Calories in Candy Corn

A round the year available confection, candy corn is popular in the United States and Canada, especially around Halloween. It was first made by George Renninger of the Wunderle Candy Company in 1880. Traditionally, each candy corn is in three colors; yellow at the bottom, orange in the center, and the tip is a white. The size of the color band (width) tapers towards the top side of the corn. Each corn is approximately the size of a whole corn kernel. Because it is primarily made of sugar, it is quite sweet, so worrying about the amount of calories in it, goes without saying.

Number of Calories in Candy Corn

According to the National Confectioners Association, more than 20 million pounds of candy corn are sold each year, that is quite a bit of calories, especially if you are fond of them. Calories in 40 g of candy corn, that is 22 pieces of serving size, is 140 calories, with each piece carrying 6.4 calories and collectively, 28 g sugar. These candies carry zero fat and approximately 115 mg sodium.

Candy Corn Ingredients

Originally, candy corns were made up of sugar, salt, corn syrup, etc, however, as time passed and people tried to make them at home, more ingredients were added and some were regularly altered to add a little extra to its taste. Even the traditional colors of yellow, orange and white have been altered to suit individual preference, or a festive occasion. Indian corn, a popular candy corn variation has also been introduced, the major difference being the use of brown for bottom band, than yellow. The following are the ingredients used to make candy corn.

• Corn syrup
• Natural and artificial colors
• Sugar
• Honey
• Salt
• Marshmallows
• Confectioner's Glaze
• Oil
• Water

Candy Corn Recipe

Ingredients:

• Corn syrup, 2/3 cup
• Sugar, 1 cup
• Powdered milk, 1/3 cup
• Butter, 1/3 cup
• Food coloring, 3 colors
• Salt, ¼ tsp

In a saucepan, heat butter on a medium flame, add sugar and corn syrup, stirring continuously, until it comes to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for a few minutes. Remove from heat, and spoon in the powdered sugar, powdered milk and salt. Stir until the mixture is smooth and there are no lumps found. Divide the mixture in three equal parts in three separate bowls, and add different food colors to each. Do not add any color to one bowl if you plan to add a white color band. Let the mixture stay in each bowl, and completely cool off. Knead it to smoothen into dough. Roll out each color of dough into a band or strip of half to ¼ inch in diameter. Join them towards the end using a rolling pin. Cut the candy in diagonal stripe (corn shapes), shaping them individually until smooth.

To make candy corn one can even use marshmallows. Place marshmallows in hot water, drain as soon as they puff and expand. Using a spatula smoothen them into a thin consistency, add other ingredients along with colors. If you are worried about the calories, substitute sugar with artificial sweeteners or honey. Well then, now that you know about the calories and the ingredients, go ahead and make a batch of yummy candies.