Knowra Candy Candy Candy is sweet food made chiefly from sugar or other sweeteners, often combined with flavorings, chocolate, fruit, or nuts. Its forms range from hard boiled sweets to chewy confections.
Sugar : A class of sweet-tasting soluble carbohydrates, including sucrose, glucose, and fructose. Sucrose and other sugars provide candy’s sweetness and much of its structure.
Sugar cooking : The controlled heating of sugar mixtures to produce particular confectionery textures. Candy makers use temperature and concentration to set the final texture.
Hard candy : A brittle confection made from concentrated sugar syrup cooled into a glassy solid. It is the clearest example of candy formed by cooling concentrated sugar.
Dental caries : Tooth decay caused by acids produced when oral bacteria metabolize fermentable carbohydrates. Frequent exposure to sugary candy can feed the bacteria that produce enamel-damaging acids.
Caramelization : The browning and flavor-producing reactions that occur when sugars are heated. Heating sugar creates the color and characteristic flavors of caramel candies.
Crystallization : The formation of an ordered solid structure from atoms, ions, or molecules. Managing sugar crystals determines whether candy is smooth, grainy, or brittle.
Gummy candy : A chewy confection set with gelling agents such as gelatin, pectin, or starch. Its elastic chew comes from gel-forming ingredients rather than a hard sugar glass.
Added sugar : Sugars introduced to foods during processing or preparation rather than naturally present in them. Candy is a concentrated source of added sugar in many diets.
Chocolate : A food made from cacao components, commonly combined with sugar and sometimes milk. Chocolate is a major candy ingredient and the basis of many confections.
Glass transition : A reversible change between hard, glassy and softer, rubbery states in amorphous materials. It helps explain why hard candy softens when it absorbs moisture.
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