Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal; the course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream, and possibly a beverage, such as dessert wine or liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly umami, ...

course. Baker's confections are sweet foods that feature

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

as a main ingredient and are

baked Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but it can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot stones. Bread is the most commonly baked item, but many other types of food can also be baked. Heat is gradually t ...

. Major categories include

cake Cake is a flour confection usually made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elabor ...

s, sweet

pastries Pastry refers to a variety of doughs (often enriched with fat or eggs), as well as the sweet and savoury baked goods made from them. The dough may be accordingly called pastry dough for clarity. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bak ...

doughnut A doughnut or donut () is a type of pastry made from leavened fried dough. It is popular in many countries and is prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and fran ...

scone A scone ( or ) is a traditional British and Irish baked good, popular in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is usually made of either wheat flour or oatmeal, with baking powder as a leavening agent, and baked on sheet pans. A scone is often ...

s, and

cookie A cookie is a sweet biscuit with high sugar and fat content. Cookie dough is softer than that used for other types of biscuit, and they are cooked longer at lower temperatures. The dough typically contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of ...

s. 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.

Types

Cake Cake is a flour confection usually made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elabor ...

s have a somewhat bread-like texture, and many earlier cakes, such as the centuries-old stollen (fruit cake), or the even older

king cake A king cake, also known as a three kings cake or a baby cake, is a cake associated in many countries with Epiphany (holiday), Epiphany, the celebration of the Twelfth Night (holiday), Twelfth Night after Christmas. Its form and ingredients are va ...

, were rich yeast breads. The variety of styles and presentations extends from simple to elaborate. Major categories include butter cakes,

torte A torte (; from (), in turn from Latin language, Latin via ) is a rich, usually Layer cake, multilayered, cake that is filled with whipped cream, buttercreams, mousses, Fruit preserves#Jam, jams, or fruit. Tortes are commonly baked in a spri ...

s, and foam cakes. Confusingly, some confections that have the word ''cake'' in their names, such as cheesecake, are not technically cakes, while others, such as Boston cream pie are cakes despite seeming to be named something else. File:Wesh cakes.jpg, Welsh cakes are cooked on a griddle. File:Korean rice cake-Mujigae tteok-01.jpg, Korean rainbow rice cake is for celebrations. File:Birthday Cake by 'Valentina's Cakes' in Binghamton, New York.jpg,

Birthday cakes A birthday cake is a cake eaten as part of birthday celebrations. While there is no standard for birthday cakes, they are typically highly decorated layer cakes covered in frosting, often featuring birthday wishes ("Happy birthday") followed b ...

may be elaborately decorated. File:Pruegeltorte.JPG, European

spit cake A spit cake is a European-styled cake made with layers of dough or Batter (cooking), batter deposited, one at a time, onto a tapered cylindrical rotating Spit (cooking aide), spit. The dough is baked by an open fire or a special oven, rotisserie ...

s are baked around a metal cylinder. File:Pink rose birthday cake (5919553257).jpg, Cake with decorations made from sugar

Pastry Pastry refers to a variety of Dough, doughs (often enriched with fat or eggs), as well as the sweet and savoury Baking, baked goods made from them. The dough may be accordingly called pastry dough for clarity. Sweetened pastries are often descr ...

is a large and diverse category of baked goods, united by the flour-based doughs used as the base for the product. These doughs are not always sweet, and the sweetness may come from the sugar, fruit, chocolate, cream, or other fillings that are added to the finished confection. Pastries can be elaborately decorated, or they can be plain dough. File:Choux pastry buns, 2009.jpg,

Choux pastry Choux pastry, or (), is a delicate pastry dough used in many pastries. The essential ingredients are butter, water, flour and eggs. Instead of a raising agent, choux pastry employs its high moisture content to create steam, as the water in ...

File:Besamelas-(La Rosita).jpg, Empty shells made with

puff pastry Puff pastry, also known as , is a light, flaky pastry, its base dough () composed of wheat flour and water. Butter or other solid fat () is then layered into the dough. The dough is repeatedly rolled and folded, rested, re-rolled and folded, encas ...

can be filled with fruit or cream. File:Pumpkin-Pie-Slice.jpg, Pie is made from a

pie crust Shortcrust is a type of pastry often used for the base of a tart, quiche, pie, or (in the British English sense) flan. Shortcrust pastry can be used to make both sweet and savory pies such as apple pie, quiche, lemon meringue or chicken pie. ...

and a sweet filling. File:Baklava - Turkish special, 80-ply.JPEG,

Baklava Baklava (, or ; ) is a layered pastry dessert made of filo pastry, filled with chopped nuts, and sweetened with syrup or honey. It was one of the most popular sweet pastries of Ottoman cuisine. There are several theories for the origin of th ...

is made with

phyllo Filo or phyllo is a very thin Leavening agent, unleavened dough used for making pastries such as baklava and ''börek'' in Middle Eastern cuisine, Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisines. Filo-based pastries are made by layering many sheets of filo ...

pastry. File:Moon cake in mid autumn festival.jpg,

Mooncake A mooncake () is a Chinese bakery product traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節). The festival is primarily about the harvest while a legend connects it to moon watching, and mooncakes are regarded as a delicacy. ...

pastries are made to celebrate the

Mid-Autumn Festival The Mid-Autumn Festival (for other names, see § Etymology) is a harvest festival celebrated in Chinese culture. It is held on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar with a full moon at night, corresponding to mid- ...

in East Asia.

Doughnut A doughnut or donut () is a type of pastry made from leavened fried dough. It is popular in many countries and is prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and fran ...

s may be fried or baked. File:Glazed-Donut.jpg, Glazed raised doughnut File:Oliebollen bakken (4233801075) (2).jpg, Oliebollen and similar doughnuts are fried in hot fat. File:Christmas doughnut display (15459326042).jpg, Decorated doughnuts File:Apple beignets (5492114879).jpg, Apple fritter with powdered sugar

Scone A scone ( or ) is a traditional British and Irish baked good, popular in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is usually made of either wheat flour or oatmeal, with baking powder as a leavening agent, and baked on sheet pans. A scone is often ...

s and related sweet

quick bread Quick bread is any bread leavened with a chemical leavening agent rather than a biological one like Baker's yeast, yeast or Sourdough#Starter, sourdough starter. An advantage of quick breads is their ability to be prepared quickly and reliably, w ...

s, such as bannock, are similar to baking powder biscuits and, in sweeter, less traditional interpretations, can seem like a cupcake. File:Scones Jam Cream.jpg, Scones with jam File:2scones.jpg, Cranberry scones with icing File:Golden-Krust-Rock-Cake.jpg, A sweet rock cake

Cookie A cookie is a sweet biscuit with high sugar and fat content. Cookie dough is softer than that used for other types of biscuit, and they are cooked longer at lower temperatures. The dough typically contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of ...

s are small, sweet baked treats. They originated as small cakes, and some traditional cookies have a soft, cake-like texture. Others are crisp or hard. File:Breakfast pizzelle, January 2013 (8505127567).jpg, Thin wafer cookies such as pizzelle have been made since the Middle Ages. File:Runde braune Lebkuchen - Flickr - tm-md (7).jpg, Spicy

lebkuchen (), or () are honey-sweetened German cuisine, German cakes, moulded cookies or bar cookies that have become part of Germany's Christmas traditions. They are similar to gingerbread. Etymology The etymology of ''Leb-'' in the term is unc ...

are a German Christmas treat. File:Biscuiteers Polka Dot Heart Product.jpg, Cookies can be elaborately decorated. File:Oreo-Two-Cookies.jpg, Oreos are an example of a mass-produced cookie.

Sugar confectionery

Sugar confections include sweet, sugar-based foods, which are usually eaten as

snack food A snack is a small portion of Human food, food generally Eating, eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including Food packaging, packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at ho ...

. This includes sugar candies,

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

candied fruit Candied fruit, also known as glacé fruit, is whole fruit, smaller pieces of fruit, or pieces of peel (fruit), peel, placed in heated sugar syrup, which absorbs the moisture from within the fruit and eventually Food preservation, preserves it. ...

s and nuts,

chewing gum Chewing gum is a soft, cohesive substance designed to be chewed without being swallowed. Modern chewing gum is composed of gum base, sweeteners, softeners/plasticizers, flavors, colors, and, typically, a hard or powdered polyol coating. Its tex ...

, and sometimes

ice cream Ice cream is a frozen dessert typically made from milk or cream that has been flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as Chocolate, cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit, such as strawberries or peaches. Food ...

. In some cases,

confections are treated as a separate category, as are sugar-free versions of sugar confections. Different dialects of English use regional terms for sugar confections: *In

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, and some

Commonwealth countries The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an international association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire from which i ...

, ''sweets'' (the

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, ''lollies''. ''Chewy'' and ''Chuddy'' are Australian slang for chewing gum. *In

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, ''

'', 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 Snickers (stylized in all caps) is a chocolate bar consisting of nougat topped with Caramel#Candy, caramel and peanuts, all encased in milk chocolate. The bars are made by the American company Mars Inc. The annual global sales of Snickers is ...

) would be called a ''candy bar'', in Britain more likely a ''chocolate bar'' than unspecifically a ''sweet''.

Classification

The United Nations' International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC) scheme (revision 4) classifies both chocolate and sugar confectionery as ISIC 1073, which includes the manufacture of chocolate and chocolate confectionery; sugar confectionery proper (caramels, cachous, nougats, fondant, white chocolate), chewing gum, preserving fruit, nuts, fruit peels, and making confectionery lozenges and pastilles. In the European Union, the

Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community #REDIRECT Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community {{R from other capitalisation ...

(NACE) scheme (revision 2) matches the UN classification, under code number 10.82. In the United States, the

North American Industry Classification System The North American Industry Classification System or NAICS () is a industry classification, classification of business establishments by type of economic activity (the process of production). It is used by governments and business in Canada, Mexic ...

(NAICS 2012) splits sugar confectionery across three categories: National industry code 311340 for all non-chocolate confectionery manufacturing, 311351 for chocolate and confectionery manufacturing from cacao beans, and national industry 311352 for confectionery manufacturing from purchased chocolate.

Ice cream Ice cream is a frozen dessert typically made from milk or cream that has been flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as Chocolate, cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit, such as strawberries or peaches. Food ...

and sorbet are classified with dairy products under ISIC 1050, NACE 10.52, and NAICS 311520. The classification of ice cream has varied widely; for example, in 1930, it was classified as a form of flour confectionery.

Examples

Sugar confectionery items include candies, lollipops,

candy bar A candy bar is a type of portable candy that is in the shape of a bar. The most common type of candy bar is the chocolate bar, including both bars made of solid chocolate and combination candy bars, which are candy bars that combine chocolate wi ...

, cotton candy, and other sweet items of

. Some of the categories and types of sugar confectionery include the following: * Chocolates: Bite-sized confectioneries generally made with

, considered different from a candy bar made of chocolate. *

Divinity Divinity (from Latin ) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is divine—a term that, before the rise of monotheism, evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a single ...

: A nougat-like confectionery based on

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...

whites with chopped nuts. * Dodol: A

toffee Toffee is an English confection made by caramelizing sugar or molasses (creating inverted sugar) along with butter, and occasionally flour. The mixture is heated until its temperature reaches the hard crack stage of . While being prepar ...

-like delicacy popular in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines *

Dragée A dragée ( , , ; ) is a bite-sized confectionery with a hard outer shell, which can be made of sugar, chocolate, or other substances. Dragées come in various shapes and sizes and are often used for decorative purposes, particularly in pastri ...

: Sugar-coated

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree from the genus ''Prunus''. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus ''Amygdalus'', distinguished from the other subgenera ...

s and other types of sugar panned candies. *

Fudge ''Fudge'' is a generic role-playing game system for use in freeform role-playing games. The name "''FUDGE''" was once an acronym for ''Freeform Universal Donated'' (later, ''Do-it-yourself'') ''Gaming Engine'' and, though the acronym has since b ...

: 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 Sesame (; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a plant in the genus '' Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for ...

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 cane A candy cane is a Walking stick, cane-shaped stick candy often associated with Christmastide as well as Saint Nicholas Day. The canes are traditionally white with red Stripe (pattern), stripes and flavored with peppermint, but the canes also com ...

s, rock candy, etc. Also included are types often mixed with nuts such as

brittle A material is brittle if, when subjected to stress, it fractures with little elastic deformation and without significant plastic deformation. Brittle materials absorb relatively little energy prior to fracture, even those of high strength. ...

, which is similar to chikkis. *

: Frozen, flavored cream, often containing small pieces of chocolate,

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

s and/or nuts. *Jelly candies: Including those based on sugar and starch,

pectin Pectin ( ': "congealed" and "curdled") is a heteropolysaccharide, a structural polymer contained in the primary lamella, in the middle lamella, and in the cell walls of terrestrial plants. The principal chemical component of pectin is galact ...

, gum, or

gelatin Gelatin or gelatine () is a translucent, colorless, flavorless food ingredient, commonly derived from collagen taken from animal body parts. It is brittle when dry and rubbery when moist. It may also be referred to as hydrolyzed collagen, coll ...

such as Turkish delight (lokum), jelly beans, gumdrops, jujubes, gummies, etc. *

Liquorice Liquorice ( Commonwealth English) or licorice (American English; see spelling differences; ) is the common name of ''Glycyrrhiza glabra'', a flowering plant of the bean family Fabaceae, from the root of which a sweet, aromatic flavouring is ...

: 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 ''Illicium verum'' (star anise or badian, Chinese star anise, star anise seed, star aniseed and star of anise) is a medium-sized evergreen tree native to South China and northeast Vietnam. Its star-shaped pericarps harvested just before ripen ...

. *

Marshmallow Marshmallow (, ) is a confectionery made from sugar, water and gelatin whipped to a solid-but-soft consistency. It is used as a filling in baking or molded into shapes and coated with corn starch. This sugar confection is inspired by a medicina ...

: For example, circus peanuts. *

Marzipan Marzipan is a confectionery, confection consisting primarily of sugar and almond meal (ground almonds), sometimes augmented with almond oil or extract. It is often made into Confectionery, sweets; common uses are chocolate-covered marzipan and ...

: An

-based confection, doughy in consistency. * Mithai: A generic term for confectionery in the

, typically made from dairy products and/or some form of flour. Sugar or molasses are used as sweeteners. *

Persipan Persipan (from ''Persicus'' (peach) and ''marzipan''; also known as Parzipan) is a material used in confectionery. It is similar to marzipan but, instead of almonds, is made with apricot or peach kernels. Persipan consists of 40% ground kernels ...

: 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 Tableting is a method of pressing Tablet (pharmacy), medicine or Mint (candy), candy into tablets. Confectionery manufacture shares many similarities with pharmaceutical production. A powder or granule mixture is prepared, a die mold is fille ...

, 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 Toffee is an English confection made by caramelizing sugar or molasses (creating inverted sugar) along with butter, and occasionally flour. The mixture is heated until its temperature reaches the hard crack stage of . While being prepar ...

: 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.

Storage and shelf life

Shelf life Shelf life is the length of time that a commodity may be stored without becoming unfit for use, consumption, or sale. In other words, it might refer to whether a commodity should no longer be on a pantry shelf (unfit for use), or no longer on a s ...

is largely determined by the amount of water present in the candy and the storage conditions. High-sugar candies, such as boiled candies, can have a shelf life of many years if kept covered in a dry environment. Spoilage of low-moisture candies tends to involve a loss of shape, color, texture, and flavor, rather than the growth of dangerous microbes. Impermeable packaging can reduce spoilage due to storage conditions. Candies spoil more quickly if they have different amounts of water in different parts of the candy (for example, a candy that combines marshmallow and nougat), or if they are stored in high-moisture environments. This process is due to the effects of

water activity In food science, water activity (''aw'') of a food is the ratio of its vapor pressure to the vapor pressure of water at the same temperature, both taken at equilibrium. Pure water has a water activity of one. Put another way, ''aw'' is the equi ...

, which results in the transfer of unwanted water from a high-moisture environment into a low-moisture candy, rendering it rubbery, or the loss of desirable water from a high-moisture candy into a dry environment, rendering the candy dry and brittle. Another factor, affecting only non-crystalline amorphous candies, is the

glass transition The glass–liquid transition, or glass transition, is the gradual and Reversible reaction, reversible transition in amorphous solid, amorphous materials (or in amorphous regions within Crystallinity, semicrystalline materials) from a hard and rel ...

process. This can cause amorphous candies to lose their intended texture.

Cultural roles

Both baker's and sugar confections are used to offer

hospitality Hospitality is the relationship of a host towards a guest, wherein the host receives the guest with some amount of goodwill and welcome. This includes the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Louis de Jaucourt, Louis, ...

to guests. Confections are used to mark celebrations or events, such as

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

, a

wedding cake A wedding cake is the traditional cake served at wedding receptions following dinner. In some parts of England, the wedding cake is served at a wedding breakfast; the 'wedding breakfast' does not mean the meal will be held in the morning, but at ...

, birthday cake, or

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

. The chocolate company

Cadbury Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company owned by Mondelez International (spun off from Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second-largest confectionery brand in the world, after Mars. ...

(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 Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a Christian martyrs, martyr named Saint Valentine, Valentine, and ...

in 1868. 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 Sachertorte ( , ; ) is a chocolate sponge cake covered with chocolate glaze, with an interior layer of apricot jam either under the glaze or in the middle of two sponge layers. The cake was invented by Franz Sacher, either in 1832 for Aus ...

and visitors to seaside resorts in the UK eat Blackpool rock candy. Transportable confections like

fudges ''Fudge'' is a generic role-playing game system for use in freeform role-playing games. The name "''FUDGE''" was once an acronym for ''Freeform Universal Donated'' (later, ''Do-it-yourself'') ''Gaming Engine'' and, though the acronym has since be ...

and tablet may be purchased as souvenirs.

Nutrition

Generally, confections are low in

micronutrients Micronutrients are essential chemicals required by organisms in small quantities to perform various biogeochemical processes and regulate physiological functions of cells and organs. By enabling these processes, micronutrients support the heal ...

and

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

but high in

calorie The calorie is a unit of energy that originated from the caloric theory of heat. The large calorie, food calorie, dietary calorie, kilocalorie, or kilogram calorie is defined as the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one liter o ...

s. 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 Food energy is chemical energy that animals and humans derive from food to sustain their metabolism and muscular activity. Most animals derive most of their energy from aerobic respiration, namely combining the carbohydrates, fats, and protein ...

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 Minimal may refer to: * Minimal (music genre), art music that employs limited or minimal musical materials * Minimal (song), "Minimal" (song), 2006 song by Pet Shop Boys * Minimal (supermarket) or miniMAL, a former supermarket chain in Germany and ...

Risks

Contaminants and coloring agents in confectionery can be particularly harmful to children. Therefore, confectionery contaminants, such as high levels of

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

, have been restricted to 1 ppm in the US. There is no specific maximum in the EU. 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.

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Candy Desserts Food preparation