Confectionery Companies

Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories: bakers' confections and sugar confections. The occupation of confectioner encompasses the categories of cooking performed by both the French ''patissier'' (pastry chef) and the ''confiseur'' (sugar worker).

Bakers' confectionery, also called flour confections, includes principally sweet pastries, cakes, and similar baked goods. Baker's confectionery excludes everyday breads, and thus is a subset of products produced by a baker.

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'' (Canada & 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 confectionery industry also includes specialized training schools and extensive historical records."The Art of Confectionery"
Historic Food. Traditional confectionery goes back to ancient times and continued to be eaten through the Middle Ages and into the modern era.

History

Before sugar was readily available in the ancient western world, confectionery was based on honey. 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. Between the 6th and 4th centuries BC, 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. Sugarcane is indigenous to tropical Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.

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."

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.

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 was opened by Elizabeth Raffald who had worked six years in domestic service 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 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.Terry Richardson, Geert Andersen, "Confectionery" in Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry 2005 Wiley-VCH, Weinheim.

Bakers' confectionery

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. 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

Cakes have a somewhat bread-like texture, and many earlier cakes, such as the centuries-old stollen (fruit cake), or the even older king cake, were rich yeast breads. The variety of styles and presentations extends from simple to elaborate. Major categories include butter cakes, tortes, 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:Wikipedia Birthday Cake 16.1.jpg, Birthday cakes may be elaborately decorated.
File:Pruegeltorte.JPG, European spit cakes are baked around a metal cylinder.

Pastry 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
File:Besamelas-(La Rosita).jpg, Empty shells made with puff pastry can be filled with fruit or cream.
File:Pumpkin-Pie-Slice.jpg, Pie is made from a pie crust and a sweet filling.
File:Baklava - Turkish special, 80-ply.JPEG, Baklava is made with phyllo pastry.
File:Moon cake in mid autumn festival.jpg, Mooncake pastries are made to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival in East Asia.

Doughnuts 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

Scones and related sweet quick breads, 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

Sugar confectionery

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.

Different dialects of English use regional terms for sugar confections:

*In Britain, Ireland, and some Commonwealth countries, ''sweets'' (the Scottish Gaelic word ''suiteis'' is