Appears in
Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets

By Darra Goldstein

Published 2015

  • About

candy, strictly speaking, refers to sweets that are made from sugar or acquire their solid texture mainly from sugar, as opposed to pastries, jellies, puddings, and the like. However, the lines are a little vague. Many people would consider gumdrops to be candies, and to Americans, chocolates are candy. In the United States, a box of candy usually means a box of chocolates.