If you adore the waxy, violently sugary fall treat known as candy corn, it’s possible you may have been brainwashed as a child.
That’s according to the results of a totally unscientific Chicago Sun-Times survey of a handful of Chicago-area bakers, folks who should know a thing or two about sugar.
“I love candy corn. … Maybe the nostalgia of it from when I was young,” said Katie Bermingham, director of operations for Sweet Mandy B’s, with locations in Lincoln Park and Streeterville. “Seeing the candy corn just reminds me of fall and of Halloween, and it reminds me of fun times.”
Bermingham’s mom used to mix candy corn with peanuts.
“So we would just grab a handful, and it would be our salty-sweet treats,” she said.
Or this from Jordana Downer, manager at Bennison’s Bakery in Evanston: “To me, it tastes like all the years of my childhood.”
But then there’s this from James Cox, owner of Chicago Sugar Daddy Patisserie in Lake View. Cox grew up in a home with an English mother who deprived him of the tri-colored treat: “I don’t mind it. I don’t completely hate it. It just tastes like pure sugar.”
However you feel about candy corn, the little orange-white-and-yellow candies are about as abundant this time of year as the soggy, yellow leaves killing the grass in front of your home.
Brach’s, which makes about 88 percent of the candy corn sold in the U.S., produces about 30 million pounds of it every year.
“That’s enough to circle the Earth five times!” said Katie Duffy, vice president and general manager of seasonal candy and the Brach’s brand for parent Ferrara Candy Co.
Maybe so, but Brach’s candy corn isn’t sold all over the world — only in the U.S.
It’s unclear when candy corn was invented. Legend has it that Wunderle Candy Co. in Philadelphia first produced it in 1888 in collaboration with a longtime employee, George Renninger. It was called, simply, Butter Cream, with one type named Chicken Corn. That made sense in an agrarian society kind of way.
Several years later, the Goelitz Confectionery Co., now Jelly Belly, began to produce candy corn, calling it Chicken Feed. Boxes were adorned with a rooster logo and the tagline: “Something worth crowing for.”
Brach’s began candy corn production in 1920.
Today, kids delight in stacking candy corn in a circle, points in, to create corncob towers.
As for nutrition, 19 candy corns amount to about 140 calories and 28 grams of sugar. To be fair, many other Halloween candy staples are in the same ballpark.
Ingredient-wise, it couldn’t be more straightforward. Candy corn is basically sugar, corn syrup, confectioner’s glaze, salt, gelatin, honey and dyes, among some other things.
“It’s not any sweeter than a lot of other candy, and I’ve tasted every candy there is,” said Richard Hartel, who teaches candy science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Sweet Mandy B’s plans to begin making candy corn-decorated cakes in the coming days, but it won’t be without controversy.
“We had a store meeting, and about 50 percent didn’t want us to do the candy corn cake,” Bermingham said.
Their reason?
“It’s a gross dessert.”
Contributing: AP
