Confectionery
Confectionery also called sweets or candy is sweet food product. Confectionery is
divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories, Bakers' Confections
and Sugar Confections.
Confections are low in micronutrients and protein but high in calories. They may be
fat-free foods, although some confections, especially fried doughs, are high-fat
foods. Many confections are considered empty calories.
Bakers' Confectionery
Bakers' confectionery also called flour confections includes principally sweet
pastries, cakes, and similar baked goods. In the Middle East and Asia, flour-based
confections are more dominant.
Bakers' confectionery includes sweet baked goods, especially those that are served
for the dessert course. Bakers' confections are sweet foods that feature flour as a
main ingredient and are baked. Major categories include cakes, sweet pastries,
doughnuts, scones, and cookie.
Sugar Confectioneries: Sugar confectionery includes sweets, candied nuts,
chocolates, chewing gum, sweetmeats, pastillage, and other confections that are
made primarily of sugar. In some cases, chocolate confections (confections made of
chocolate) are treated as a separate category, as are sugar-free versions of sugar
confections. The words candy (US and Canada), sweets (UK and Ireland), and lollies
(Australia and New Zealand) are common words for the most common varieties of
sugar confectionery. Sugar confections include sweet, sugar-based foods, which are
usually eaten as snack food. This
includes sugar candies, chocolates, candied fruits and nuts, chewing gum, and
sometimes ice cream.
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Confections are defined by the presence of sweeteners. These are usually sugars, but
it is possible to buy sugar-free sweets, such as sugar-free peppermints. The most
common sweetener for home cooking is table sugar, which is chemically a
disaccharide called sucrose. Hydrolysis of sucrose gives a mixture called invert
sugar, which is sweeter and is also a common commercial ingredient. Commercial
confectionery is sweetened by a variety of syrups obtained by hydrolysis of starch.
These sweeteners include all types of corn syrup
Specially formulated chocolate has been manufactured in the past for military use as
a high- density food energy source.
Types of Bakers Confectionaries:
Cakes: is a form of sweet dessert that is typically baked. Typical cake ingredients
are flour, sugar, eggs, butter or oil, a liquid, and leavening agents, such as baking
soda and/or baking powder. Common additional ingredients and flavourings include
dried, candied or fresh fruit, nuts, cocoa, and extracts such as vanilla, with numerous
substitutions for the primary ingredients. Cakes can also be filled with fruit preserves
or dessert sauces (like pastry cream), iced with buttercream or other icings, and
decorated with marzipan, piped borders, or candied fruit.
Pastry: Pastry is dough of flour and water and shortening that may be savoury or
sweetened.
Sweetened pastries are often described as bakers' confectionery. The word "Pastries"
suggests many kinds of baked products made from ingredients such as flour, sugar,
milk, butter, shortening, baking powder, and eggs
Doughnuts: is a type of fried dough confectionery or dessert food. Doughnuts are
usually deep-fried from a flour dough, and typically either ring-shaped or without a
hole, and often filled. Other types of batters can also be used, and various toppings
and flavorings are used for different types, such as sugar, chocolate, or maple
glazing.
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Scones: scone is a single-serving cake or quick bread. They are usually made of
wheat, barley or oatmeal, with baking powder as a leavening agent, and are baked
on sheet pans. They are often lightly sweetened and are occasionally glazed with egg
wash. The scone is a basic component of the cream tea or Devonshire tea. It differs
from a teacake and other sweet buns, which are made with yeast.
Cookies: Are small, flat, sweet, baked good, usually containing flour, eggs, sugar,
and either butter, cooking oil or another oil or fat. It may include other ingredients
such as raisins, oats, chocolate chips or nuts.
Types of Sugar Confectionaries
Sugar confectionery items include sweets, lollipops, candy bars, chocolate, cotton
candy, and other sweet items of snack food. Some of the categories and types of
sugar confectionery include the following:
Caramels: Derived from a mixture of sucrose, glucose syrup, and milk products.
The mixture does not crystallize, thus remains tacky.
Chocolates: Bite-sized confectioneries generally made with chocolate
Divinity: A nougat-like confectionery based on egg whites with chopped nuts
Dodol: A toffee-like food delicacy popular in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the
Philippines
Dragée: Sugar-coated almonds and other types of sugar panned candy.
Fondant: Prepared from a warm mixture of glucose syrup and sucrose, this is
partially crystallized. The fineness of the crystallites results in a creamy texture.
Fudge: Made by boiling milk and sugar to the soft-ball stage. In the US, it tends to
be chocolate-flavored.
Hard candy: Based on sugars cooked to the hard-crack stage. Examples include
suckers (known as boiled sweets in British English), lollipops, jawbreakers (or
gobstoppers), lemon drops, peppermint drops and disks, candy canes, rock candy,
etc. Also included are types often mixed with nuts such as brittle. Others contain
flavorings including coffee such as Kopiko.
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Ice cream: Frozen, flavoured cream, often containing small pieces of chocolate,
fruits and/or nuts.
Jelly candies: Including those based on sugar and starch, pectin, gum, or gelatin
such as Turkish delight (lokum), jelly beans, gumdrops, jujubes, gummies, etc.
Liquorice: Containing extract of the liquorice root. Chewier and more resilient than
gum/gelatin candies, but still designed for swallowing. For example, Liquorice all
sorts. Has a similar taste to star anise.
Marshmallow: "Peeps" (a trade name), circus peanuts, fluffy puff, Jet-Puffed
Marshmallows.
Mithai: A generic term for confectionery in India, typically made from dairy
products and/or some form of flour. Sugar or molasses are used as sweeteners.
Tablet: A crumbly milk-based soft and hard candy, based on sugars cooked to the
soft ball stage. Comes in several forms, such as wafers and heart shapes. Not to be
confused with tableting, a method of candy production.
Taffy or chews: A candy that is folded many times above 120 °F (50 °C),
incorporating air bubbles thus reducing its density and making it opaque.
Principles of Sugar Confectionery Production
Sugar confectionery refers to a large range of food items, commonly known as
sweets. Boiled sweets, toffees, marshmallows, and fondant are all examples.
Sweets are a non-essential commodity, but are consumed by people from most
income groups.
The variety of products is enormous, ranging from cheap, individually-wrapped
sweets, to those presented in boxes with sophisticated packaging.
By varying the ingredients used, the temperature of boiling, and the method of
shaping, it is possible to make a wide variety of products. In all cases, however, the
principle of production remains the same and is outlined below:
balance the recipe
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prepare the ingredients
mix together the ingredient
boil the mixture until the desired temperature has been reached
Cool
Shape
pack.
Sweets containing high concentrations of sugar (sucrose) may crystallize either
during manufacture or on storage (commonly referred to as graining). Although this
may be desirable for certain products (such as fondant and fudge), in most other
cases it is seen as a quality defect.
When a sugar solution is heated, a certain percentage of sucrose breaks down to form
'invert sugar'. This invert sugar inhibits sucrose crystallization and increases the
overall concentration of sugars in the mixture. This natural process of inversion,
however, makes it difficult to accurately assess the degree of invert sugar that will
be produced.
Variations in boiling temperature can make a difference between a sticky, cloudy
sweet or a dry, clear sweet. An accurate way of measuring the temperature is to use
a sugar thermometer.
Other tests can be used to assess the temperature (for example, toffee temperatures
can be estimated by removing a sample, cooling it in water, and examining it when
cold). The temperatures are known by distinctive names such as 'soft ball', 'hard ball'
etc., all of which refer to the consistency of the cold toffee.
Type of sweet Temperature range for boiling (Degrees C)
Fondants 116-121
Fudge 116
Caramels and regular toffee 118-132
Hard toffee (e.g. butterscotch) 146-154
Hard-boiled sweets 149-166
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Types of sweets
• Fondants and creams
Fondant is made by boiling a sugar solution with the optional addition of glucose
syrup. The mixture is boiled to a temperature in the range of 116-121°C, cooled, and
then beaten in order to control the crystallization process and reduce the size of the
crystals.
Creams are fondants which have been diluted with a weak sugar solution or water.
These products are not very stable due to their high water content, and therefore have
a shorter shelf-life than many other sugar confectionery products. Both fondants and
creams are commonly used as soft centres for chocolates and other sweets.
• Gelatin sweets
These sweets include gums, jellies, pastilles, and marshmallows. They are distinct
from other sweets as they have a rather spongy texture which is set by gelatin.
• Toffee and caramels
These are made from sugar solutions with the addition of ingredients such as milk-
solids and fats. Toffees have a lower moisture content than caramels and
consequently have a harder texture. As the product does not need to be clear, it is
possible to use unrefined sugar such as jaggery or gur, instead of white granular
sugar.
• Hard-boiled sweets
These are made from a concentrated solution of sugar which has been heated and
then cooled to form a solid mass containing less than 2 per cent moisture. Within
this group of products there is a wide scope to create many different colours, flavours
and shapes through the use of added flavourings and colourings
Cocoa Beans
Theobroma cacoa”, is the term referring to the tree that yields cocoa, an important
raw material for production of chocolate, is one of the greatest treasures discovered
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in the 18th century. Chocolate has found to be originated from the Amazon base of
South America.
The Swedish Botanist Carolus Linnaeus renamed the cocoa tree in Greek to
“Theobroma cacoa” which means “food of Gods”. The term “cacao” is the botanical
name and it indicates to the entire tree including the beans and products before
processing and the term “chocolate” for processed beans in ground, liquid or in solid
form. The term “cocoa” refers to concentrated cocoa powder.
cocoa, highly concentrated powder made from chocolate liquor—a paste prepared
from cocoa beans, the fruit of the cacao—and used in beverages and as a flavouring
ingredient. Cocoa is the key ingredient in chocolate and chocolate confections.
The cocoa bean is the seed of the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao), a tropical plant
indigenous to the equatorial regions of the Americas. From the processed cocoa bean
comes the fluid paste, or liquor, from which cocoa powder and chocolate are made.
Chocolate is sold directly to the consumer as solid bars of eating chocolate, as
packaged cocoa, and as baking chocolate. It is also used by confectioners as coating
for candy bars and boxed or bulk chocolates, by bakery product manufacturers and
bakers as coating for many types of cookies and cakes, and by ice-cream companies
as coating for frozen novelties. Cocoa powders, chocolate liquor, and blends of the
two are used in bulk to flavour various food products and to provide the flavours in
such “chocolate” products as syrups, toppings, chocolate milk, prepared cake mixes,
and pharmaceuticals.
Some experts use “cacao” for the pods, beans and ground-up contents of the beans,
reserving “cocoa” for the powder left after pressing the fat out of the ground beans
Makers of raw (unroasted) or less processed cacao bean products often use the word
cacao rather than cocoa, which may imply that they’re more natural products.
Types of cacao beans:
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Three distinct species of cacao are being used in manufacture of chocolate.
i. Criollo (meaning “native”)
ii. Forastero (meaning “foreign”)
iii. Trinitario
4.1. Criollo beans are most delicate and represents only 10 to 15% of world’s
production. Cultivated mainly in Central America, the bean is always used in
combination with other varieties, recognized by their dark, purplish colour.
4.2. Forastero beans are much harder and higher yielding variety grown in Brazil
and Africa accounting for 80% of world’s production; it has a stronger and bitter
flavour and is used for blending of the different varieties of cocoa beans.
4.3. Trinitario beans are a hybrid variety combining of both Criollo and Forastero.
The world cocoa trade markets broadly two types of cocoa beans like:
Fine or Flavoured beans
Bulk or ordinary beans
Commonly, fine or flavoured cocoa beans are obtained from Criollo or Trinitario
varieties of cocoa varieties, while bulk cocoa beans are received from Forastero
trees.
How Cacao Beans Are Processed
The raw beans contained within the sticky matrix of the cacao pod don’t taste much like
chocolate. Therefore, even raw cacao products aren’t made with beans straight from the pod.
Rather, once cacao beans are harvested, they go through several processing steps. In brief, the
basic process is (1Trusted Source, 4, 5Trusted Source):
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1. Fermentation: The beans (with some sticky pulp still clinging on) are put
into bins and covered for a few days so microbes that feed on the pulp can
ferment the beans. This starts to develop the distinctive chocolate flavor and
aroma.
2. Drying: The fermented beans are dried for several days. Once dry, they may
be sorted and sold to chocolate makers.
3. Roasting: The dried beans are roasted unless a raw product is desired.
Roasting more fully develops the chocolate flavor and gives them some
sweetness.
4. Crushing: The beans are crushed and separated from their outer hulls,
resulting in broken cacao pieces called nibs.
5. Grinding: Nibs are ground, producing a non-alcoholic liquor. Now it’s ready
to be made into chocolate products.
To make cocoa powder, the liquor — which is roughly half fat in the form of cocoa
butter — is pressed to remove most of the fat
To make chocolate, the liquor is often mixed with other ingredients, including
vanilla, sugar, more cocoa butter and milk,
Health Benefits and Risks of Cacao and Cocoa
Cacao beans and the products derived from them are rich sources of beneficial plant
compounds, particularly flavanols, which have antioxidant, heart-protective and
anti-cancer properties, among other health benefits.
Cacao also contains iron that is readily absorbed by your body, unlike some plant
sources of the mineral. Vegetarians and vegans may especially profit from this, as
their sources of iron are limited.
Cacao products also contain tryptophan, which is an amino acid your body uses to
make serotonin, a brain chemical that helps you relax.
Despite these benefits, remember that chocolate is high in calories. If you ate an
entire 3-ounce (85-gram), 70%-cocoa chocolate bar, you’d gain 480 calories, 24
grams of saturated fat and 27 grams of added sugars .
By choosing dark chocolate and unsweetened cacao products like nibs, you can
minimize health risks linked to eating too much sugar, including weight gain and
dental decay (
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Here are some common chocolate types and varieties:
Milk Chocolate
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This is the most widely consumed type of chocolate around the world. It contains
milk powder, giving it a creamy and sweet flavour and it should contain between
10% - 40% cocoa solids (also called cocoa mass or cocoa liquor). The typical 5
ingredients of good milk chocolate are: cocoa mass + sugar + milk solids + cocoa
butter + lecithin (and sometimes vanilla).
Dark Chocolate
Dark chocolate has a higher percentage of cocoa solids and little milk content giving
it a richer and more intense flavour compared to milk chocolate. The term "dark
chocolate" can refer to both bittersweet and semi-sweet chocolate; the cocoa
percentage in these can vary, with higher percentages usually indicating a more
pronounced cocoa flavour and less sweetness. The typical 4 ingredients of good dark
chocolate are: cocoa mass + sugar + cocoa butter + lecithin (and sometimes vanilla).
Semi-sweet Chocolate
This type of dark chocolate contains a moderate amount cocoa solids (between 15%
- 34%) and a moderate amount of sugar. It falls between bittersweet chocolate and
milk chocolate in terms of sweetness and cocoa content. The typical 4 ingredients of
good semi-sweet chocolate are: cocoa mass + sugar + cocoa butter + lecithin (and
sometimes vanilla).
Bittersweet Chocolate
Bittersweet chocolate has a higher cocoa percentage (68% and higher) and less sugar
than semi-sweet chocolate. It has a strong, slightly bitter taste and is often used in
baking in order to allow the baker or pastry chef to control the amount of added sugar
in the recipe. The typical 4 ingredients of good bittersweet chocolate are: cocoa
mass + sugar + cocoa butter + lecithin (and sometimes vanilla).
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White Chocolate
White chocolate is made from cocoa butter, sugar, and milk powder. It has a pale
colour and a sweet, creamy taste. Even though it isn't brown like chocolate, white
chocolate is legally considered chocolate if the only fat is cocoa butter (at least
20%), which comes from cocoa beans. The typical ingredients of good white
chocolate are: sugar + milk solids + cocoa butter + lecithin (and sometimes vanilla).
Unsweetened Chocolate
Also known as Baking Chocolate, unsweetened chocolate usually contains very little
to no added sugar. It is mostly used for baking purposes and can have between 85%
to 100% cocoa mass. Because it is mostly chocolate mass (also called liquor) made
from ground cocoa beans, it is very bitter.
Ruby Chocolate
Ruby cocao is a relatively new type of chocolate that has a distinct pink colour and
a fruity flavour. It is made from specially selected cocoa beans and is processed
using citric acid to arrest the fermenting procces.
Defects in Chocolates
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Well there are not any such thing as defects and a plain chocolate bar can be kept for
more than one and half years and can stretch to even longer duration. Though the
same cannot be true with chocolates containing nuts and other fillings. Though there
are few technicalities in chocolates like chocolate getting whitish in colour or a
grainy outlook. But they are still good for consumption and are not bad in taste.
1. Fat Bloom: When you see a white or grayish film on the surface of your food, it
normally means the product has gone bad, but it’s a different story with chocolate.
When the cocoa butter fats in chocolate separate from the cocoa mass and rise to the
surface, it results in something called “fat bloom.” While not the most attractive
thing to see on your chocolate bar, fat bloom is usually safe to eat.
2. Sugar Bloom: Chocolate that has been exposed to humidity or moved quickly
from cold to hot temperatures can cause the sugar to crystallize. The result is a
grainy, unpleasant texture, and while it’s not harmful to consume, sugar bloom
doesn’t make for a very pleasant eating experience.
3. Odor: A sniff test is an easy way to tell if your chocolate will be tasty or off-
putting. Chocolate absorbs odors like a sponge, especially when stored in a fridge
full of savory foodstuffs. Chocolate is best stored tightly wrapped, in a cool (about
65 °F, unrefrigerated), dry environment away from strongly scented foods.
4. Quality & Freshness: Chocolate is best when eaten within a year of its
production, but high quality chocolate can be consumed well past its sell-by date.
Some chocolate improves like wine, with age. High quality chocolate contains
natural preservatives called flavanols. Flavanols provide excellent antioxidant health
benefits while keeping the chocolate fresher-tasting longer than store-bought
chocolate containing artificial preservatives.
5. Taste: A small nibble should be enough to alert you to any rancid or off tastes.
Watch out for overpowering bitterness and the presence of other, non-chocolate
flavors like onion or garlic. Cocoa powder can last a long time if stored properly in
a sealed container, but can quickly take on a funky taste and scent if exposed to a
pantry full of spices.
6. Tempering:If the chocolate is not tempered properly though they are still good to
eat but they will crumble in the mouth instead of melting.
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Cocoa butter is a type of vegetable fat that comes from cocoa beans. Manufacturers extract
creamy cocoa butter from the beans by fermenting, drying, roasting, and then pressing them.
They turn the remaining portion into cocoa powder.
Cocoa butter is a common active ingredient in lotions, creams, and lip balms.
In more recent times, researchers have found that cocoa may have several positive properties,
including anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Many of these properties are due to
substances that cocoa powder contains, such as catechin. Cocoa butter may also have healthful
benefits.
Benefits of cocoa butter
Many people use cocoa butter topically in an attempt to improve skin health and appearance.
However, many of the reported benefits of cocoa butter rely on anecdotal or low-quality
evidence. The following section details a selection of these reported benefits.
Skin health
Several components of cocoa butter are associated with skin health. A 2022 reviewTrusted
Source reported limited evidence that flavonoids found in cocoa, such as epicatechin, had an
unspecified anti-aging effect in rodent models. Researchers also found limited evidence that
other antioxidants and naturally occurring fats in cocoa butter may reduce inflammation related
to skin aging.
However, it is important to note that the referenced studies were of low quality, and these
benefits have not been fully proven through rigorous study.
Moisturizing the skin
Cocoa butter is a core ingredient in many skin moisturizers. Some people use pure cocoa butter
to help relieve dry skin.
Like other natural moisturizers, such as coconut oil, cocoa butter contains a high level of fatty
acids. These fats may help form a protective layer on the skin, preventing moisture from
escaping and, therefore, stopping the skin from drying out.
Preventing stretch marks
Many people claim that cocoa butter can prevent stretch marks from developing, especially
during pregnancy. However, the American Academy of Dermatology Association states that
there is no proof that this is the case.
Stretch marks are a natural process and do not require treatment. However, anyone concerned
about the appearance of stretch marks should speak with their doctor before trying at-home
remedies.
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