Confectionery

Confectionery is the specialized art of creating sweet foods.

These items are characterized by being rich in sugar and carbohydrates. While exact definitions can be difficult, experts generally divide them into two broad categories. The first is baker's confectionery, often called flour confections. These are sweet baked goods like cakes and pastries.

The second is sugar confectionery, which is known as candy making in the United States. This group includes chocolates, chewing gum, and candied nuts.

Some people even treat chocolate or ice cream as separate, unique categories.

Baker's confectionery relies on flour as a primary ingredient. This category includes several distinct types of treats. Cakes may have a bread-like texture, such as the centuries-old stollen. Some cakes, like the Boston cream pie, are technically cakes despite their names.

Pastries are another large category defined by flour-based doughs. These doughs can be plain or filled with fruit, chocolate, or cream. Doughnuts are a common variety that can be either baked or fried. Cookies are small, sweet treats that originated as miniature cakes. Some cookies are crisp, while others remain soft and cake-like.

Sugar confectionery works through the use of various sweeteners. Most home cooks use table sugar, a disaccharide containing glucose and fructose. Through a process called hydrolysis, sucrose can become invert sugar. This substance is even sweeter and is a common commercial ingredient. Many large-scale manufacturers also use syrups made from starch. Corn syrup is a frequent example of these starch-based sweeteners.

These processes allow makers to create everything from hard candies to soft fudges.

The history of sweets stretches back to ancient times. Before sugar was widely available in the West, people used honey. Ancient civilizations in China, India, Egypt, Greece, and Rome used honey to coat fruits. This helped preserve the fruit or create sweetmeats.

By approximately 500 BCE, people in India developed technology to produce sugar crystals. They called these crystals khanda. This local name is actually the source of the English word "candy." Later, the Persians and Greeks learned about sugarcane from the Indian subcontinent. They helped spread sugarcane agriculture to other regions.

In early European history, making sugar treats was often a medical task. Apothecaries, or people who prepared medicines, were the primary producers. They learned about the medicinal uses of sugar from Arabs and Byzantine Greeks. One Middle Eastern remedy involved small, twisted sticks of pulled sugar. In England, these were called penidia or pan sugar. They were the ancestors of modern cough drops.

In 1390, the Earl of Derby paid two shillings for two pounds of these treats.

As sugar moved from medicine to snacks, new trades emerged. The comfitmaker, or confectioner, became a distinct professional. In the 16th century, a "cumfit" was a seed or nut enclosed in sugar. This was a core skill for early confectioners in England.

Later, Ottoman confections became very fashionable in European high society. "Turkish delight" is a famous example of these treats. In England, the first confectionery shop was opened by Elizabeth Raffald. This marked the growth of confectionery from a medical craft into a commercial industry.

Today, confectionery is a massive global industry with many names. Terminology varies significantly depending on where you live. In North America, people say candy or treats. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, people say sweets.

In Australia and New Zealand, the term lollies is common for boiled sweets. This industry is organized through complex international systems. The United Nations uses the ISIC scheme to classify chocolate and sugar confectionery.

These systems help track the manufacturing of everything from caramels to chewing gum.