Two of my favorite movies from childhood are Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory with the inimitable Gene Wilder and the lesser lauded Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, with an endearing Dick Van Dyke as single father and struggling inventor Caractacus Potts. Before rescuing and transforming a junkyard car into a magical, flying phenomenon, Potts has a happy accident in his lab wherein he invents a musical hard candy. He takes a sample to a grumpy candy mogul to try his luck and the most marvelous, musical sequence takes place in this wonderful candy warehouse (Toot Sweets, the eatable tweetable treat). The candy machines featured in the sequence themselves are totally awesome! I think part of my love for these two films is that you get a glimpse of how the sausage is made (even if it is mostly make believe). Instead of it putting you off, getting a behind-the-scenes look makes you more hyped on sweets, because watching candy get made is a lot less awful than watching sausage get made. My obsession with these movies also probably has a lot to do with Roald Dahl as the screenplay author. Anyway, turns out real footage of hard candy being made is equally as cool to watch! Enjoy this fun, behind-the-scenes look at how hard candy is produced from Wired.
Sugar Smith Greg Cohen and the staff from Lofty Pursuits make traditional Christmas candy using century’s old techniques and equipment at their shop in Tallahassee, Florida. Watch and see how Greg and the staff make some of most popular styles of holiday hard candies: Candy canes, Sugar plum drops and more.
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