It’s Almost Christmas

Gumdrops, hard candies, peppermints? What is Christmas without candy and what tastes better than homemade candy? Here is how you can store your Christmas candy properly.

Art and science come together in candy making. As you know sugar will dissolve in water. When the water is heated the sugar molecules break down and then reform as they are cooled. This is the basis of making candy. That is the science of making candy.

The art of making candy is a combination of flavors used, physical shape of the candy made and any decorations placed on the candy. There are few sights more pleasing to the eye than a tempting plate of homemade chocolates or fudge. A bowl of colorfully wrapped hard candies a welcome addition to any holiday table. Storing your Christmas candy properly will maintain all of the care and taste that you put into the making of them.

There are three basic forms of candy: hard, soft, and everything else. Lets look at these three basic forms and see what each needs so that you can store your Christmas candy properly.

Hard Candy: The candy with the highest sugar content is hard candy. Hard candy can come in almost any form, flavor or color. Colorful hard candy balls wrapped in colorful paper complete a coffee table setting. A Christmas tree wouldn’t be complete without peppermint sticks. Hard candy should be stored at temperatures between 10 – 20ºC (50 – 70ºF) at approximately 40% humidity. If proper storage conditions are not maintained, the individual hard candies will solidify into a large multicolored chunk of gunk.

Soft Candies: Soft candies include marshmallows, jellies and nougats. These candies are sugar with other ingredients added. For example nougats have a candy center of various flavors covered by chocolate. Soft candies should be stored between 24 – 27ºC (75 – 80ºF) at a relative humidity of 45%. Almost nothing is worse than opening a box of soft candy to find it melted into a almost homogeneous glob.

The Other Candies: This last group is a big one; it includes chocolate, fudge and sugar or chocolate covered fruits and nuts. Homemade chocolate and homemade fudge are Christmas treats in many households. Caramels should be stored at temperatures between 21 – 27ºC (70 – 80ºF) while chocolate stores best at slightly cooler temperatures 16 – 18ºC (60 – 65ºF). Both caramels and chocolates should be stored at approximately 50% humidity.

Temperature and humidity both affect the shelf life of any candy. How candy is stored affects both its appearance and taste. You went to a lot of trouble making your Christmas candies. Storing your Christmas candy properly will enable your family and guests to fully appreciate the fruits of your labors.

From Amazon: A Baker’s Field Guide to Holiday Candy & Confections: Sweet Treats All Year Long