We love us some gummy bears. There’s something so perfect about their chewy texture, fruity flavors, and adorable form that makes them special. Mental Floss series Food History looks back at the origins and evolution of the tasty candy treat, which first took their bear-shaped form in the 1920s in Germany.
This satisfying cooking video from Indonesia’s Vinostar Channel shows us how to make a yummy and appealing candy using just three ingredients. All that’s needed to make these orange jelly candies is orange juice, agar powder, and sugar. It looks simple, but like any dessert, getting it right requires practice and precision.
We’ve seen jawbreakers face off against a blow torch, a hydraulic press,and a sanding belt. But Ben’s Worx used his power (tools) for good not evil, turning a Monster Jawbreaker into a work of art by turning it on a lathe, coating it in resin to preserve the design, then turning it again to form a new sphere.
Combining and balancing flavors in an unexpected yet delicious way, these 36% milk chocolate bars have been infused with Sriracha hot sauce and a dash of pink Himalayan salt, resulting in a perfect mix of sweet and spicy. The 2.5 oz. bars also come in 55% dark chocolate and 70% dark chocolate versions.
Back in 1976, they took red M&Ms off the market because red food dye was thought to cause cancer. While those M&Ms couldn’t really kill you, this one might. Adam from North of the Border imagined what it might be like if M&Ms ate people like people eat candy. It’s amazing how creepy you can make stuff by adding teeth.
Tootsie Rolls have been around since 1896. Food Network’s Unwrapped 2.0 takes us on a tour of Tootsie’s enormous Chicago factory for a look at how these sweet and chewy treats are produced in mass quantities – nearly 65 million pieces of candy per day. We’re surprised they never tried selling those giant Tootsie logs.
For a sweet treat that’s more like a gourmet dessert than a candy bar, try Zotter Chocolates. Their hand-scooped bars feature thick layers of natural ingredients enveloped in a fine coating of premium chocolate. Flavors include tiramisu, yuzu citrus, chocolate banana, orange/marzipan, and more.
Lollipops are a fun way to enjoy hard candy. They’re even better when they’re edible works of art. Food Kingdom takes us inside Orbsei, a factory in Korea that makes spherical, sugar-free lollies that look like planets and galaxies. What makes them even more amazing is how much handwork goes into each one.
Lofty Pursuits is known for its impressive candy-making operation. For their latest video, they decided to let the candy do its own talking, capturing the sound of its Shamrock hard candies being cracked apart, shaken, and mixed in preparation for sale. When they got to the blue stuff, all we could think of was Breaking Bad.
Pastry and chocolate artist Amaury Guichon adds to his edible menagerie with a prehistoric creature. Unlike the velociraptors in Jurassic Park, you can hunt this one down and eat it before it gets you. When he started with the giant egg, we thought he was gonna have a baby raptor hatch out of there.
Ojai, California artist Beatrice “Beato” Wood (AKA “the Mama of Dada”) was a free spirit who lived 105 years, attributing her longevity to “chocolate… and young men.” In her honor, Ojai’s Porch Gallery hand makes a seductive Beato Chocolate Bars range featuring Beato’s ribald illustrations. Naughty, yet very nice.
When it comes to Halloween candy, we hand out full-size Hershey bars and Reese’s – because that’s how we roll. But some people offer more trick than treat, giving out circus peanuts, candy corn, or black licorice. The History Guy delves deep into these divisive candies and where they came from.
Purveyor of weird, wild, and wonderful objects Archie McPhee expands its already bizarre collection of candy canes with three new flavors. First up is sweet, creamy butter, followed by smokey beef brisket, and a savory caesar salad, complete with a hint of anchovies. We don’t mean to yuck anyone’s yum, but we’ll pass.
Sugar Lab’s mad scientists went batty for Halloween, using 3D printers to make edible sweets in seasonal shapes like Pumpkin Spice Lattes. Apple Covered Caramels turn the classic inside out with a caramel and apple butter filling, while Day of the Dead Glitter Skulls dissolve into edible glitter when plopped into cocktails.
Despite many people despising the fake, sugary flavor of candy corn, it’s still a wildly popular Halloween treat. Mental Floss explores the history of this divisive, tri-colored candy and why it’s so closely associated with the holiday. We never thought about it before, but candy corn has real corn in it, sorta.
Goldthread takes us inside a factory that makes special good fortune candies, each of which has a meaningful Chinese character in its center. Using soybean, black sesame, and maltose, their artisans handmake each rope of candy by stacking contrasting layers then stretching them smaller and smaller to reveal the letters.
Pastry and chocolate artist Amaury Guichon continues to wow us with his spectacular edible creations. His latest build is a tabletop safe made entirely from chocolate. Its door has a working gear mechanism, a hinged door, and houses a stack of gold bars filled with vanilla sable and vanilla caramel.
Chocolate has been one of the world’s favorite confections for thousands of years. But it hasn’t always been the sweet treat we know and love today. Mental Floss host Justin Dodd takes us through the earliest known uses of cacao beans, and explains the process that turns it into chocolate.
3… 2… 1… lift-off! This rocket-shaped candy dispenser helps launch your day into orbit with a candy fix. It holds up to 16 ounces of candies like Skittles, M&Ms, Reese’s Pieces, gumballs, or nuts, and automatically dispenses by the handful using a motion sensor. Runs on 3 AAA batteries.
Do you crave sweets all the time? Then you’ll have a hard time resisting this custom coffee table packed with candy treats. Created by Served Sweet, the colorful resin table has hundreds of candies permanently trapped inside of a smooth resin shell. They also make sprinkle-filled coasters and trays.
Ma-Ka-Rohn makes delicious French macarons in all kinds of tasty flavors. They also make limited-edition treats inspired by popular candies. Their latest creation is a Twix macaron with a Twix-infused chocolate ganache, a Twix-infused caramel center, and a shimmery bronze shell. They’re available only through 4.16.2022.
To celebrate the purchase of his new iPhone 13 Pro Max, Matty Benedetto of Unnecessary Inventions wanted a case that nobody else has. So he got to work designing, fabricating, and assembling a case that not only protects his phone but can launch pieces of candy into his mouth. He’s gonna need a bigger pocket.
Say cheers to Hilliard’s Craft Beer Brittle. Cooked in copper kettles, and packed with crunchy spanish peanuts, fresh brewed beer from the Shovel Town Brewery creates a buttery, nutty flavor with enough hoppiness to balance things out. Perfect for microbrew fans.