I just edit it last nite..hum..

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Gummy Chocolates..combination Cocoa Vs. Gelatin..

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Just in case you wanted to make the gummy bears as well, I found these on the web. Maybe a candy expert can pipe in and add any personal experience with making these. Good luck!
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GUMMY BEARS

1 package sugar free Jello, any flavor
6 packages gelatin powder, unsweetened, unflavored
1/2 cup cold water

In a small saucepan, mix flavored and unflavored gelatin. Stir it up. Pour
cold water in, stir with spatula until you have a gloppy-chunky blob, not
unlike play-doh. Turn heat on medium, melt blob. Stir obsessively until
melted. Pour into miniature bear molds. Stick in freezer for 10 minutes
to cool. If you don't have Miniature bear molds, do this: take the rack
out of your toaster oven and put it on the counter. Drape a big sheet of
aluminum foil over it. Cram the aluminum foil down into the gaps, leaving
striplike molds. Presto! Gummy worms.

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Gummy Bears with Variations

From: The Ultimate Candy Book by Bruce Weinstein

(HarperCollins; October 2000; ISBN: 0688175104; PB)

Cookbook Heaven @ Recipelink.com

These gummy bears are softer than the store-bought variety. And they require a candy mold.

Makes about 3 dozen candies

1 box (1 3/4 ounces) powdered pectin (available in many supermarkets or hardware stores)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup water
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons lemon extract, or orange extract
6 to 8 drops yellow or orange food coloring (optional)
Vegetable oil for coating the molds
Superfine sugar for coating the candy
Lightly oil enough candy molds to make 36 medium-size bears. Set them aside.
Combine the pectin and baking soda in a heavy medium saucepan. Add the water and place the pan over medium heat. Stir well until the pectin is dissolved. The mixture will foam as it heats. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick, smooth, and clear, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and cover the pan to keep the pectin warm.
Combine the corn syrup and granulated sugar in another heavy medium saucepan. Place the pan over high heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves and the mixture comes to a boil.
Clip a candy thermometer to the inside of the pan. Cook, without stirring, until the mixture reaches 260 F (hard ball). Immediately add the pectin mixture and return the syrup to a boil. Boil exactly 1 minute and remove the pan from the heat.
Add the lemon or orange flavoring, the corresponding food coloring, and mix until thoroughly incorporated. Pour the syrup into the prepared molds and set them aside at room temperature until the candy has cooled and firmed up, about 5 hours.
While the candies are still in their molds, sprinkle the tops of the candies with superfine sugar. The candy is very sticky and the sugar will allow you to handle the candies and remove them from the molds. Shake off any excess sugar and use your fingers to peel the gummy bears out of the molds. Completely cover each bear with additional superfine sugar. Shake off the excess sugar and store the candies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
VARIATIONS

GUMMY FRUITS

Use fruit-shaped molds and substitute 2 teaspoons of the corresponding natural or artificial fruit flavors (such as peach, strawberry, raspberry, apple, cassis, coconut, banana, and apricot) for the lemon or orange extract. Change the food coloring accordingly.

LICORICE GUMMY CANDY

Omit the orange or lemon extract and food colorings. Add 2 teaspoons natural or artificial anise flavoring and pour the syrup into plain round molds. If desired, 4 drops of black food coloring can be added.
SOUR GUMMY CANDY
Add 1/4 teaspoon citric acid to the pan with the sugar and corn syrup.

SUPER SOUR GUMMY CANDY

Mix 2 teaspoons citric acid with each 1/2 cup superfine sugar used for coating the finished candy.

Live Longer with Chocolate

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Studies of the indigenous Kuna of Panama, central America, show that their annual consumption of natural cocoa is up to 40 cups of cocoa a week -- and natural cocoa has high levels of epicatechin. This may be why the Kuna have low rates of stroke, heart failure, cancer and diabetes, only 10% of that of the Western average.

Sounds like a great prescription to me..!!

12 Odd & Unusual Chocolate Flavored Items!!!!Check this out..

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Here are 12 other chocolate flavored items for chocolate cravings and fantasies.

Chocolate Toothpaste

This is a limited edition chocolate flavored toothpaste made by Uniliver Philiphines back in 2005 and there are already some other brands selling it by now. I have tried using this before and it does taste like chocolate. You hardly see chocolate toothpaste in stores around but if you do, I recommend you to buy one since researchers have studied and proved that chocolate toothpaste is better than a fluoride.

Chocolate Bubble Bath

This is a chocolate flavored bubble bath which I think is best for kids. Smells like real chocolate, works just like your regular bubble bath product.

Chocolate Soap

Want a sensual and relaxing bath? Chocolate soap would be a go-to for a change. This definitely has a chocolate scent and even ingredients same as the real chocolates. It is somewhat odd though. Just picture your self having a bath with a chocolate melting on your body to soothe your mind.

Chocolate Candles

Looks like a real chocolate but it isn't. It does have a chocolate scent. Chocolate candles can be a perfect addition to a very romantic candle light dinner.

Chocolate Dress

Dare to be different? Try wearing a dress made of chocolate and you'll definitely catch some attention. Chocolate dresses are usually made for fashion shows or a one-night only event because it will definitely melt once it catches heat.

Chocolate Perfume

Studies say that the smell of chocolate perfumes can lead to arousal? Hmm. Interesting.

Chocolate Wine

Chocolate and wine combined in one liquid drink anyone? For real, this wine is made up of not just grapes but also some chocolate ingredients. It taste like chocolate with a mix up of wine. What a perfect combination.

Chocolate Pasta

This definitely is real pasta. What makes it bizarre is that of its chocolate flavor. It's like eating chocolate spaghetti which I couldn't imagine. I do believe that chocolate pasta is tasty with the looks of it.

Chocolate Gum

A chocolate flavored gum, that's odd. It is made up of real cocoa and ingredients of making a bubble gum. I haven't tried any of these because I think it's nasty, I could be wrong though.

Chocolate Sushi

Now this is a bit gross. Chocolate sushi is made up of real maki, other sushi ingredients and natural chocolate to wrap the sushi up. I couldn't imagine what it tastes like.

Chocolate Beer

Chocolate beer has the combined aroma of real chocolate, coffee and roasted malts. It has a deep black color base that is creamy liquid that gives a sweet sensation at the end. Available mostly in Ireland and there are also brewers in U.S like in Boston.

Chocolate Bandages

Chocolate bandages are real milk chocolate bars that are wrapped to suit not just kids but even adults for soothing scrapes, scratches and cuts. It is molded in a band-aid like shape. It is not recommendable though to apply chocolate bandages to our wounds.

The History of Lollipop Candy

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According to the Miriam Webster Dictionary, the definition of the word "lollipop" is as follows:

Main Entry: lol•li•pop
Variant(s): or lol-ly-pop
Function: noun
Etymology: perhaps from English dialect lolly (tongue) + pop
Date: 1784
1: a lump of hard candy on the end of a stick
2: British: a round stop sign on a pole used to stop traffic (as at a school crossing).

Although the definition of one of the best selling candy items is relatively simple, the actual history is a little more complicated.

The first candy on a stick, according to the National Confectionary Association, was probably created by cavemen who maintained beehives and collected honey by stick. Not wanting to waste the sweet residue, they, most likely, licked the utensil and thus the first unintentional lollipop, or, candy on a stick, was born.

It has been reported and verified through archeological discoveries that ancient Arabs, Chinese and Egyptians produced fruit and nut confections which were "candied" in honey which served as a preservative. Due to the nature of the sticky substance, recent discoveries have hinted that sticks were inserted into these treats to make them easier to eat.

In the middle ages in Europe, sugar was an imported luxury item thus making candy extremely expensive. As such, it was enjoyed by nobility and the very wealthy. In order to make this delicacy last longer, sugar was boiled and formed into hard blocks. Although this might be considered the advent of bulk candy, it is reported that candy treats were made complete with sticks and ornate handles.

In the 17th Century, as sugar became plentiful, it was considered a delicacy in England to enjoy boiled sugar candy treats. In order to make them easier to eat, a stick was inserted. By looking at the definition, linguists have surmised that the term "lollipop" may have been derived from street vendors in London during the age of Charles Dickens.

With the discovery of sugar beet juice and the onset of the industrial revolution, the confectionary manufacturing industry blossomed like never before. Hard candy such as horehound drops, lemon drops and peppermint and wintergreen lozenges became commonplace and new candies were created daily.

As with so many other technical innovations, the 20th century ushered in the era of automation and this is where the true history of the birth of the lollipop begins.

There remain discrepancies as to who was the true creator of lollipops. As early as 1905, the McAviney Candy Company, now defunct, may have stumbled upon the lollipop by default. The owner created boiled hard candies which were stirred by stick. At day's end, as a treat for his children, he would bring home sticks covered with the hard candy residue. It wasn't until 1908 that he began to market these "used candy sticks". Although hard evidence does not exist as to when the first candy stick was sold, if true, this would make the McAviney Candy Company the first to offer mass produced lollipops.

In 1908 in Racine, Wisconsin, the first automated lollipop production was invented by the Racine Confectionary Machine Company, not out of ingenuity but rather in the call of service. This innovative, and now defunct, company invented a machine whose sole purpose was to find a way to put hard candy on the end of a stick. The output of this machine was 2400 lollipops per hour and the company believed that they could produce enough lollipops in a week to supply the nation's demand for one year.

The Racine Confectionary Company held the title of the creator of the mass produced lollipop until approximately 1912 when Samuel Born, a Russian immigrant and entrepreneur, invented a machine whose sole purpose was to automatically insert sticks into candy. The City of San Francisco considered this candy innovation so amazing that they awarded him the keys to the city in 1916!

Ever restless and a true lover of confectionaries, Samuel Born is also credited with inventing Sprinkles (or, as they are affectionately called on the East Coast, Jimmies) which are the candy toppings often found on desserts and ice cream. This idea stemmed from his desire to use every portion of the byproducts of creating lollipops.

Unfortunately, no one knows exactly when the lollipop was created, but we do know that it is one of the most popular candies in existence.

While the Racine Confectionary Company was able to produce 57,000 lollipops in one day, which they felt would satisfy the market for an entire year, modern candy companies, such as Spangler Candy Company (creator of Dum Dum Lollipops, Saf-T-Pop and countless other lollipop favorites) can produce up to 3,000,000 per day which hardly satisfies the nation's cravings!

Lollipops come in all shapes and sizes and we offer over 35 varieties from which to choose. Whether you want a Charms Lollipop, Tootsie Pop or a lollipop with a cricket, our candy selection is second to none.

History of Candy Bars

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Chocolate, as a drink, was a favorite of Montezuma, Emperor of the Aztecs. Hernando Cortez, the Spanish conquistador, brought the drink back to Spain in 1529. It remained a favorite of the Spanish royalty for many years before becoming consumed widely throughout Europe. Three centuries later in England chocolate was first used as a non-liquid confection.

The early eating bars of chocolate were made of bittersweet chocolate. Milk chocolate was introduced in 1875 when Henry Nestle, a maker of evaporated milk and Daniel Peter, a chocolate maker, got together and invented milk chocolate, which today is preferred by 80% of the world's population.

At the 1893 Columbian Exposition, a World's Fair held in Chicago, chocolate-making machinery made in Dresden, Germany, was displayed. It caught the eye of Milton S. Hershey, who had made his fortune in caramels and saw the potential for chocolate. He installed chocolate machinery in his factory in Lancaster and produced his first chocolate bars in 1894.

Other Americans began mixing in other ingredients to make up new candy bars throughout the end of the 1890's and the early 1900's. But it was World War I that really brought attention to the candy bar.

The U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps commissioned various American chocolate manufacturers to provide 20 to 40 pound blocks of chocolate to be shipped to quartermaster bases. The blocks were chopped up into smaller pieces and distributed to doughboys in Europe. Eventually the task of making smaller pieces was turned back to the manufacturers. By the end of the war when the doughboys arrived home, the American candy bar business was assured. Why? Because the returning doughboys had grown fond of chocolate candy and now as civilians wanted more of the same. As a result, from that time on and through the 1920s, candy bar manufacturers became established throughout the United States, and as many as 40,000 different candy bars appeared on the scene. The Twenties became the decade that among other things, was the high point of the candy bar industry.

The original candy bar industry had its start on the eastern seaboard in such cities as Philadelphia, Boston, and New York. The industry soon spread to the Midwest, because shipping and raw materials such as sugar, corn syrup, and milk were easily available. Chicago became the seat of the candy bar industry and even today remains an important base.

Courtesy - CandyUSA - National Confectioner's Association

History of Chewing Gum

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Although the history of chewing gum is somewhat cloudy, there is evidence that the early Greeks chewed on a substance made from a resin of the Mastic Tree indigenous to Turkey.

In North America, Native Americans chewed on a substance that made from the resin of Spruce Trees. This practice continued until the early 19th Century and has been accredited as one of the first modern examples of Chewing Gum.

In the late 19th Century, Paraffin or edible wax was introduced as a substitute for Spruce Resin. Although this trend was short lived, we do see similar examples in modern candies such as Wax Fangs or Wax Lips or the retro candy classic, wax bottles.

Although flavors vary, all chewing gum consists of basic ingredients. The base is often made from resins from tropical trees as well as synthetic materials such as polyvinyl acetate, wax or rubber byproducts. The remainder is an amalgamation of corn syrups, sugars and hundreds of flavorings not to mention artificial colors.

The base is melted to a soluble liquid and then combined with the byproducts and stored in a solid block. It is then combined with colorings, flavors and sweeteners prior to packaging.

Bubble Gum, unlike regular chewing gum, has a base that consists of rubber latex and this is what gives it elasticity.

Early chewing gums were a challenge as they were hard to chew and the flavor, if any, lasted a very short time. As chewing gum became more popular, manufacturers began to experiment with new flavors and non-solid, often liquid, centers.

The advent of modern chewing gum is attributed to Mexican General, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, who became infamous as one of the participants of the Alamo As with most great inventions, it was more luck than planning.

After being exiled from Mexico, he introduced Thomas Adams Sr. to Chicle which is a substance derived from Sapota or Saodilla trees. Adams wanted to use the elastic ingredient in experiments to find ways to make more economical car tires.

Although he never was able to produce an economical tire substitute, in the end, he created one, if not the, first mass marketed chewing gums called Adams New York Chewing Gum. The first patent for chewing gum was awarded in 1869 although Adams did not create the first mass production chewing gum assembly line until 1871.

In 1880, William White combined corn syrup with Chicle and added peppermint extract thus creating the first flavored gum called YUCATAN. In the same period, Dr. Edward Beeman added pepsin powder and created a gum that was to serve as a "digestive aid." Beemans Chewing Gum, still available today, is a derivative of this discovery.

Chewing Gum became an important part of American culture and is often associated with being the catalyst behind the vending business. As early as 1888, vending machines appeared at subway stations in Manhattan offering different varieties of chewing gum.

In 1893, the William Wrigley Company, based in Chicago, IL, introduced two new chewing gums, Juicy Fruits and Wrigley's Spearmint, which to this day, remain some of the best selling chewing gums in the world.

In an attempt to compete with Wrigley's success, the American Chicle Company was established in 1899 and was an amalgamation of Yucatan Gum, Adams Gum, Beeman's Gum and Kiss Me Gum.

In 1899, Franklin V.Canning, a dentist, introduced Dentyne Gum and later that year, Chiclets were formally introduced. Both chewing gums are still available today although the formulas have changed.

The industry, fiercely competitive, saw little change until 1914. That year, following the success of Juicy Fruit and Wrigley's Spearmint, the William Wrigley Jr. Company introduced Doublemint Gum. Later that year, Thomas Adams introduced Adam's Clove Gum that to this day remains a retro candy "cult" classic!

American Chicle, in hopes of narrowing competition, purchased the company that invented Chiclets and went on to acquire the Dentyne Company while William Wrigley Jr. Co., in 1923, became one of the first candy companies to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

1928 was a very important year as Walter Diemer, an accountant for Fleer Gum, created the first formula for Bubble Gum. Fleer Gum had been searching for years to produce a formula that allowed bubbles to be blown that didn't stick and this is exactly what Diemer stumbled upon. It was also one of the first times that food coloring was used and pink became, and remains, the industry standard.

Fleer sold the rights for Dubble Bubble Bubble Gum to Marvel Entertainment Group and this gum was included in packages of trading cards until the late 80's. In 1988, Concord Confections, the largest manufacturer of bubble gum balls, purchased the rights to Dubble Bubble Bubble Gum.

In the early 1930's, Peter Paul Co., the inventors of Almond Joy and Mounds Candy Bars made a foray into the chewing gum market with the introduction of Charcoal Gum which was advertised, not so subtly, on the side of their candy bar boxes. They continued to make chewing gum until the late 1940's.

In 1938, two brothers started a company in Brooklyn called Topps Gum. The gum was sold at cash registers and is considered to the first "changemaker" as the marketing strategy was to get consumers to spend their change. This gum sold well but it wasn't until post World War II that they introduced the product that would take the nation by storm: Bazooka Bubble Gum!

This became, and remains, one of the best selling bubble gums of all time and in 1953, they decided to include the first comic in each piece. In 1950, Topps introduced the first trading card but it wasn't until two years later when Sy Berger, a baseball enthusiast, decided to make a card focusing exclusively on America's pastime.

Although Topps Company diversified into other non bubble gum novelty candies such as the Baby Bottle Pop, Push Pop and Ring Pop to name but a few, they remain one of the largest bubble gum manufacturers in the world with sales over 3 billion dollars!

The 1940's, the war years, saw the introduction of Rainblo Bubble Gum by Leaf Confectionary Co. and the William Wrigley Jr. Co., introduced Orbit specifically as a wartime product. Wrigley chewing gum was standard issue in the soldier's field rations, as was the Hershey Milk Chocolate Bar. Dubble Bubble also offered bubble gum squares that were included in ration kits.

In the 1950's, as consumers became more health conscious, Sugarless gum was introduced. The formula remained standard until 1970 when the FDA banned the active ingredient, Cyclamate. In 1983, Aspartame (known as Equal or Nutrasweet) began its use as a sugar free sweetener. Later, Sorbitol was introduced and is commonly used today as diabetics more readily tolerate it.

The original idea behind sugar free gum is accredited to a dentist named Dr. Petrulis. Chewing gums contained Ammonia and he discovered that this substance counteracted acid that lead to tooth decay. Dr. Petrulis sold his company to the William Wrigley Co., and in the late 1960's, they introduced the first sugar free bubble gum called Blammo.

Wrigley Company continued to create some of the best-loved chewing gums and it was not until 1975 when then introduced Wrigley's Freedent Gum (designed not to stick to dentures) and then a year later, Wrigley's Big Red. In 1979, they introduced Hubba Bubble Bubble Gum and in 1980, they introduced Big League Chew (shredded bubble gum).

Ever keeping with the times, Wrigley introduced Extra Sugarfree Gum in 1984 and in 1994 they introduced Wrigley Winterfresh Gum. As of writing, the William Wrigley Jr. Company is the largest manufacturer of chewing gum in the world. Its headquarters are in Chicago, IL but it has factories in at least ten (10) foreign countries!

Today, there are hundreds of varieties of chewing gum and companies such as Amurol, a division of Wrigley, continue to push the boundaries with unique products such as Bubble Gum Tape, Bubble Beepers, Bubble Jugs and Ouch Gum to name but a few.