Confectionery is the art of making confections, or sweet foods. Confections are items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates although exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confections are divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories: bakers' confections and sugar confections.
Candy corn is a small, pyramid-shaped candy, typically divided into three sections of different colors, with a waxy texture and a flavor based on honey, sugar, butter, and vanilla. It is a staple candy of the fall season and Halloween in North America.
Necco Wafers are a sugar-based candy, sold in rolls of variously-flavored thin disks. First produced in 1847, they became the namesake and core product of the now-defunct New England Confectionery Company (Necco), which operated near Boston, Massachusetts. Production of the candy was suspended in July 2018 when Necco went into bankruptcy, but returned in May 2020 after purchase of the brand and production equipment by the Spangler Candy Company.
Butterfinger is a candy bar manufactured by the Ferrara Candy Company, a subsidiary of Ferrero. It consists of a layered crisp peanut butter core covered in a "chocolatey" coating. It was invented by Otto Schnering of the Curtiss Candy Company in 1923. A popularity contest chose the name.
Hershey's Kisses is a brand of chocolate first produced by the Hershey Company in 1907. The bite-sized pieces of chocolate have a distinctive conical shape, sometimes described as flat-bottomed teardrops. Hershey's Kisses chocolates are wrapped in squares of lightweight aluminum foil. A narrow strip of paper, called a plume, protrudes from the top of each Hershey's Kiss wrapper. Originally designed as a flag for the "Hershey's" brand, the printed paper plumes were added to the Kisses product wrapper in 1921 to distinguish the Hershey's Kiss from its competitors who were offering similar products.
In the United States, Smarties are a type of tablet candy produced by Smarties Candy Company, formerly known as Ce De Candy Inc., since 1949. Smarties are produced in factories in both Union Township, New Jersey, and Newmarket, Ontario. The candies distributed in Canada are marketed as Rockets, to avoid confusion with Smarties, a chocolate candy produced by Nestlé which owns the trademark in Canada. The New Jersey factory produces approximately 1 billion rolls of Smarties annually, and in total the company produces over 2.5 billion in a year.
Sugar candy is any candy whose primary ingredient is sugar. The main types of sugar candies are hard candies, fondants, caramels, jellies, and nougats. In British English, this broad category of sugar candies is called sweets, and the name candy or sugar-candy is used only for hard candies that are nearly solid sugar.
Wacky Wafers are a candy sold by Leaf Brands, LLC. They are shaped about the size of an American half dollar coin and come in five flavors: banana, green apple, watermelon, orange, and strawberry. Sold in a clear plastic wrapper, you can see the long strip of multi-colored and flavored Wacky Wafers inside.
Necco was an American manufacturer of candy created in 1901 as the New England Confectionery Company through the merger of several small confectionery companies located in the Greater Boston area, with ancestral companies dating back to the 1840s.
Sky Bar is an American candy bar introduced by Necco in 1938, discontinued in 2018, and reintroduced in 2019 by the Sky Bar Confectionary Company. Each Sky Bar has four sections, each with a different filling—caramel, vanilla, peanut, and fudge—all covered in milk chocolate.
Love Hearts are a type of confectionery manufactured by Swizzels Matlow in the United Kingdom. They are hard, tablet-shaped sweets featuring a short, love-related message on one side of the sweet. They are an updated version of Victorian-era conversation lozenges.
The Clark Bar is a candy bar consisting of a crispy peanut butter/spun taffy core and coated in milk chocolate. It was introduced in 1917 by David L. Clark and was popular during and after both World Wars. It was the first American "combination" candy bar to achieve nationwide success. Two similar candy bars followed the Clark Bar, the Butterfinger bar (1923) made by the Curtiss Candy Company and the 5th Avenue bar (1936) created by Luden's.
Candy Buttons, Candy Dots, or Pox are small rounded flat pegs of candy that are attached to a strip of paper. This classic sugar candy was originally introduced by the Cumberland Valley company and J Sudak and Son of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. In 1977, Sudak, which changed its name to Uncle Nibbles Candy Factory, sold to a repackager in Manhattan named CeeDee Candy, they sold to NECCO. After that acquisition, Necco bought the Cumberland Valley Company in 1980, which made them the exclusive manufacturer of this product in the United States. Each strip of the candy includes three flavors: cherry (pink), lime (blue), and lemon (yellow). Candy Buttons come in two strip sizes: long and short. The long is 221⁄2 inches, while the short is 111⁄4 inches. NECCO made 750 million candy buttons in the course of a year. Following NECCO's 2018 bankruptcy, Candy Buttons were bought at auction by Cincinnati's Doscher's Candies. They were subsequently the first former Necco candy back to market.
Haviland Thin Mints are a chocolate-covered mint candy produced by Log House Foods of Plymouth, Minnesota. The candy is a mint fondant covered in dark chocolate, similar to the York Peppermint Pattie but smaller, thinner and shorter.
Mary Jane is an old-fashioned peanut butter- and molasses-flavored taffy-type candy.
Turkish Taffy is a "chewy" taffy-like candy bar, which comes in several flavors.
Peach Blossoms were a candy made by Necco at The New England Confectionery Co. in Revere, Massachusetts. They contained peanut butter wrapped in a crunchy shell. Contrary to their name and color, the flavor did not imitate that of a peach. They were made with sugar, corn syrup, ground peanuts, salt, glycerine, vanillin and artificial coloring.
Gummies, gummi candies, gummy candies, or jelly sweets are a broad category of gelatin-based chewable sweets. Gummy bears, Sour Patch Kids, and Jelly Babies are widely popular and are a well-known part of the sweets industry. Gummies are available in a wide variety of shapes, most commonly seen as colorful depictions of living things such as bears, babies, or worms. Various brands such as Bassett's, Haribo, Albanese, Betty Crocker, Hersheys, Disney and Kellogg's manufacture various forms of gummy snacks, often targeted at young children. The name "gummi" originated in Germany, with the term "jelly sweets" more common in the United Kingdom.
The Spangler Candy Company is a privately owned confectioner that has been manufacturing and marketing candy for more than a century. Headquartered in Bryan, Ohio, Spangler's products include lollipops, candy canes, and marshmallow circus peanuts. Spangler brand names include Dum-Dums, Bit-O-Honey, Necco Wafers, Sweetheart Candies, Spangler Candy Canes, Spangler Circus Peanuts and Canada Mints. Dum-Dums, the company's most recognized brand, were invented in 1924, and Spangler purchased the rights and equipment in 1953. The small multicolor lollipops are popular as free giveaways. In 2018, Spangler bought various assets and brands from the defunct Necco, retaining the rights to Necco Wafers, Sweethearts conversation hearts, and Canada Mints. In 2020, Spangler bought the rights to Bit-O-Honey from Pearson Candy Company.
