Today’s food holiday celebrates a confection synonymous with Halloween, and one of my favorite candies. October 30 is National Candy Corn Day!
The funny thing is, I wasn’t always a fan of candy corn. I never cared for it while growing up. In fact, it wasn’t until a few years ago that I discovered how delicious this candy actually is! I’ve been hooked ever since. I even blogged about it last year, so if you’re interested in reading more about my personal obsession with candy corn, follow the link.
Candy corn was invented by George Renninger of the Wunderle Candy Company of Philadelphia in the 1880s. The traditional colors of candy corn – a wide yellow end, an orange center, and a white tip – are meant to resemble kernels of corn, though they’re about triple the size of a real kernel. Candy corn was originally made by hand, and while the process remains the same, most of it is automated today. The recipe is unchanged, as well; it’s mostly sugar, corn syrup, carnauba wax, and artificial coloring. Fondant and marshmallows are added for texture. While primarily associated with Halloween, different versions of candy corn are now made to coincide with other holidays. “Reindeer corn” for Christmas has a red end and green center, “Cupid corn” for Valentine’s Day has a red end and pink center, and “Bunny corn” for Easter is a two-colored version with a white tip and a variety of pastel-colored bases. New variations this year included s’mores and pumpkin spice flavors.
I suppose we could have gone upscale and celebrated with a candy corn cocktail (all the rage lately) or some other concoction, but in this case, simple is best. We enjoyed a handful of candy corn straight up!
Related articles
- Candy Corn (katherinescorner.com)
- Candy Corn (helenjameson.wordpress.com)
- Go Inside The Factory That Makes 2 Billion Candy Corn Kernels Every Year (businessinsider.com)
- 12 Clever Ways to Celebrate National Candy Corn Day (thekitchn.com)
- An Oral History of Candy Corn, the Most Polarizing Confection of Them All (newsfeed.time.com)
Eat My Words 
And there are even candy corn M&M’s.
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I know. I stocked up on several bags – those are seriously good!
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One of your favorites! There’s just something about them that make them highly addictive!!
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Oh and Brach’s makes them with real honey which I think gives them that great, distinctive taste. Also, the Autumn mix is delish too!
Now. How about those candy corn Oreo’s?
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LOL. You and my dad sure did like those Halloween Oreos when you tried the blind taste test!
Maybe it’s the honey that puts Brach’s over the top. That’s what I’ve got this year, and they are soooo good! Had some with popcorn last night. Yum!
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