Greg from Lofty Pursuits used his antique candy drop roller to create Madness, his mixture of candies that all have the same red color but have many different flavors. He also demonstrates the Stroop effect. Read the rest
Pastry chef and Bon Appétit's senior food editor Claire Saffitz has been reverse engineering popular candies like Kit Kats and Skittles in an effort to make her own gourmet versions. For both candies, it's quite the process to recreate artisanal versions of them!
If this is your kind of thing, Saffitz has also tried to recreate junk food like Cheetos and Twinkies.
Since 1847, non-discerning Americans have been eating slices of flavored chalk branded as NECCO wafers. With the company possibly closing soon, they're panic buying the inedible grim-tasting "candy" to torture one last round of guests or trick-or-treaters with their terrible taste in candy. Read the rest
German pastry chef, gamer, cosplayer, and Twittizen, Sonja decided to make a batch of edible candy RPG/polyhedral dice. She posted pictures on Twitter and all the nerds came running to her yard. Realizing she might have a hungry market on her hands, Sonja has quickly opened up an Etsy store, the cleverly-named, Sugar and Dice.
Batches of the dice are Isomalt sugar and are edible. They can either be "eaten as a hard candy bonbon or dissolved into a hot cup of tea or coffee." Sonja points out that they are not balanced and not perfect on all sides, so they can't really be reliably used in gaming.
A set of 7 dice (1 each of d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d100, and d20) will run you £18, shipped to the US (and take 1-2 weeks). Not exactly penny candy, but a cool novelty and a unique, fun gift for a gamer friend. I will definitely be getting some. A set of these will make a nice gaming night prize. Read the rest
Easter is on April Fools Day this year but what I'm about to share is not a joke.
A brewery in Texas, The Collective Brewing Project in Fort Worth, has crafted a Peeps-filled ale that will be ready for the holiday. It's a collaboration with local bar Lone Star Taps and Caps, according to Dallas Morning News' Guide Live:
Called Peep This Collab, the beer is a sour ale brewed with Peeps, vanilla and butterfly pea flower, which will turn the beverage purple. Brewers added more than 30 boxes of the marshmallow candy, says Steven Roman, general manager of Taps and Caps. And once the beer has fermented, they'll add edible glitter to really make it shine.
Collective's head brewer and co-founder Ryan Deyo says, "Several of us were just sitting around the brewery talking about how beer has become this super serious thing. I've been on a kick to assert beer should be a fun thing... We make a beer with ramen noodles, so Peeps isn't really a stretch." Read the rest
Easter is a busy time for chocolatier Andy Karandzieff (aka "Andy Candy"). He expects to sell over 10K chocolate bunnies this month at his candy shop, a St. Louis institution since 1913.
However, when one of his hand-poured chocolates breaks coming out of its mold, the Crown Candy Kitchen owner doesn't toss it or re-melt the chocolate. He instead takes the broken pieces and starts franken-ing them together, forming "misfit chocolates."
He told KSDK, "You can start getting creative and you get these oddball, misfit things that come out of my demented imagination sometimes."
I wish his shop was closer to me, so I could buy some of his mutant mashups to gift. Easter is on April Fools Day this year, after all (not that I need an excuse). Read the rest
Greg at Public Displays of Confection created this delightful honey-flavored crystal candy with a sunflower pattern inside. It's really cool to see how they did it. Read the rest
In an alliterative homage to Breaking Bad, Binging with Babish shows viewers how to make the dipping sticks that Walter never got, as well as some dangerously delicious candy meth. Read the rest
Getting ready for Valentines day? Just like candy? This five pound bag of Haribo Gummy Bears is pretty darn AWESOME.
The pace at which my daughter and I can finish this giant bag of gummies is impressive... or maybe gummy bears just never, ever go stale.
I like the pineapple ones.
Haribo Original Gold-Bears Gummi Candy, 5-Pound Bag via Amazon Read the rest
David Shtorm (aka Candy King) has a black light cotton candy maker, and he creates edible animal sculptures like this elephant that are a big hit with the kids. Read the rest
Crown Candy is Kamau Bilal's short and loving look at a candy store that plans to stay put in its changing North St. Louis neighborhood. Read the rest
Toy artist Jesse Wroblewski of Chainsaw Estates challenged himself to sculpt a horror movie-themed PEZ candy dispenser for each day in October.
Here's a look at some of his horribly-creative sculptures, from Pennywise to Pinhead:
Read the rest
Remember last year? Remember the above figure (direct link), where all was laid out? This is how SCIENCE ranks your Halloween haul. Kit Kat and actual cash at the top, dental floss and anything whole wheat near the bottom.
Well, now it's time for the 2017 Candy Ranking Games. Go and fill out this 10 minute survey into the best and worst Halloween candies. Do it for science. Do it to fight #fakenews. Go forth, go go!
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Note that data will be collected for analysis until noon, PST, Oct 25th. This year’s Candy Hierarchy will be published on October 27th.
THINGS TO CONSIDER
You probably thought all we’d talk about this year is David S. Pumpkins and candy corn. Ask David S. Pumpkins to guest co-author, they said. He’s got a Wikipedia page and you don’t, they said. Read the rest
Emily Seilhamer upcycled old Starburst wrappers into a woven dress, as well as purse and shoes. Read the rest
Just when you think they can't make foods any weirder, out comes an unusual crossbreed: a cough reliever/candy bar.
Called Kit Kat Nodo Ame Aji, which translates to Kit Kat Cough Drop Flavour, this new chocolate actually delivers a dose of 2.1 percent throat lozenge powder in every serving...
Accompanying the unique release is some equally unusual packaging which features the image of Yasutaro Matsuki, a former national soccer player and manager who’s also well-known for his work as a soccer commentator. His enthusiastic commentary acts as the perfect inspiration for the sweet, which has been designed to support Asahi TV sports broadcasts while helping to soothe the throats of supporters as they cheer for the Japanese soccer team.
Each box, which contains three individually wrapped Kit Kats, features an image of Matsuki yelling out “It’s one more point! Another point!!” alongside a slogan that reads “There’s a battle there that most definitely can’t be lost”, as a nod to the fact that Kit Kat is pronounced “Kitto Katsu” in Japan, which literally translates to “Surely Win”.
If you want to get one, better hurry. The cough drop-flavored Kit Kat is only available until September 5th, and only in Japan.
image via PRTimes Read the rest
Producing hard candy in bulk still required a lot of skill in Victorian times, as Lofty Pursuits demonstrated by making cinnamon hearts on this hard candy press from 1871. Read the rest
From Tallahassee, Florida's Lofty Pursuits who offer these "handmade artisinal candies" at $6 for a 2.75oz bag:
A new technique for a new effect in our image candies. These Crystal Roses are formed from nothing but hot sugar, and flavors. This is the first in a series of candies using this kind of design.
