How are you supposed to eat ribbon candy?

How are you supposed to eat ribbon candy? - Thank You Signage

This seems a bit of a silly question to ask, but I'm a bit confused, so I'll ask for help. I was gifted a box of Hammond's assorted classic ribbon candy for the holidays. I've never been much of a fan of hard candy of any sort, but I was curious to at least try some of this gift. (I also don't think I've seen it in decades; my only vague recollection is of an elderly relative having some when I was a small child.)

I understand that ribbon candy is partly made the way it is for its appearance. But how is one supposed to eat it? The candy I have comes it rather large pieces: about 3.5 inches long and about an inch wide in the other dimensions. It's rather thick too. (A quick search online mentions that some of this type of candy can be thinner and more fragile.)

As the pieces were so huge, my first thought was to break off a curve or two of the ribbon, but it tends to shatter into lots of shards and makes a mess. Which led me to wonder whether one is just supposed to stick the end of a piece into your mouth and suck on it like a candy cane or something as it dissolves. Except, again, it's rather large and awkward to eat, and from its composition, it tends to get really sticky when held in the hand.

In the end, I took some of the shards I broke off and ate them, but some edges were sharp, so it wasn't really pleasant to leave it in my mouth as it dissolved.

I know this sounds silly, but is there a method people usually use to eat ribbon candy? If I were offered a piece at someone's house as a guest, what would I be expected to do with it when I consumed it?

As I said, I'm not a hard candy lover anyway, but at least most such candies I have consumed are small enough to place in your mouth as a single piece or are at least smooth and pleasant to eat more slowly (like a candy cane). This candy seems huge, but breaking it up seems to make a mess and sharp shards. (While keeping it whole both requires one to eat a huge piece and makes it very sticky to hold.)

Am I doing something wrong? Or is this candy really just made this way for appearance, not for a practical pleasant eating experience?



Best Answer

The ribbon candy that I've had (and made) is an inch wide but only maybe 1/4 inch thick. It is very easy to break off just half a bend that fits in the mouth. There might be some errant shards but not full-scale shattering.

The appeal of ribbon candy over other hard candy is the appearance. Even when it is meant to be eaten it is made to be looked at first. I find it conceivable, if a bit unfortunate, that your ribbon candy was not intended to be consumed.

Another possibility is that it might be old. Hard candy can be still somewhat pliable when it is fresh. Depending on the climate, candy can dry and become more brittle over time.




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How are you supposed to eat ribbon candy? - Top view of opened carton present box with small postcard with Thank You inscription and paper stuffing on wooden table
How are you supposed to eat ribbon candy? - Top view composition of multicolored small heart shaped sweets placed on plain white surface
How are you supposed to eat ribbon candy? - Joyful young ethnic couple embracing and eating yummy candies from heart shaped gift box during anniversary celebration



How do you eat candy ribbons?

The candy itself is kind of neat to eat. Messy, but pretty interesting. You can't just break off a little loop, it seems for each loop that you want the other half is pulverized into shards as you break it off. We're all used to the dense sugar of the hard candy, but the wafer thin ribbons rather melt on your tongue.

Is ribbon candy hard?

Ribbon candy is a type of hard candy which in North America most often appears for sale around the Christmas holiday season. It acquires its shape by first being fashioned as warm sugar into flat strips.

Do people like ribbon candy?

Just seeing it makes me smile, the bright festive colors, the satiny sheen, the perfect loops, even if you don't like hard candy it is impossible not to appreciate how pretty this sweet treat is.

Is ribbon candy still being made?

But this summer brought the ribbon-cutting word that Gilson's company was discontinuing production and putting the ribbon candy portion of its business up for sale. America's oldest family-owned candy company, F.B. Washburn has been making confections of various sorts since 1856, when Franklin Pierce was president.



ASMR Ribbon Candy | Crunchy Eating Sounds | No Talking | Diamond ASMR




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