Candy Recipes - Beginner, Christmas & More | Taste of Home (2024)

FAQs

What is the most popular Christmas candy? ›

To absolutely no one's surprise, candy canes - red and white, or red, green, and white, striped candy traditionally flavored with peppermint - are one of the signature Christmas candies, with most countries firmly associating them with the holidays. Candy canes are supposedly a German invention.

Every trip past the candy dish yielded a handful of cut rock candy, rainbow gems, baby ribbons, chocolate-filled straws, filled raspberries, and other treats to suck on while opening gifts. Other Christmas classics include peppermint patties and candy canes.

Most candies will keep 2 to 3 weeks (if not longer) if stored tightly covered in a cool, dry place or in the refrigerator. It's best to avoid storing different types of candy together in the same container because hard candies will become soft and sticky, and soft candies will dry out.

Kit Kat ranked top in 13 states, followed by a tie between Skittles and candy canes. In a recent survey conducted by Hubscore, findings revealed that four in five Americans love to put candies in their Christmas stockings during the holiday season, while only a few preferred to fill them with small toys and gift cards.

Candy canes are one of the oldest Christmas candies, first appearing in the 17th century in Europe. They were originally straight white sticks of sugar that were meant to symbolize shepherd's crooks.

The first candy cane most likely took shape in 17^th century Europe when people were enjoying pulled sugars, the parent to today's candy sticks. At that time, somewhere in Germany, an unknown person added a hook to the stick.

Kul Kuls (pronounced as Kalkals) are traditional Indian Christmas sweets that are formed into little curls. These are deep-fried, sweet pastry nibbles that are served on every Indian Christmas plate. It is prepared during Christmas by Indian Catholics in Mangaloreans, Goans and Maharashtra.

If the sugar mixture is not cooked to the proper temperature (the hard-crack stage 300-310° F {149-154° C.} or if you are working in a kitchen with high humidity, chances are your candy is retaining too much moisture.

Protect Candy in the Pantry.

While different types of candy have different storage requirements, the pantry is generally a safe place to stash sweets. Airtight storage in a cool place will ensure a longer shelf-life. Some treats may also be frozen.

How do you store homemade Christmas candy? ›

Using an airtight container to seal and store these treats at room temperature, along with an optional, additional protective layer of wax paper, can be used for many types of homemade candies.

What happens with all the unsold chocolates after Easter? Just like Christmas candy and Thanksgiving pies, the unsold Easter chocolate goes on sale immediately after the holiday, and whatever is still unsold at the time of product expiration gets tossed in the dumpster.

Hard candy like lollipops can last up to a year when stored at room temperature or in a cool, dry location. Gummies last for six to nine months from the date of purchase. Soft candies like caramel and jelly beans last six to nine months if the package has been opened and left at room temperature.

"All but a very small portion is sold, the rest may go to a food pantry like Second Harvest. But every retailer has to deal with their own leftover inventory on their own."

Top-selling chocolates and sweets. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are the No. 1 selling candy brand in the United States, consisting of white fudge, milk, or dark chocolate cups filled with peanut butter. They were invented by H.B. Reese after he founded the H. B. Reese Candy Company in 1923.

Answer-Halloween followed by Easter Christmas and Valentine's Day.