The Sweet Treat of Halloween
Candy corn got its start in the 1880’s when it was invented by George Renninger of Philadelphia. At the time Renninger was working for the Wunderlee Candy Company, BUT Wunderlee did not keep the secret to the sweet treat for long. The recipe was bought at the turn on the 20th century by The Goelitz Confectionery Company. When The Goelitz Company first acquired candy corn, they were actually calling it Chicken Feed, due to its shape and color. The company even marketed the treat with a rooster as the mascot and the tagline “something worth crowing for”. Today, The Goelitz Company is known as The Jelly Belly Co., which still produces and sells candy corn. In fact, Jelly Belly, holds the record for being the company to produce candy corn for the longest. Jelly Belly even has a candy corn flavored Jelly Bean to honor its candy corn roots!
The making of candy corn hasn’t really changed since the 1880’s. It is a mixture of fondant, sugar, marshmallow crème, vanilla extract, and corn syrup. The mixture, of basically sugar, is melted into a slurry of sugary goodness before it is molded and then dyed to its iconic orange, yellow, and white color. Now you’re probably wondering how candy corn can possibly be okay to eat, it is sugar on sugar after all. Surprisingly, candy corn is fat free and is only a 140 calories per handful, and that’s a heaping handful too.
Candy Corn is such an iconic treat that there is even a National Candy Corn day, which is October 30th, not surprisingly, the day of candy corn, is the day before Halloween, which is the holiday most associated with the candy. In fact, the National Confectioners Association estimated that 35 million pounds, or 9 billion pieces, of candy corn were produced in 2015. We should tell you that this is not just around Halloween time, no, candy corn is actually marketed all year long, and there are even different colors for different holidays. Around Thanksgiving, you can get candy corn that’s orange, white and brown, the brown being chocolate flavored. Christmas? Green, white and red, candy corn is made, and given the appropriate name of Reindeer Corn. Valentine’s day? There’s Cupid Corn, which is pink, red and white. No matter the holiday, candy corn is always in season.
Candy corn is definitely one of our favorite treats here at Suzi’s Sweet Shoppe! You can always order online for shipping, or easy pick up. We have plenty of Candy Corn in stock, so stop in today to pick up your candy corn and while you’re here, check out our other sweet treats (no tricks!) for Halloween.
- Stephanie Shaffery