Happy Halloween! 2020 is a strange year. Whether you have decided to go trick or treating or not, hope that you are staying healthy, watching spooky movies at home, or eating a lot of candies.
Candies are always an important part of Halloween, but have you considered the science hiding behind the sweet taste? Do you know how candies are made and why are they sweet? Read this article to find out!
Simple carbohydrate, more commonly known as sugar, is the primary ingredient in most candies. To be more specific, the sugar is called sucrose, a molecule composed of twelve atoms of carbon, twenty-two atoms of hydrogen, and eleven atoms of oxygen. Sucrose can be broken down into glucose and fructose easily when some acid is added to the recipes. Additionally, if you think about these white stuff known as sugar, they are exactly the primary ingredient we were talking about here. Sugar looks like little cubes if you look at it closely, and these cube-shaped sugars are known as sugar crystals.
When you add sugar into water, as the sugar crystals dissolve, you will get a sugar solution. When the solution has a very high temperature, more sugar can be held. Cooking sugar, water, and some other ingredients together at a high temperature causes the boiling water to evaporate, and the sugar remains. As sugar cools down, there is more sugar than normal, and this solution is called to be supersaturated. In a supersaturated solution, the sugar molecules will cool down and become crystallized. The process of crystallization is very important during the process of making candies.
There are two categories of candies - crystalline candies and non-crystalline candies.
Crystalline candies
Fudge and fondant are examples of crystalline candies. These types of candies usually have a lower sugar concentration compared to non-crystalline candies and may contain small fine crystals of sucrose. When making fudge, heating the sugar solution and then pouring it into a pan to cool it down are important because temperature control is the key in this process. Constant stirring makes the size of the crystals small, and the fudge’s smooth and silky texture can therefore be made.
Non-crystalline candies
Glass candy, cotton candy, and gummies are all examples of non-crystalline candies. Non-crystalline candies have higher temperatures than crystalline candies. No stirring is needed during the process of making non-crystalline candies, for it will help form crystals. However, rapid cool down is needed to prevent crystals from forming.
Candies are sweet and tasty, but remember that excess carbohydrates are stored as fat, so controlling sugar intake will prevent you from getting various chronic diseases!
Enjoy your candies!
Written by: Benetta Wang
Sources:
“The Science of Candy: Sugar Chemistry.” ChemicalSafetyFacts.Org, 13 Oct. 2020, www.chemicalsafetyfacts.org/the-science-of-candy-sugar-chemistry.
“Science of Candy: What Is Sugar? | Exploratorium.” Exploratorium: The Museum of Science, Art and Human Perception, www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/candy/sugar.html. Accessed 31 Oct. 2020.
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