Not sure that this shouldn’t be in GQ, but what the hell.
A co-worker brought in a big bag of hard candies post halloween. A lot of the typical Brachs assortment, especially things like butterscotch, and wintergreen.
Now I’ve discovered that as these candies age, they go from hard, crunchy sorts of candies (that can leave sharp, sugary splinters in your tongue if you give into the temptations to bite 'em) to soft, chewy ones, seemingly from the outside in.
This bag was full of hard candies that had softened with age. Which was a bonus for me, as I love them that way!
My question: Why do they soften up?
A correlary question: Can I get them pre-aged and/or pre-softened?
Brilliant question! I wondered this myself as I ate a Tootsie Roll Pop earlier. It was one of those mini ones, and it had been sitting on my desk for only a few days, but it was soft through and through. Maybe the heat from my dual monitors caused it to soften quicker?
Sugar, the main ingredient in candy, is hygroscopic, that is a substance that absorbs water readily from its surroundings.
Candy (sugar) + humidity = soft mushy candy!
If you want soft candies faster, put them in an airtight container with a slice of fresh bread. The bread will naturally give off moisture as it stales which will be absorbed by the candies. I do it all the time with cookies for lovely, fresh, chewy cookies that last for weeks.
If I time this JUST right, I can get the challah slices I need for Thanksgiving stuffing dried out at the same time that I soften up the old Halloween hard candies.
