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Friday, December 16, 2005
Ribbon CandyName: Ribbon Candy When I was a kid I used to buy ribbon candy for my mother for Christmas. It was pretty stuff but I never remembered it being very good. I think part of the problem is that most people put it in a dish or some sort of display for the holidays and it gets all sticky.
Ribbon Candy is simply hard candy flattened out into long ribbons and then folded up like little puffs and twists. They’re usually pretty colors and often flavored according to those colors. This box contains a mix of minty and fruity flavors. The box also has a beautiful photo of the candy on it. The stuff inside doesn’t look quite like that.
First, the ribbons are not uniform. The doubling of the candy strips to form the loops was rather inconsistent and the ribbons weren’t flat, so I’d set them out to photograph and they’d rock. Second, they were not glossy and luminous like the box. I know that they have been in the past. I know the stuff I used to get for my mother looked like it was spun glass. I don’t know if it’s because this is a bad batch or that it’s just not as good anymore, but mine looked milky and dull. Only one was broken, so I was pleased that the poor box wasn’t handled poorly. 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. The flavors are ordinary and sweet, no tartness in the citrus flavors. The plain white one was cool because it was vanilla. There aren’t that many vanilla hard candies out there. The oddest thing was that the red and green striped one was some sort of strange mint. A toothpaste mint, which I’m guessing is a blend of spearmint and peppermint but tastes a little too much like toothbrush for me. You can read more about F.B. Washburn and Sevigny’s at their home page. But here’s the part I liked best:
Did you know that there’s a “ribbon candy business” and that it was so consolidated now? The other interesting thing is how low in calories these are. A full ribbon, which is a little over an ounce and looks huge is only about 60 calories. So if you’re looking for a little holiday indulgence that won’t fatten you up so fast, a couple of ribbons instead of a piece of pie ala mode might save you about 300 calories. It’s actually kind of nice to have with a little tea and the calories probably end up being lower consider that much of it shatters into microscopic shards that you’re more likely to inhale than consume. Rating - 6 out of 10. POSTED BY Cybele AT 1:12 pm
6-Tempting •
Hard Candy & Lollipops •
United States •
Candy •
Review •
Christmas •
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Meticulously photographed and documented reviews of candy from around the world. And the occasional other sweet adventures. Open your mouth, expand your mind.
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COPYRIGHT NOTICEAll content (text and photos unless otherwise credited) is copyright 2005-2009 by Cybele MayPlease do not use my photos without prior permission directly from me, they represent what I ate in preparation for these reviews and are not to be used for other purposes. Design by Hop Studios & powered by Expression Engine
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Yesterday I packed a box of this very ribbon candy off to my in-laws!
It’s the thought that counts, right?
This stuff scares me. My great grandmother used to have it in candy dishes and nobody wanted to touch it.
“Rebagging”? Who knew there was such a term! I’ve had a hard time finding ribbon candy in major stores, but a bulk food store in my area carries it at Christmastime. I wonder which rebagger is his supplier?
Hi Cybele,
Of course you can join Nic and I at Newsroom! We will e-mail you more details as the date nears. Yum yum, can’t wait to sample some candy.
Too funny… I sent a box of this to my sister and her family, just added in with their other gifts. Disappointing that the candy inside isn’t as pretty as the picture. But at least mine was only 1.99 at Tuesday Morning
Thanks for bringing back a vivid Christmas memory. In my glorious youth, people would dump huge quantities of cookies, candy and Wisconsin Cheeseman products on each other every Christmas. Someone always gave us ribbon candy, which beguiled me with its “fanciness” and pretty colors. The chemical-ish “cinnamon” stands out particularly strongly. And yes, it readily became gross and sticky as hell, but its hummingbird-short life added to its allure.
In Michigan’s Lansing area, we’ve got a family owned and run candy business with three or four shops called Fabiano’s. They have amazing chocolate, and last year around this time they also gave out ribbon candy samples. Theirs is think enough to break into chunks of loops you can fit in your mouth, and the lemon I tried was very tasty. It also looks good, because they actually put stripes on it.
Ack, ribbon candy! That stuff cuts your mouth to SHREDS!
This is one of the candies I look forward to at Christmas time. I must have gotten a special box because the ribbons in mine were very colorful and striped as they are on the box. Now I have another whole year for my next box.
When I saw ribbon candy at Cracker Barrel the first time I was there, it was around the holidays and I just couldn’t resist. It was just like I remember from my childhood. And I loved it.
The story in my family is that my great-great grandfather worked as a confectioner in Dublin Ireland and invented Ribbon Candy in the mid 1800’s. His name was Henry Weekes.
I once had this at a Christmas Party when I was a kid. I remember it being sweet and tasting like spearmint, but it got too sticky to hold and I put it in coat pocket where it got all creepy and hairy. I think my mom found it months later and was totally disgusted. XD
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